450 



GRAMINEiE. 



BoiJTELOUA. 



Nutt. gen. 1. p. 78; Torr. in Sill. jour. 4. p. 58, <f- ft. 1. p. 139 ; Secft, 6oJ. p. 414; 

 Darlingt. ft. Cest. (ed. 1.) p. 17 (with a figure). Eutriana curtipendula, Trin. diss. 1. p. 

 243 ; Kunth, mum. 1. p. 280. Cynosurus secundus, Pursh, I. c. 2. p. 728. 



Perennial. Culm 2-3 feet high, geniculate at the base, smooth, terete. Leaves 2-3 

 lines wide, tapering to a long slender point, involute when dry, rough on the margin, slightly 

 hairy above : sheaths rather loose, the lowest ones often hairy : ligule short, fimbriate. 

 Spikes 20 - 40, about one-third of an inch long, on very short peduncles, arranged on two 

 sides of a common rachis, at length secund ; each containing 6-8 spikelets, which are in 2 

 rows, the partial rachis ending in a long naked point. Lower glume persistent, very narrow ; 

 the upper lanceolate, hispid on the keel. Perfect flower sessile, lanceolate ; the lower palea 

 with 3 nearly equal points : upper a little longer, 2-keeled, bifid at the apex. Stamens 3 : 

 anthers bright cinnabar color. Caryopsis oblong. Abortive flower neuter, pedicellate : 

 lower palea ovate, bifid, with a straight rigid bristle, twice as long as the flower, between the 

 teeth : lateral bristles shorter, one proceeding from the base on each side of the infolded 

 margin : upper palea much smaller, 2-cleft, often rudimentary. 



Dry rocky lands and hill-sides, Orange and Dutchess counties. Fl. August. The large 

 bright red anthers make this a conspicuous grass at the time of flowering. It is admirably 

 figured in the work of Dr. Darlington, above quoted. 



Tribe VIII. AY EN ACE JE. Kunth. 



Spikelets 2- 10 -flower ed : terminal flower commonly imperfect. Glumes and palece 2, 

 membranaceo-herbaceous : lower palea usually with a twisted awn on the back. 



27. AIRA. Linn.; Nutt. gen. 1. p. 61. HAIR-GRASS. 



[From the Greek, airo, to destroy. The name was applied by the ancients to Lolium lemulentum, on account of its 

 poisonous qualities, and is with no propriety given to this genus. ] 



Deschampsia, Beauv. 



Spikelets 2 - 3-flowered. Glumes unequal. Paleas thin and membranaceous ; the lower 

 one awned on the back below the middle. — Panicle compound, usually spreading ; the 

 third flower, when present, imperfect. 



* Aira proper. Lower palea rather acute, marly entire. Awn twisted below. 



1. Aira flexuosa, Linn. Common Hair- grass. 



Panicle spreading, trichotomously branching ;. flowers scarcely longer than the glumes ; 

 awn geniculate, larger than the flower; leaves setaceous. — Linn. sp. 1. p. 65 ; Pursh, fl. 

 1. p. 77 ; Muhl. gram. p. 85 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 151; Torr. fl. 1. p. 132 ; Beck, bot. p. 402 ; 

 Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 64 ; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 290. 



