Tricuspis. 



GRAMINE.E. 



463 



1. Tricuspis seslerioides, Torr. (Plate CL VI.) Tall Red-top. 



Panicle loose, the branches flexuous and widely spreading, smooth ; spikelets ovate-lan- 

 ceolate, 5 - 6-flowercd, shining. — Torr. fl. 1. p. 118; Beck, hot. p. 407 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. 

 p. 73. T. Noveboracensis, Beauv. Agrost. p. 77 (no description). Poa flava, Linn. sp. 1. 

 p. 68? P. seslerioides, Michx. fl. 1. p. 68 ; Mulil. Gram. p. 149. P. quinquefida, Pursh, 

 fl. 1. p. 164; Ell. sk. 1. p. 164. Triodia cuprea, " Jacq. eclog. gram. 2. t. 21. /. 16." 

 Windsoria poasformis, Nutt. gen. 1. p. 70. Tridens quinquefida, Rozm. Schult. syst. 2. 

 p. 599. Eragroslis tricuspis, Trin. in act. Petrop. 6 ser. I. p. 414. Uralepis cuprea, Kunth, 

 "gram. 1. £. 68," and enum. 1. p. 318. 



Culm 3-5 feet high, erect, very smooth. Leaves 12-18 inches long, smooth, flat, nerved : 

 sheaths bearded at the throat ; the lower ones often hairy : ligule very short, bearded. 

 Panicle very large, at first erect, but finally spreading ; the branches in pairs or alternate, 

 naked below, hairy in the axils, a little flexuous, and often somewhat nodding. Spikelets 

 alternate, on short pedicels, somewhat appressed to the branchlets. Glumes unequal, scarious, 

 mucronate. Lower palea villous on the back and margins toward the base, with three very 

 strong nerves which are continued beyond the summit, forming cusps, with intermediate teeth ; 

 the middle cusp longest; thus the palea appears 5-toothed. Upper palea minutely fringed 

 on the margin. Stamens 3 : anthers much exsertcd. Caryopsis oblong, a little gibbous, 

 hollowed on one side. 



Sandy fields, and dry sterile banks : not rare. Fl. August. A showy, but poor harsh grass. 

 Pursh states, however, that it is cut for hay in the mountain meadows of Pennsylvania. It 

 is referred to Uralepis by Kunth, but certainly differs much in habit from the original species 

 of that genus. 



34. GLYCERIA. R. Br. prodr. 1. p. 179; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 366. MANNA-GRASS. 



[From the Greek, glykys, sweet; the grains being sweet-tasted.] 



Spikes many-flowered, mostly terete : rachis jointed. Glumes 2, pointless, nearly equal. 

 Paleas membranaceo-herbaceous, nearly equal, awnless ; the lower usually obtuse, 7-nerved : 

 upper one bicarinate. Stigmas decompound. Caryopsis oblong, free. — Perennial grasses, 

 growing in water or wet places, with creeping rhizomas. Leaves flat ; the sheaths com- 

 monly entire (or not split on one side) : ligule membranaceous. 



1. Glyceria fluitans, R. Br. Common Manna-grass. 



Panicle secund, slightly branched, divaricate ; spikelets linear-terete, appressed to the 

 branches, 8 - 12-flowered ; flowers very obtuse. — R. Br. I. c. ; Torr. fl. I. p. 103 ; Beck, 

 hot. p. 412; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 72; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 367. Festuca fluitans, Linn, 

 sp. 1. p. 175 ; Michx. fl. 1. p. 66 ; Pursh, fl. I. p. 84 ; Muhl. gram. p. 166 ; Bigel. fl. 

 Bost. p. 37. Poa fluitans, Scopol., Engl. hot. t. 1520 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 163. 



