446 



GRAMINEyE. 



Ammophila. 



syst. 2. p. 845 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 95. Calamagrostis arenaria, Trin. diss. 1. p. 227 ; Gray's 

 Gram, tf- Cyp. part 1. no. 21. 



Rhizoma branching and creeping extensively in the sand. Culm 2-3 feet high, erect, rigid. 

 Leaves very long, smooth and glaucous, 4-5 lines wide, attenuated to a long slender point : 

 sheaths smooth : ligule oblong, obtuse. Panicle 6-12 inches long, of a whitish color, very 

 close and spike-like. Spikelets much compressed, about half an inch long. Glumes linear- 

 lanceolate, rough on the thin keel : lower one with a single nerve ; the upper 3-nerved. Palese 

 resembling the glumes, the hairs at the base scarcely one-third the length of the flower : lower 

 one often with a slight mucro a little below the tip, obscurely 5-nerved. Stamens 3 : anthers 

 linear, large, yellow. Styles very short : stigmas simply plumose. Scales linear-lanceolate, 

 somewhat longer than the caryopsis. 



Sandy seacoast of Long Island and Staten Island : very abundant. Fl. August. This 

 grass is common on the coast of Europe and North America. Its long creeping rhizoma 

 and fibrous roots enable it to confine the loose sands of the shore, and thus to resist the inroads 

 of the sea. In Holland, France and other countries, it is planted for this purpose. It is used 

 in Massachusetts for the manufacture of paper. 



23. PHRAGMITES. Trin. Agrostog. p. 73 ; Endl. gen. 823. reed. 



[From the Greek, pliragmos, a hedge.] 



Spikelets 5 - 7-flowered ; the flowers perfect, on villous pedicels, except the lowest, which is 

 staminate or neuter, naked at the base, and sessile. Glumes and palea? very unequal. 

 Upper palea elongated, acuminate. — Very tall broad-leaved grasses, with the flower in a 

 large terminal panicle. 



1. Phragmites communis, Trin. Common Reed. 



Spikelets 3 - 5-flowered ; panicle loose and one-sided. — Trin. fund. p. 134 ; Torr. fl. \ . 

 p. 103; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 251. Arundo Phragmites, Linn. sp. 1. p. 81 ; Pursh, fl. 1. 

 p. 86 ; Muhl. gram. p. 88 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 39 ; Beck, hot. p. 405 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. 

 p. 61. 



Culm 6-12 feet high, an inch or more in diameter at the base, very leafy, terete, with 

 numerous joints. Leaves 12- 18 inches long and about 2 inches wide, flat, smooth : ligule 

 very short, fimbriate. Panicle very large, loose, somewhat nodding. Glumes lanceolate 

 acuminate ; the lower one much longer. Lowest flower usually monandrous or neuter; the 

 other flowers perfect, with the silky hairs about two-thirds as long as the paleag. Lower palea 

 not one-third the length of the upper. 



Borders of ponds and swamps : not common. Fl. August. This is the largest grass in the 

 Northern States, appearing at a distance like broom-corn. It is found in most parts of the 

 world. 



