454 



GRAMINE^E. 



Arriienatherum. 



Pastures and cultivated grounds. Fl. May - June. A tall handsome grass ; originally from 

 Europe, but naturalized in a few places. It has been cultivated by some of our farmers, but 

 is of little value either for hay or for pasture. 



31. DANTHONIA. DC. fl. Gall. 3. p. 33; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 311. danthonia. 



[Named in honor of M. Danthoine, a French botanist.] 



Spikelet 2- 10-fiowered ; the upper flowers often imperfect. Glumes somewhat membrana- 

 ceous, nearly equal, mostly longer than the flower. Lower palea coriaceo-membranaceous, 

 many-nerved, 2-toothed at the summit, with a short or a twisted awn between the teeth : 

 upper palea bicarinate. — Cespitose grasses ; the spikelets pedicellate, usually few, in a 

 racemose panicle. 



1. Danthonia spicata, Beauv. Wild Oat-grass. 



Culm erect ; leaves subulate ; lower sheaths hairy at the throat ; panicle racemose, nearly 

 simple ; spikelets 7-9, about 7-flowered ; lower palea hairy. — P. de Beauv. I. c. ; Nutt. 

 gen. 1. p. 71 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 125; Trin. ic. gram. 5. t. 54; Beck, hot. p. 405 ; Darlingt. 

 fl. Cest. p. 68 ; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 312. Avena spicata, Linn. sp. I. p. 119 ; Pursh, fl. 1. 

 p. 86 ; Muhl. gram. p. 184 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 32. 



Perennial. Culms 1 - 1^ foot high, slender, mostly erect. Leaves very narrow, flat or 

 involute, more or less hairy ; the lower ones numerous : sheaths hairy at the base and at the 

 throat : ligule very short. Panicle secund, the lower branches often a little divided. Glumes 

 lanceolate ; the lower one 3-nerved, attenuated at the point. Lower palea ovate, obscurely 

 7-nerved, thinly clothed with long hairs, the margins produced into 2 lanceolate teeth : awn 

 about twice as long as the palea, flat and spirally twisted at the base : upper palea oblong, 

 the margin closely inflected. Scales obtuse or truncate. Caryopsis a little corrugated, some- 

 what 2-horned at the apex. 



Dry open woods and in fields. Fl. June - July. 



32. URALEPIS. Nutt. gen. 1. p. 62 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 117. URALEPIS. 



[From the Greek, oura, a tail, and lepis, a scale ; from the appearance of the lower palea.] 

 Triplasis, Beauv.? Diplocea, Raf. 

 Spikelets 2 - 3-flowered, somewhat terete ; the flowers distant ; uppermost one abortive. 

 Glumes much shorter than the flowers. Paleae very unequal, conspicuously villous on the 

 margin : lower one bicuspidate, with a straight awn between the cusps ; the upper entire, 

 ovate, incurved. Caryopsis gibbous. — Annual grasses, growing in sand. Panicles simple, 

 racemose, small ; the spikelets purple. 



