Triticum. 



GRAMINE.E. 



475 



Fields and cultivated grounds : common. Fl. June - August. The common variety here 

 described, is probably an introduced plant ; but there are other forms of this grass, found in 

 Canada and the Northwestern States, that seem to be indigenous. 



2. Triticum caninum, Linn. Fibrous-roofed Wheat-grass. 



Spike distichous ; spikelets about 5-fiowered ; glumes lanceolate, 3 - 5-nerved, acute ; 

 lower palea awned ; root fibrous. — Linn. sp. I. p. 86; Engl. hot. t. 1372; Muhl. gram, 

 p. 196 ; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 442. Agropyrom caninum, Roem. Schult. syst. 2. y. 756 ; 

 Torr. fl. 1. p. 136. 



Near Penn-Yan (Dr. Sartwell). I have seen no specimen of the plant from this State. 

 There can scarcely be a doubt of its being an introduced species. It is best distinguished 

 from the preceding, by its fibrous root. 



42. ELYMUS. Linn.; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 449. lyme-grass. 



[Elymas was a name given by the Greeks to certain species of Panic dm, because growing abundantly about Ely ma; 



afterwards it was applied to the present genus.] 



Asfrella, Cavan. ; Gymnostachtjm, Schreb. 

 Spikelets 2 - 4 at each joint of the rachis, 2 - 7-flowered, the upper flower imperfect. Glumes 

 2, both of them situated on one side of the spikelet (sometimes nearly wanting or rudi- 

 mentary). Paleas, 2; the lower one usually awned. — Perennial (or sometimes annual) 

 grasses, nearly allied to Hordeum. 



1. Elymus Virginicus, Linn. Virginian Lyme-grass. Wild Rye. 



Spike erect, dense ; spikelets in pairs, 2 - 3-flowered, the flowers nearly smooth ; glumes 

 lanceolate, strongly nerved, as long as the spikelet. — Linn. sp. 1. p. 83; Michx. fl. 1. 

 p. 65 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 89 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 180. t. 12. /. 2 ; Muhl. gram. p. 176 ; Bigel. fl. 

 Bost. p. 46 ; Torr. fl. l.p. 137 ; Beck. hot. p. Wo; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 83. 



Perennial. Culm 2-4 feet high, terete, erect. Leaves broadly linear, bright green, rough ; 

 sheaths smooth or pubescent : ligule very short. Spike rigidly erect, thick. Glumes colla- 

 teral, thickened and somewhat cartilaginous, about 5-nerved externally, rough, tapering at the 

 summit to a short bristle. Lower palea oblong-lanceolate, obscurely nerved, abruptly ending 

 in a slender bristle which is usually longer than the valve. Stamens 3. Ovary densely 

 bearded at the summit. 



Banks of rivers : frequent along the lower part of the Hudson. Fl. July- August. Easily 

 distinguished from all the following species, by its rigid spike and broad thick glumes, 



60* 



