3. M. Mexicana, Trin. Culms ascending, much branched (2--3 high); _panicles_ lateral and terminal, often included at the base, _contracted, the branches densely spiked-cl.u.s.tered_, linear (green and purplish); lower _glumes awnless, sharp-pointed_, unequal, the upper about the length of the very acute flowering one.--Low grounds; common.

Aug. Varies with more slender panicles.

[*][*] _Flowering glume bristle-awned from the tip; flowers short-pedicelled._

[+] _Lower glumes long and bristle-pointed._

4. M. sylvatica, Torr. & Gray. (Pl. 8, fig. 1, 2.) Culms ascending, much branched and diffusely spreading (2--4 long); contracted _panicles densely many-flowered; lower glumes almost equal, bristle-pointed, nearly as long as the flowering one_, which bears an awn twice or thrice the length of the spikelet.--Low or rocky woods; common. Aug., Sept.

5. M. ambigua, Torr. Culms ascending, cl.u.s.tered and branching, 1 high; panicles contracted, densely many-flowered; _spikelet 2-flowered_, the upper flower like the lower and perfect, or more frequently reduced to a mere awn at the base of the lower flower; lower glumes nearly equal, long-pointed; _flowering glume villous_, as long as the lower and equalling the palet, its awn nearly twice longer.--Minn. (sh.o.r.e of Elysian Lake, Waseca Co., _Geyer_).--A remarkable species, approaching Brachyelytrum in the structure of the spikelet, but with wholly the habit of Muhlenbergia.

[+][+] _Lower glumes short or minute, not or scarcely pointed._

6. M. Willdenvii, Trin. Culms upright (3 high), slender, simple or sparingly branched; contracted _panicle slender, loosely flowered; lower glumes slightly unequal, short-pointed, half the length of the flowering one_, which bears an awn 3--4 times the length of the spikelet.--Rocky woods; rather common. Aug.

7. M. diffusa, Schreber. (DROP-SEED. NIMBLE WILL.) (Pl. 8, fig. 3--5.) Culms diffusely much branched (8--18' high); contracted _panicles slender_, rather loosely many-flowered, terminal and lateral; _empty glumes extremely minute, the lower obsolete_, the upper truncate; awn once or twice longer than the flowering glume.--Dry hills and woods, from S. New Eng. to Mich., Iowa, and southward. Aug., Sept.--Spikelets only 1" long.

-- 2. TRICHoCHLOA. _Panicle very loose and open, the long branches and pedicels capillary; leaves narrow, often convolute-bristle-form._

8. M. capillaris, Kunth. (HAIR-GRa.s.s.) Culm simple, upright (2 high) from a fibrous root; panicle capillary, expanding (6--20' long, purple); empty glumes unequal, the lower mostly pointless, the upper more or less bristle-pointed, one third or half the length of the long-awned flowering glume.--Sandy soil, W. New Eng. to N. J., Ky., Mo., and southward. Sept.--Pedicels 1--2' long, scarcely thicker than the awns, which are about 1' long.

24. BRACHYeLYTRUM, Beauv. (Pl. 8.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, with a conspicuous filiform pedicel of an abortive second flower about half its length, nearly terete, few, in a simple appressed racemed panicle. Lower glumes unequal, persistent, usually minute, or the lower one almost obsolete. Flowering glume and palet chartaceo-herbaceous, involute, enclosing the linear-oblong grain, somewhat equal, rough with scattered short bristles, the first 5-nerved, extended into a long straight awn, the palet 2-pointed; the awn-like sterile pedicel partly lodged in the groove on its back. Stamens 2; anthers and stigmas very long.--Perennial, with simple culms (1--3 high) from creeping rootstocks, downy sheaths, broad and flat lanceolate pointed leaves, and spikelets ' long without the awn. (Name composed of ?a???, _short_, and ???t???, _husk_, from the minute glumes.)

1. B. aristatum, Beauv. Rocky woods; common. June.--Var. ENGELMaNNI, Gray, is a western form, with the second glume awn-pointed, nearly half the length of the flowering one.

25. HELEoCHLOA, Host. (Pl. 7.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, crowded in a dense spike or spike-like panicle.

Lower glumes persistent, membranaceous, acute, ciliate-carinate, awnless; flowering glume similar, a little longer, and a little exceeding the palet. Stamens 3.--Low cespitose annuals; spike often scarcely exserted from the upper sheath. (Name from ????, _a meadow_, and ???a, _gra.s.s_.)

H. SCHNODES, Host. Usually nearly prostrate and tufted; leaves rather rigid, tapering to a sharp point; spike oblong, thick, 7--20" long.

(Crypsis schnoides, _Lam._)--Waste places, N. J. to Del. (Nat. from Eu.)

26. PHLeUM, L. CAT'S-TAIL GRa.s.s. (Pl. 7.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, in a very dense cylindrical spike-like panicle.

Lower glumes persistent, membranaceous, folded-carinate, subtruncate, mucronate or short-awned; flowering glume hyaline, shorter, truncate.

Stamens 3. Styles distinct.--Perennials. (From f????, a Greek name for a kind of reed.)

P. PRATeNSE, L. (TIMOTHY. HERD'S-GRa.s.s in New Eng. and N. Y.) Tall; _spike long-cylindrical_; lower glumes ciliate on the back, tipped with _a short bristle_.--Meadows, commonly cultivated for hay. (Nat. from Eu.)

1. P. alpnum, L. Low; _spike ovate-oblong_; lower glumes strongly ciliate on the back, tipped with a rough _awn about their own length_.--Alpine tops of the White Mountains, N. H., and high northward.

(Eu.)

27. ALOPECuRUS, L. FOXTAIL GRa.s.s. (Pl. 7.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, jointed on the pedicel. Lower glumes boat-shaped, strongly compressed and keeled, nearly equal, united at base, equalling or exceeding the flowering glume, which is awned on the back below the middle; palet mostly wanting! Stamens 3. Styles mostly united. Stigmas long and feathered.--Cl.u.s.ters contracted into a cylindrical and soft dense spike; perennial. (Name from ???p??, _fox_, and ????, _tail_, from the shape of the spike.)

A. PRATeNSIS, L. (MEADOW FOXTAIL.) Culm upright, smooth (2 high); the upper leaf much shorter than its inflated sheath; spike stout, 1--2'

long; _flowering glume equalling the acute lower glumes; awn exserted more than half its length, twisted_.--Meadows and pastures, eastward.

May. (Nat. from Eu.)

A. GENICULaTUS, L. (FLOATING F.) (Pl. 7, fig. 1--4.) Culm ascending, often bent at the lower joints; upper leaf as long as its sheath; spike slender, 1--2' long; _flowering glume rather shorter than the obtuse lower glumes, the awn from near its base and projecting front half to twice its length beyond it_.--Moist meadows, eastward. June--Aug. (Nat.

from Eu.)

Var. aristulatus, Torr. The awn very slender and scarcely exserted. (A.

aristulatus, _Michx._)--In water and wet places; common. June--Aug.

28. SPORoBOLUS, R. Br. DROP-SEED GRa.s.s. RUSH-GRa.s.s. (Pl. 7.)

Spikelets small, 1- (rarely 2-) flowered, in an open or contracted or spiked panicle. Lower glumes persistent, 1--3-nerved, not awned or pointed, the lower smaller; flowering glume of the same texture as the lower ones (membranaceo-chartaceous) and usually longer than they, naked, awnless and mostly pointless, 1-nerved (rarely somewhat 3-nerved); palet similar, 2-nerved. Stamens chiefly 3. Stigmas simply feathery. Grain globular to oblong or cylindrical, deciduous, often very thin, containing the loose seed.--Culms wiry or rigid. Leaves involute, the throat usually bearded, and sheaths often enclosing the panicles.

(Name from sp???, _seed_, and ????, _to cast forth_.)

[*] _Panicle contracted, often simple; grain oval or oblong; perennial, except n. 2._

1. S. asper, Kunth. Culms tufted (2--4 high); lowest leaves very long, rigid, rough on the edges, tapering to a long involute and thread-like point, the upper short, involute; sheaths partly or at first wholly enclosing the contracted panicle; _flower much longer than the unequal lower glumes_; grain oval or oblong. (Vilfa aspera, _Beauv._)--Sandy fields and dry hills, especially southward. Sept.--Spikelets 2--3"

long. Flowering glume and palet rough above, smooth or hairy below, the palet tapering upward, acute, and one half to twice longer than the glume, or else obtuse and equalled or even considerably exceeded by the glume!

2. S. v.a.g.i.n.aeflrus, Vasey. (Pl. 7, fig. 4, 5.) Culms slender (6--12'

high), ascending; leaves involute-awl-shaped (1--4' long); panicles simple and spiked, the lateral and often the terminal concealed in the sheaths; _flowering glume and palet somewhat equal, acute, about the length of the nearly equal lower glumes_, only {1/3} longer than the oval grain. (Vilfa v.a.g.i.n.aeflora, _Torr._)--Barren and sandy dry fields; common, especially southward. Sept.

3. S. cuspidatus, Torr. Erect culms and appressed leaves more slender than in the preceding; _panicle exserted_, very simple and narrow; spikelets smaller, the lower _glumes ac.u.minate_, little shorter than the cuspidate upper one. (Vilfa cuspidata, _Torr._)--Maine (on the St.

John's River, _G. L. Goodale_); also Iowa, Minn., and common westward.

4. S. depauperatus, Vasey. Resembling n. 3, but the culms dec.u.mbent at base and matted, the leaves short and usually widely spreading, and the lower glumes barely acute, not half the length of the upper one.--W.

Minn. to Kan., and southwestward.

5. S. Virginicus, Kunth. _Culms_ tufted, slender (5--12' long), often proc.u.mbent, _branched_; leaves convolute, rigid; palets rather shorter than the nearly equal acute glumes. (Vilfa Virginica, _Beauv._)--Sandy seash.o.r.e, Virginia (_Clayton_) and southward.--Spikelets much smaller and more numerous than in the others.

6. S. mnor, Vasey. Culms tufted, very slender, geniculate and ascending, simple, 1 high; leaves short and narrow; peduncles little exserted from the sheaths; spikelets (1--2" long) in a very narrow simple compressed panicle (1--2' long), not crowded; glumes and palet nearly equal, acute or somewhat ac.u.minate.--Va. to N. C., Tenn. and Tex.

S. iNDICUS, R. Br. Culms stout, erect, 2--3 high; leaves elongated, attenuate; panicle very narrow, 6--18' long, the densely crowded spikelets " long.--On ballast, and naturalized southward. (From Trop.

Am.)

[*][*] _Panicle pyramidal, open; glumes very unequal; grain globose, utricular; perennials._

7. S. junceus, Kunth. _Leaves involute_, narrow, rigid, the lowest elongated; culm (1--2 high) naked above, bearing a narrow loose panicle; empty _glumes ovate, rather obtuse_, the lower one half as long as, _the upper equalling, the nearly equal flowering glume and palet_.--Dry soil, Penn. to Wisc. and Minn., and (chiefly) south to Fla.

Aug.--Spikelets 1--2" long, shining.

8. S. heterolepis, Gray. _Leaves involute-thread-form_, rigid, the lowest as long as the culm (1--2) which is naked above; panicle very loose; empty _glumes very unequal; the lower awl-shaped_ (or bristle-pointed from a broad base) and somewhat shorter, _the upper ovate-oblong and taper-pointed and longer, than the equal flowering glume and palet_.--Dry soil, Conn. and N. Y. to Minn., Neb., and Mo.

Aug.--Plant exhaling an unpleasant scent (_Sullivant_), stouter than the last, the spikelets thrice larger. Utricle 1" in diameter, shining, thick and coriaceous!

9. S. cryptandrus, Gray. (Pl. 7, fig. 1--3.) Culm 2--3 high; _leaves flat_, pale (2" wide); the pyramidal lead-colored _panicle bursting from the upper sheath_ which usually encloses its base, its spreading branches hairy in the axils; spikelets 1" long; _upper empty glume lanceolate, rather acute, twice the length of the lower one_, as long as the nearly equal flowering glume and palet; sheaths strongly bearded at the throat.--Sandy sh.o.r.es, coast of New Eng. and of the Great Lakes, Minn. to Kan., and westward. Aug., Sept.