Class II. Monocotyledonous or Endogenous Plants (part 2)
5. S. púngens, Vahl. Running rootstocks long and stout; culm sharply 3-angled throughout (1–4° high) with concave sides; leaves 1–3, elongated (4–10´ long), keeled and channelled; spikelets 1–6, capitate, ovoid, usually long, overtopped by the pointed involucral leaf; scales ovate, sparingly ciliate, 2-cleft at the apex and awn-pointed from between the acute lobes; anthers tipped with an awl-shaped minutely fringed appendage; style 2-cleft (rarely 3-cleft); bristles 2–6, shorter than the obovate plano-convex and mucronate smooth achene.—Borders of salt and fresh ponds and streams, throughout N. Am. (Eu., S. Am.)
6. S. Torrèyi, Olney. Rootstocks slender if any (so that the plant is readily pulled up from the mud); culm 3-angled, with concave sides, rather slender (2–4° high), leafy at base; leaves 2 or 3, more than half the length of the culm, triangular-channelled, slender; spikelets 1–4, oblong or spindle-shaped, acute, distinct, pale chestnut-color, long overtopped by the slender erect involucral leaf; scales ovate, smooth, entire, barely mucronate; style 3-cleft; bristles longer than the unequally triangular-obovate very smooth long-pointed achene.—Borders of ponds, brackish and fresh, N. Eng. to Penn., Mich., and Minn.
7. S. Olnèyi, Gray. Culm 3-wing-angled, with deeply excavated sides, stout (2–7° high), the upper sheath bearing a short triangular leaf or none; spikelets 6–12, closely capitate, ovoid, obtuse, overtopped by the short involucral leaf; scales orbicular, smooth, the inconspicuous mucronate point shorter than the scarious apex; anthers with a very short and blunt minutely bearded tip; style 2-cleft; bristles 6, scarcely equalling the narrowly obovate plano-convex and mucronate achene.—Salt marshes, S. New Eng. to Fla., west to the Pacific.
S. mucronàtus, L. Resembling the last, 1–3° high; spikelets numerous in a dense cluster, oblong-ovate, 6–8´´ long or less; scales ovate, mucronate, firm, scarcely at all scarious; style 3-cleft; achene smaller, broadly obovate.—In a single locality in Delaware Co., Penn.; probably introduced from S. Europe.
[+][+] Culm triangular, tall and stout, from slender running rootstocks; spikelets many-flowered, loosely umbellate or corymbed, involucellate-bracted.
8. S. Cánbyi, Gray. Culm (3–5° high) 3-angled, usually sharply so above, obtusely below, the sheath at base extended into a long slender triangular and channelled leaf (2–4° long); involucral leaf similar (4–8´ long), continuing the culm; spikelets oblong (4–6´´ long), single or sometimes proliferously 2 or 3 together, nodding on the apex of the 5–9 long filiform and flattened peduncles or rays of the dichotomous umbel-like corymb, or the central one nearly sessile; scales loosely imbricated, oblong-ovate, acute, pale, thin and scarious, with a greenish nerved back; bristles 6, firm, furnished above with spreading hairs rather than barbs, equalling the slender abrupt beak of the obovate-triangular shining achene (1½´´ long).—In a pond near Salisbury, Md.
[+][+][+] Culm terete, very tall and stout, from a deep running rootstock, leafless or very nearly so; spikelets numerous, clustered in a one-sided compound umbel-like panicle longer than the involucral leaf; involucellate bracts small, scale-like and rusty-scarious; scales of the spikelets rusty or chestnut-brown, scarious, the midrib extended into a mucronate point.
9. S. lacústris, L. (Great Bulrush.) Culm 3–9° high, ½–1´ thick at base; spikelets ovate-oblong (3–4´´ long); scales mostly a little downy on the back and ciliate; style 2-cleft; achene pale and dull, obovate with a narrowed base, plano-convex, mucronate-pointed, usually overtopped by the 4–6 slender downwardly barbed bristles. (S. validus, Vahl.)—Common everywhere in still fresh water. (Eu., Asia, etc.)
[+][+][+][+] Culms slender from an annual root, terete, plano-convex or obtusely triangular, naked; the sheaths rarely bearing a short leaf; spikelets few or several in a sessile cluster, sometimes solitary, much overtopped by the involucral leaf; bristles often few or wanting.
10. S. débilis, Pursh. (Pl. 3, fig. 1–5.) Culms obtusely triangular, with somewhat hollowed sides, 1–2° high, yellowish-green, shining; spikelets 3–12, capitate, ovate-oblong, obtuse (3–4´´ long), chestnut-brown; involucral leaf often horizontal at maturity; scales roundish; stamens 3; style 2–3-cleft; bristles 6, stout, downwardly barbed, equalling or two surpassing the obovate turgidly plano-convex (or bluntly 3-sided) abruptly mucronate-pointed smoothish achene.—Swamps, Mass. to S. C., Minn. and Neb. Aug., Sept.
11. S. Smíthii, Gray. Culms terete, slender, 3–12´ high, often leaf-bearing from the upper sheath, dull green as are the 1–3 oblong-ovate acute spikelets; involucral leaf always erect; scales oblong-oval; style 2-cleft; bristles 1 or 2 minute rudiments or none; achene somewhat lenticular, smooth, deciduous with the scales.—Wet shores, Delaware Bay to L. Ontario, Mich., N. Ind., and Ill. July.
12. S. supìnus, L., var. Hállii, Gray. Culms filiform, 5–12´ high; upper sheath rarely distinctly leaf-bearing; spikelets 1–7 in a sessile or sometimes geminately proliferous cluster, ovate-oblong becoming cylindrical, greenish; scales ovate, strongly keeled, mucronate-pointed; stamens 2 or 3; style 2-cleft; bristles none; achene obovate-orbicular, mucronate, plano-convex, strongly wrinkled transversely.—Wet shores, Ill. to Tex.; also found in E. Mass. (Hitchings). (Eu.)
[*][*][*] Spikelets in simple or mostly compound umbellate or cymose-panicled clusters, many-flowered, terete; involucre of mostly several flat leaves; culm tall, from tufted or running rootstocks, triangular, leafy, sedge-like; leaves rough on the margin; style mostly 3-cleft.
[+] Spikelets large (6–15´´ long); midrib of the scales extended beyond the mostly lacerate or two-cleft apex into a distinct awn.
13. S. marítimus, L. (Sea Club-Rush.) Leaves flat, linear, as long as the stout culm (1–3° high), those of the involucre 1–4, very unequal; spikelets few–several in a sessile cluster, and often also with 1–4 unequal rays bearing 1–7 ovate or oblong-cylindrical (rusty-brown) spikelets; awns of the scales soon recurved; achene obovate-orbicular, compressed, flat on one side, convex or obtuse-angled on the other, minutely pointed, shining, shorter than the 1–6 unequal and deciduous (sometimes obsolete) bristles.—Saline localities, on the coast from N. Scotia to Fla., and in the interior across the continent. (Eu.)—Var. macrostáchyos, Michx.; larger, with very thick oblong-cylindrical heads (1–1½´ long), and longer involucral leaf (often 1° long).
14. S. fluviátilis, Gray. (River C.) Culm very stout, 3–5° high; leaves flat, broadly linear (½´ wide or more), tapering gradually to a point, the upper and those of the very long involucre very much exceeding the compound umbel; rays 5–9, elongated, recurved-spreading, each bearing 1–5 ovate or oblong-cylindrical acute paler heads; scales less lacerate and awns less recurved; achene obovate, sharply and exactly triangular, conspicuously pointed, opaque, scarcely equalling the 6 rigid bristles.—Borders of lakes and large streams, W. Vt. to Conn. and Penn., west to Minn. and Iowa.
[+][+] Spikelets very numerous, small (1–3´´ long); scales mucronate-pointed or blunt; umbel-like cymose panicle irregular, compound or decompound; culm 2–5° high, unusually leafy; leaves broadly linear, green and rather soft; bristles very slender, often more or less tortuous and naked below.
15. S. sylváticus, L. Spikelets lead-colored, clustered 3–10 together at the end of the mostly slender ultimate divisions of the open decompound panicle, ovoid or lance-ovate, 2´´ long; scales bluntish; bristles 6, downwardly barbed throughout, rather exceeding the triangular short-pointed achene; style 3-cleft.—Along brooks, E. Mass. to N. Y.; rare.
Var. dígynus, Boeckl. Style 2-cleft and the achene not at all angled on the back; stamens 2, and bristles 4. (S. microcarpus, Presl.)—N. Scotia and N. Eng. to Minn., and westward.
16. S. atròvirens, Muhl. Leaves somewhat more rigid; spikelets dull greenish-brown, densely conglomerate (10–30 together) into close heads, these also usually densely clustered in a less compound panicle; scales pointed; bristles sparsely and strongly downwardly barbed above the middle, naked below, nearly straight, as long as the conspicuously pointed and obovate-oblong triangular achene.—Wet meadows and bogs, N. Scotia and N. Eng., west to Minn., Kan., and the Pacific.
17. S. polyphýllus, Vahl. Culm usually more leafy; spikelets yellow-brown, ovate, becoming cylindrical, clustered 3–8 together in small heads on the short ultimate divisions of the open decompound umbel; scales mucronate; bristles 6, usually twice bent, soft-barbed toward the summit only, about twice the length of the achene.—Swamps and borders of ponds, western N. Eng to N. C., west to Minn, and Ark.
9. ERIÓPHORUM, L. Cotton-Grass. (Pl. 3.)
Bristles naked, usually very numerous, often silky and becoming greatly elongated. Otherwise as in Scirpus.—Spikelets single or clustered or umbellate, usually involucrate with erect scale-like bracts, upon a leafy or naked stem; scales membranaceous, 1–3-nerved. Style very slender and elongated, 3-cleft. Achene acutely triangular. (Name composed of ἔριον, wool or cotton, and φορός, bearing.)
[*] Bristles 6, rust-colored, becoming tortuous and entangled; culm very leafy, bearing numerous spikelets in an involucrate decompound cymose-panicled umbel.
1. E. lineàtum, Benth. & Hook. Culm triangular, leafy (1–3° high); leaves linear, flat, rather broad, rough on the margins; umbels terminal and sometimes axillary, loose, drooping, the terminal with a 1–3-leaved involucre much shorter than the long slender rays; spikelets oblong, becoming cylindrical (2–4´´ long), on thread-like drooping pedicels; bristles at maturity scarcely exceeding the ovate green-keeled pointed scales; achene sharp-pointed. (Scirpus lineatus, Michx.)—Low grounds, western N. Eng. to Ga., west to Minn. and Mo.
2. E. cyperìnum, L. (Pl. 3, fig. 6–10, under Scirpus.) (Wool-Grass.) Culm nearly terete (2–5° high); leaves narrowly linear, long, rigid, those of the involucre 3–5, longer than the umbel, the rays at length drooping; spikelets exceedingly numerous, ovate, clustered, or the lateral pedicelled, woolly at maturity (1½–3´´ long); the rust-colored bristles much longer than the pointless scales; achene short-pointed. (Scirpus Eriophorum, Michx.)—Wet meadows and swamps, Newf. to Fla., west to Minn. and Iowa. Exceedingly variable in the character and size of the umbel, the typical form having the spikelets mostly clustered in small heads.—Var. láxum has the spikelets scattered, the lateral long-pedicelled.
[*][*] Bristles 6, crisped, white; spikelet single, small; involucre of one short bract.
3. E. alpìnum, L. (Pl. 3, fig. 1–6.) Culms slender, many in a row from a running rootstock (6–10´ high), scabrous, naked; sheaths at the base awl-tipped.—Cold bogs, Lab. to N. Eng., west to Minn. June. (Eu.)
[*][*][*] Bristles very numerous, not crisped, forming dense cottony heads in fruit.
[+] Culm bearing a single spikelet; involucre none.
4. E. vaginàtum, L. Culms in close tufts (1° high), leafy only at the base, above with 2 inflated leafless sheaths; root-leaves long and thread-form, triangular-channelled; scales of the ovate spikelet long-pointed, lead-color at maturity.—Cold and high peat-bogs, N. Eng. to Penn., Mich., Minn., and northward. May, June. (Eu.)
[+][+] Culm leafy, bearing several umbellate-clustered heads, involucrate.
5. E. Virgínicum, L. Culm rigid (2–4° high); leaves very narrowly linear, elongated, flat; spikelets nearly sessile, crowded in a dense cluster or head; wool rusty or copper-color, only thrice the length of the scale; stamen 1.—Bogs and low meadows, Newf. to Fla., west to Minn. and Neb. July, Aug.—Var. álbum, Gray, has the wool white. N. New York.
6. E. polystáchyon, L. Culm rigid (1–2° high), obscurely triangular; leaves linear, flat, or barely channelled below, triangular at the point; involucre 2–3-leaved; spikelets several (4–12), on smooth nodding peduncles, some of them elongated in fruit; achene obovate; wool white, very straight (1´ long or more).—Bogs, Newf. to Ga., Minn., and westward. June, July. (Eu.)—Var. latifòlium, Gray; peduncles rough; leaves sometimes broader and flatter.
7. E. grácile, Koch. Culm slender (1–2° high), rather triangular; leaves slender, channelled-triangular, rough on the angles; involucre short and scale-like, mostly 1-leaved; peduncles rough or roughish-pubescent; spikelets 3–7, small, when mature the copious white wool 6–9´´ long; achene elliptical-linear.—Cold bogs, Newf. to N. J., west to Minn. and Mo. Scales in our plant mostly light chestnut and about 3-nerved. June–Aug. (Eu.)
10. FUIRÈNA, Rottboell. Umbrella-Grass. (Pl. 2.)
Spikelets many-flowered, terete, clustered or solitary, axillary and terminal. Scales imbricated in many ranks, awned below the apex, all floriferous. Perianth of 3 ovate or heart-shaped petaloid scales, mostly on claws, and usually with as many alternating small bristles. Stamens 3. Style 3-cleft. Achene triangular, pointed with the persistent base of the style. Culms from a perennial root, obtusely triangular. (Named for G. Fuiren, a Danish botanist.)
1. F. squarròsa, Michx., var. híspida, Chapm. (Pl. 2, fig. 1–7.) Stem (1–3° high) leafy; leaves and sheaths usually densely hairy; spikelets ovoid-oblong (4–6´´ long), clustered in heads, bristly with the spreading awns of the scales; perianth-scales rhombic or deltoid-ovate, with a short thick awn or point, the interposed mostly barbed bristles shorter than the achene.—Sandy wet places, N. J. to Fla., west to Ky. and Tex.
Var. pùmila, Torr. Usually low (1–6´ high or more), with 1–6 spikelets; perianth-scales narrowly to broadly oblong or ovate, long-stipitate and attenuate to a long awn; barbed bristles usually exceeding the achene.—Mass. to N. J., Fla., and La.; Mich. The commonest form.
11. HEMICÁRPHA, Nees. (Pl. 2.)
Spikelet, flowers, etc., as in Scirpus, except that there is a minute translucent scale (readily overlooked) between the flower and the axis of the spikelet. Stamen only one. Style 2-cleft. Bristles or other perianth none. (Name from ἥμι, half, and κάρφος, straw or chaff, in allusion to the single inner scalelet.)
1. H. subsquarròsa, Nees. Dwarf or minute annual (1–5´ high); involucre 1-leaved, as if a continuation of the bristle-like culm, and usually with another minute leaf; spikelets 2–3 (barely 2´´ long); scales brown, tipped with a short recurved point.—Sandy borders of ponds and rivers, N. Eng. to Fla., west to the Pacific.
12. LIPOCÁRPHA, R. Br. (Pl. 2.)
Spikelets terete, many-flowered, in a terminal close cluster involucrate by leafy bracts. Scales spatulate, regularly imbricated all round in many ranks, awnless, deciduous, a few of the lowest empty. Inner scales (bractlets) 2 to each flower, thin, one between the scale of the spikelet and the flower, one between the latter and the axis of the spikelet. Bristles or other perianth none. Stamens 1 or 2. Style 2–3-cleft. Achene flattish or triangular, naked at the tip.—Culms leafy at base. (Name formed of λίπος, fat, and κάρφος, chaff, from the thickness of the inner scales of some species.)
1. L. maculàta, Torr. Annual; culm (4–8´ high) much longer than the linear concave leaves; spikelets (1–2´´ long) green and dark-spotted; inner scales delicate; stamen one; achene oblong with a contracted base.—Springy or miry places, Va. to Fla.; near Philadelphia, probably adventive.
13. RHYNCHÓSPORA, Vahl. Beak-Rush. (Pl. 4.)
Spikelets panicled or variously clustered, ovate, globular, or spindle-shaped, terete, or sometimes flattish; but the scales open or barely concave (not boat-shaped nor keeled); the lower commonly loosely imbricated and empty, the uppermost often subtending imperfect flowers. Perianth in the form of bristles (mostly 6). Stamens mostly 3. Achene lenticular, globular, or flat, crowned with a conspicuous tubercle or beak consisting of the persistent indurated base or even of the greater part of the style.—Chiefly perennials, with more or less triangular and leafy culms; the spikelets in terminal and axillary clusters; flowering in summer. (Name composed of ῥύγχος, a snout, and σπορά, a seed, from the beaked achene.)
§ 1. RHYNCHOSPORA proper. Spikelets terete or biconvex, few–many-flowered; style conspicuously 2-cleft, its base only forming the tubercle of the mostly lenticular achene; bristles usually present, merely rough or barbed-denticulate (not plumose).
[*] Achene transversely wrinkled; bristles mostly 6, upwardly denticulate.
1. R. cymòsa, Nutt. Culm triangular; leaves linear (¼´ wide); cymes corymbose, the spikelets crowded and clustered; achene round-obovate, twice the length of the bristles, four times the length of the depressed-conical tubercle.—Low grounds, Penn. and N. J. to Fla., west to N. Ind. and Ill.
2. R. Torreyàna, Gray. (Pl. 4, figs. 1–5.) Culm nearly terete, slender; leaves bristle-form; cymes panicled, somewhat loose, the spikelets mostly pedicelled; achene oblong-obovate, longer than the bristles, thrice the length of the broad compressed-conical tubercle.—Swamps; pine-barrens of N. J. to S. C.
3. R. inexpánsa, Vahl. Culm triangular, slender; leaves narrowly linear; spikelets spindle-shaped, mostly pedicelled, in drooping panicles; achene oblong, half the length of the slender bristles, twice the length of the triangular-subulate tubercle.—Low grounds, Va. to Ga.
[*][*] Achene smooth and even.
[+] Bristles 6, long and conspicuous, upwardly denticulate.
4. R. fúsca, Roem. & Schultes. Culm 6–12´ high; leaves bristle-form channelled; spikelets ovate-oblong, few, clustered in 1–3 loose heads (dark chestnut-color); achene obovate, half the length of the bristles, equalling the triangular-sword-shaped acute tubercle, which is rough serrulate on the margins.—Low grounds, N. Brunswick to N. J., west to L. Superior. (Eu.)
5. R. gracilénta, Gray. Culms very slender, 1–2° high; leaves narrowly linear; spikelets ovoid, in 2–4 small clusters, the lateral long-peduncled; achene ovoid, rather shorter than the bristles, about the length of the flat awl-shaped tubercle.—Low grounds, southern N. Y. and N. J. to Fla.
6. R. oligántha, Gray. Culm and leaves filiform, 6–12´ high; spikelets very few (1–4), ovate-oblong; bristles plumose below the middle; achene obovate-oblong, bearing a conical tubercle {1/3} its length.—Del. (Canby) to Fla.
[+][+] Bristles none, or 1–3 and minute; spikelets pale, 1-flowered.
7. R. pállida, M. A. Curtis. Culm (1–2° high) acutely triangular; leaves and spikelets as in the next species, but only a terminal dense cluster, which is less white or turns pale reddish-tawny; achene obovate-lenticular, tipped with a minute depressed and apiculate tubercle; the delicate bristles 4–5 times shorter or obsolete.—Bogs in pine-barrens of N. J. and N. C.
[+][+][+] Bristles long, denticulate downward, or both ways in n. 11.
[++] Spikelets white or whitish, becoming tawny with age, perfecting only a single flower; stamens usually 2; bristles 9–12, or even 20.
8. R. álba, Vahl. Culm slender (1–2° high), triangular above; leaves narrowly linear or almost bristle-form; spikelets lanceolate, densely crowded in a head-like terminal corymb and usually one or two lateral ones; achene oblong-obovate with a narrowed base, scarcely longer than the flattened-awl-shaped tubercle, shorter than the bristles.—Bogs, Newf. to Fla., west to N. Ind., Minn., and Oregon. (Eu.)
[++][++] Spikelets chestnut-colored or darker in n. 10 and 11, few–several-flowered; stamens 3; bristles usually 6.
9. R. capillàcea, Torr. Culm 6–9´ high, slender; leaves bristle-form; spikelets 3–6 in a terminal cluster, and commonly 1 or 2 on a remote axillary peduncle, oblong-lanceolate (pale chestnut-color, 3´´ long); achene oblong-ovoid, stipitate, very obscurely wrinkled, about half the length of the (6, rarely 12) stout bristles, and twice the length of the lanceolate-beaked tubercle.—Bogs and rocky river-banks, N. Vt. to Penn., west to western N. Y. and Minn.—Var. levisèta, Hill. Bristles perfectly smooth. N. W. Ind.
10. R. Knieskérnii, Carey. Culm 6–18° high, slender; leaves narrowly linear, short; spikelets numerous, crowded in 4–6 distant clusters, oblong-ovate (scarcely 1´´ long); achene obovate, narrowed at base, equalling the bristles, twice the length of the triangular flattened tubercle.—Pine-barrens of N. J. (on bog iron ore exclusively) to Va.; rare.
11. R. glomeràta, Vahl. Culm 1–3° high; leaves linear, flat; spikelets numerous in distant clusters or heads (often in pairs from the same sheath), ovoid-oblong; achene obovate, margined, narrowed at base, as long as the lance-awl-shaped flattened tubercle, which equals the always downwardly barbed bristles.—Low grounds, N. Eng. to Fla., west to Mich. and N. Ind.
12. R. cephalántha, Gray. Culm stout (2–3° high); leaves narrowly linear, flat, keeled; spikelets very numerous, crowded in 2 or 3 or more dense globular heads which are distant (and often in pairs), oblong-lanceolate, dark brown; achene orbicular-obovate, margined, narrowed at base, about as long as the awl-shaped beak; bristles twice longer, stout, barbed downward and sometimes also upward.—Sandy swamps, Long Island to N. J. and Fla.
§ 2. CERATOSCHŒ̀NUS. Spikelets lanceolate, acuminate, in fruit flattish, cymose-panicled, of only one perfect and 1–4 staminate flowers; scales few; bristles rigid, minutely scabrous upward; style simple or barely 2-toothed, filiform and gradually thickened downward, in fruit persistent as an exserted, slender-awl-shaped, upwardly roughened beak, several times longer than the smooth flat obovate achene; coarse perennials; spikelets in flower 4´´, in fruit including the projecting beak about 1´ long.
13. R. corniculàta, Gray. (Horned Rush.) Culm 3–6° high; leaves about 6´´ wide; cymes decompound, diffuse; bristles awl-shaped, stout, unequal, shorter than the achene.—Wet places, Penn. to Fla., west to S. Ind. and Mo.
14. R. macrostàchya, Torr. (Pl. 4, fig. 1–4.) Cymes decompound, or in the northern form somewhat simple and smaller, and the spikelets usually more clustered; bristles capillary, twice the length of the achene.—Borders of ponds, Mass. to N. J. and Fla.; rare.
14. CLÀDIUM, P. Browne. Twig-Rush. (Pl. 5.)
Spikelets ovoid or oblong, of several loosely imbricated scales; the lower empty, one or two above bearing a staminate or imperfect flower; the terminal flower perfect and fertile. Perianth none. Stamens 2. Style 2–3-cleft, deciduous. Achene ovoid or globular, somewhat corky at the summit, or pointed, without any tubercle, in which it differs from Rhynchospora. (Diminutive of κλάδος, a branch, from the repeatedly branched cyme of the original species.)
1. C. mariscoìdes, Torr. Perennial; culm obscurely triangular (1–2° high); leaves narrow, channelled, scarcely rough-margined; cymes small; the spikelets clustered in heads 3–8 together on 2–4 peduncles; style 3-cleft.—Bogs, N. Scotia to Del., west to S. Minn. and Iowa. July.
15. SCLÈRIA, Berg. Nut-Rush. (Pl. 5.)
Flowers monœcious; the fertile spikelets 1-flowered, usually intermixed with clusters of few-flowered staminate spikelets. Scales loosely imbricated, the lower empty. Stamens 1–3. Style 3-cleft. Achene globular, stony, bony, or enamel-like in texture. Bristles, etc., none. Perennials, with triangular leafy culms, mostly from creeping rootstocks; flowering in summer; all in low ground or swamps. Inflorescence, in our species, of terminal and axillary clusters, the lower clusters usually peduncled. (Name, σκληρία, hardness, from the indurated fruit.)
[*] Achene smooth.
1. S. triglomeràta, Michx. Culm (1½–3° high) and broadly linear leaves roughish; fascicles of spikelets few, the lowest peduncled, the upper somewhat in threes; achene ovate-globose or depressed, on an obscure crustaceous disk.—Mass. and Vt. to Fla., west to Minn. and Tex.—Var. grácilis, Britton. Culms slender (1–2° long); fascicles few-flowered, the lower (2–3-flowered) on very long filiform peduncles; achene not more than half as large, acutish.—N. J.
2. S. oligántha, Ell. Culms slender, 2° high, the angles somewhat winged; leaves linear (2´´ wide), smooth except the scabrous apex; lateral fascicles 1 or 2, usually on long exserted peduncles; achene ovate, on a tuberculate disk.—Va. to Fla. and Tex.
[*][*] Achene papillose or warty.
3. S. pauciflòra, Muhl. Smoothish or hairy; culm slender (9–24´ high); leaves narrowly linear; fascicles few-flowered, the lateral pedunculate, sessile, or wanting; bracts ciliate; achene globose-ovate; the disk a narrow ring bearing 3 pairs of minute tubercles.—N. H. to Ohio, south to Fla. and Tex.
[*][*][*] Achene reticulated or wrinkled.
4. S. reticulàris, Michx. (Pl. 5, fig. 6–10.) Culms slender, erect, scabrous (1–2½° high); leaves linear (1–1½´´ wide), smooth; lateral fascicles 1–3, loose, remote, nearly erect, on short often included peduncles; bracts glabrous; achene globose, regularly reticulated and pitted, not hairy, resting upon a double greenish conspicuously 3-lobed disk, the inner appressed to and deciduous with the achene.—E. Mass. to Fla.—Var. pubéscens, Britton. Edges of reticulations more or less hairy, especially toward the apex; lateral fascicles generally on longer peduncles. Pine-barrens of N. J. to Fla.—Var. obscùra, Britton. Achene bony, its surface with very obscure reticulations, nearly smooth at the summit. R. I. and N. C.
5. S. Torreyàna, Walpers. Culms weak, diffuse, slightly scabrous or smooth; leaves linear (2–4´´ wide), smooth; lateral fascicles loose, on more or less elongated and drooping filiform peduncles; achene irregularly pitted-reticulated or pitted-rugose with the ridges somewhat spirally arranged and more or less hairy (sometimes smooth); otherwise as in the last. (S. laxa, Torr.)—Pine-barrens, N. J. to Fla. and Tex.
6. S. verticillàta, Muhl. Smooth; culms simple, slender (4–24´ high); leaves narrowly linear, fascicles 3–9-flowered, 4–6, sessile in an interrupted spikelet; achene globose (½´´ broad), somewhat triangular at base, rough-wrinkled with short elevated ridges; disk obsolete.—E. Mass. to Ont., Minn., and south to the Gulf.
16. CÀREX, Ruppius. Sedge. (By L. H. Bailey.)
Flowers unisexual, destitute of floral envelopes, disposed in spikes; the staminate consisting of three stamens, in the axil of a bract, or scale; the pistillate comprising a single pistil with a bifid or trifid style, forming in fruit a hard lenticular or triangular achene, which is enclosed in a sac (perigynium) formed by the complete union of the borders of a bractlet or of connate bractlets and borne in the axil of a bract, or scale. Staminate and pistillate flowers borne in different parts of the spike (spike androgynous), or in separate spikes on the same culm, or rarely the plant diœcious.—Perennial grass-like herbs with mostly triangular culms, 3-ranked leaves, usually with rough margins and keel, and spikes in the axils of leafy or scale-like bracts, often aggregated into heads. An exceedingly critical genus, the study of which should be attempted only with complete and fully mature specimens. (The classical Latin name, of obscure signification; derived by some from κείρω, to cut, on account of the sharp leaves—as the English name Shear-grass.) (Pl. 5 and 6.)
Synopsis of Sections and Groups.
§ 1. CAREX proper. Staminate flowers forming one or more terminal linear or club-shaped spikes (often pistillate at base or apex). Pistillate flowers usually in distinct and simple mostly peduncled spikes. Cross-section of perigynium circular, obtusely angled, or prominently triangular in outline. Style mostly 3-parted and achene triangular or triquetrous.
[*] 1. Physocarpæ. Perigynium mostly straw-colored at maturity, papery in texture, usually more or less inflated, smooth (sometimes hairy in n. 6), nerved, tapering into a beak as long as or longer than the body; spikes few to many, distinct, compactly flowered; stigmas 3 (2 in n. 10).
[+] 1. Paucifloræ. Perigynium greenish, linear-lanceolate or almost needle shaped, not inflated, strongly deflexed at maturity, several times longer than the inconspicuous scale; spike androgynous, the pistillate flowers at base, few.—Sp. 1.
[+] 2. Lupulinæ. Perigynium green or greenish tawny or sometimes yellow, more or less inflated (except in n. 2–4) long, usually very turgid at base, mostly erect or nearly so, very gradually attenuate to a long slenderly toothed beak exceeding the scale; spikes 3 or more, the staminate mostly 1 and stalked, the pistillate often sessile, usually short and thick, often becoming dark colored in drying.—Sp. 2–8.
[+] 3. Vesicariæ. Perigynium smooth and shining, much inflated, at maturity straw-colored or sometimes purple, beaked and conspicuously short toothed (entire in n. 10), usually prominently few nerved, much shorter than in [+] 2; staminate spikes commonly 2 or more; pistillate spikes as a rule long and densely cylindrical.—Sp. 9–16.
[+] 4. Pseudocyperæ. Perigynium less inflated, more conspicuously nerved or even costate, and with more or less setaceous or awned teeth; scale usually awned; spikes mostly nodding or spreading, comose in appearance, greenish, greenish-yellow, or ochroleucous.—Sp. 17–19.
[+] 5. Squarrosæ. Perigynium obconic or obovoid, squarrose in exceedingly dense short spikes.—Sp. 20, 21.
[*] 2. Trachychlænæ. Perigynium mostly thick and hard in texture, often scabrous or hirsute, straight-beaked; pistillate spikes compactly flowered, mostly large, erect or nearly so; staminate spikes 1 or more; stigmas 3. Generally large and coarse.
[+] 1. Shortianæ. Terminal spike androgynous, staminate below; perigynium small, scabrous, nearly beakless, entire.—Sp. 22.
[+] 2. Anomalæ. Terminal spike all staminate; pistillate spikes long and cylindrical, mostly dense; perigynium broad and short, short-beaked, the orifice very slightly notched or entire, mostly granulate.—Sp. 23.
[+] 3. Hirtæ. A heterogeneous group, distinguished from [+] 2 by the longer and more deeply cut beak (slightly toothed in n. 24), and by the hairy perigynium (smooth in n. 25)—Sp. 24–27.
[+] 4. Paludosæ. Staminate spikes 2 or more, long stalked; the pistillate 2–several, usually all peduncled, long and heavy, loose-flowered, erect or nodding; perigynium large, thick in texture, strongly nerved, mostly smooth, usually conspicuously beaked. Coarse species.—Sp. 28, 29.
[*] 3. Microrhynchæ. Parallel with [*] 2; distinguished in general by the much smaller and nearly or entirely beakless and mostly entire-mouthed perigynium, which is much thinner in texture; stigmas 2 or 3. Paludose and alpine species, of various habit, mostly with colored spikes, often in dense tufts or tussocks.
[+] 1. Atratæ. Terminal spike club-shaped and androgynous with the staminate flowers below (very rarely all staminate in n. 32); pistillate spikes mostly short and dark-colored, erect or drooping; stigmas 3.—Sp. 30–32.
[+] 2. Rigidæ. Mostly stiff, with short erect closely flowered spikes, an entirely staminate terminal spike, dark colored scales, and bracts with purple or black auricles at base; stigmas 2 or 3.—Sp. 33.
[+] 3. Acutæ. Mostly larger and more slender, usually paludose, with green or light-colored large and long spikes; stigmas 2 (3 in n. 39). Distinguished from [+] 2 mainly by habit.—Sp. 34–39.
[+] 4. Cryptocarpæ. Large, with nodding or drooping large spikes, their dark scales very long and conspicuous; stigmas 2.—Sp. 40, 41.
[+] 5. Pendulinæ. Distinguished from [+] 4 by the smaller size, smaller spikes, sheathless bracts, and whitish, more or less granulated, nearly pointless perigynium; stigmas 3.—Sp. 42–45.
[*] 4. Hymenochlænæ. Perigynium mostly light green or whitish, usually thin and membranous, often somewhat inflated or loosely investing the achene, commonly smooth and shining (hairy in n. 46, sometimes in n. 47), slender or oblong, attenuate to a distinct or long minutely toothed straight beak (or beakless or nearly so in [+] 1 and n. 55); pistillate spikes several or many, mostly loosely flowered and on filiform nodding or widely spreading peduncles; bracts leaf-like; terminal spike staminate or androgynous; stigmas 3. Mostly rather tall and slender upland species.
[+] 1. Virescentes. Terminal spike pistillate at top; pistillate spikes oblong or cylindrical, dense, erect; perigynium ovate or obovate, nearly or quite beakless, often hairy.—Sp. 46, 47.
[+] 2. Sylvaticæ. Terminal spike all staminate; pistillate spikes mostly long-exserted, slender; perigynium few-nerved, contracted into a cylindrical beak which is longer than the body.—Sp. 48.
[+] 3. Flexiles. Terminal spike all staminate; pistillate spikes rather thick (very small in n. 50), more or less drooping; perigynium beaked, few-nerved or nerveless, tawny or whitish.—Sp. 49, 50.
[+] 4. Debiles. Terminal spike all staminate (occasionally pistillate above in n. 53); pistillate spikes very narrow and slender, long-exserted and nodding, mostly very loosely flowered; perigynium rather small, not turgid, prominently beaked.—Sp. 51–53.
[+] 5. Gracillimæ. Terminal spike pistillate at top; pistillate spikes habitually thicker than in [+] 4; perigynium ovate-oblong, more or less turgid; the beak short or none.—Sp. 54–57.
[+] 6. Griseæ. Terminal spike staminate; perigynium more or less turgid or plump, often glaucous, scarcely beaked, finely striate; spikes erect.—Sp. 58, 59.
[*] 5. Spirostachyæ. Perigynium smooth or minutely granulated or rarely somewhat serrate on the margins, prominently nerved, mostly yellowish, squarrose, mostly beaked (entirely beakless in n. 63), the orifice entire; staminate spike mostly single; pistillate spikes 2–5, short (usually 1´ long or less), yellow or fuscous, compactly flowered; stigmas 3.—Medium-sized species, growing in meadows and grassy swales.
[+] 1. Granulares. Spikes scattered, cylindrical, the lowest long-stalked; bracts erect, long and leafy; sheaths short or nearly obsolete.—Sp. 60, 61.
[+] 2. Extensæ. Spikes mostly approximate or aggregated at the top of the culm (becoming remote in C. extensa), the lowest 1 or 2 subtended by a long and leafy mostly abruptly spreading and nearly or entirely sheathless bract. Terminal spike sometimes androgynous.—Sp. 62.
[+] 3. Pallescentes. Spikes globular or short-oblong, obtuse, sessile or short-peduncled, approximate at the top of the culm; bracts short, leaf-like, sheathless; perigynium entire at the orifice, the beak none or very short and stout.—Sp. 63, 64.
[*] 6. Dactylostachyæ. Perigynium mostly short and triangular, mostly with a short and straight or curved beak, green or greenish, scarcely inflated; scales of the pistillate spikes mostly whitish (sometimes dark-colored in the Digitatæ), often small; staminate spike mostly one; pistillate spikes short (seldom exceeding 1´), commonly rather loosely flowered and slender (spike single and plant diœcious in n. 83); bracts sheathing, the sheaths often conspicuous and colored.—Low and lax or slender species inhabiting meadows and copses.
[+] 1. Oligocarpæ. Slender and narrow-leaved, with leafy bracts and inconspicuous green sheaths; perigynium rounded on the angles, finely many-striate, often somewhat punctulate as in n. 58, to which the group forms a transition.—Sp. 65–67.
[+] 2. Laxifloræ. Slender and more or less broad-leaved, with mostly leafy bracts, green or purple sheaths, and loosely flowered spikes; perigynium mostly conspicuously three-angled, with a more or less curved beak.—Sp. 68–74.
[+] 3. Paniceæ. Mostly stouter and narrow-leaved, with thinner spikes; perigynium often strongly nerved, not conspicuously triangular, often somewhat turgid; bracts and sheaths various.—Sp. 75–78.
[+] 4. Bicolores. Small species with a beakless, more or less round or pyriform perigynium, which is commonly glaucous; terminal spike androgynous or all staminate; stigmas mostly 2.—Sp. 79.
[+] 5. Digitatæ. Low species; sheaths membranaceous or hyaline and colored, either not prolonged into a bract or the bract very short and not foliaceous; perigynium more or less three-angled, often hairy, the beak straight or nearly so.—Sp. 80–83.
[*] 7. Sphæridiophoræ. Perigynium mostly short and rounded, three-angled in the Triquetræ, firm or hard in texture, not inflated, hairy or scabrous, the beak straight and usually bifid; staminate spike one; pistillate spikes short (1´ long or less), usually globular or short-oblong, more or less sessile and approximate or the longer ones radical (spike single in n. 84); bracts sheathless, short, or obsolete; stigmas rarely two.—Low species of dry ground, with leaves all radical.
[+] 1. Scirpinæ. Spike one, unisexual; plant diœcious.—Sp. 84.
[+] 2. Montanæ. Spikes two to several, the lowest occasionally long-peduncled and radical; perigynium rounded, contracted above and below, mostly bearing two prominent ribs, more or less hairy.—Low species of dry soils.—Sp. 85–91.
[+] 3. Triquetræ. Taller; spikes mostly approximate at the top of the culm, oblong or cylindrical; perigynium conspicuously 3-angled.—Sp. 92.
[*] 8. Phyllostachyæ. Perigynium much as in the Montanæ; spike one, staminate above; pistillate flowers few, often remote, usually on a more or less zigzag rhachis; scales prolonged and leaf-like.—Sp. 93–95.
[*] 9. Leptocephalæ. Perigynium thin in texture, green, oblong or lanceolate or linear in general outline, beakless; spike one, staminate above, thin and slender; stigmas mostly three.—Small, slender and grass-like.—Sp. 96.
[*] 10. Physocephalæ. Spike one, globular or short-oblong, staminate at the apex; perigynium straw-colored, paper-like, more or less inflated; stigmas three. Leaves remarkably broad in our species.—Sp. 97.
§ 2. VIGNEA. Staminate flowers few and inconspicuous, borne at the base or apex of the pistillate spikes. Pistillate flowers in short sessile spikes (or spike single in some cases), which are commonly more or less aggregated into heads or even panicled. Perigynium plano-convex. Styles two and achene lenticular.—The spikes, especially the uppermost, usually have contracted bases when the staminate flowers are borne below the pistillate ones, and empty scales at the top when the staminate flowers are borne at the summit.
[*] 11. Acroarrhenæ. Staminate flowers borne at the top of the spikes (or, in the Multifloræ and Arenariæ, spikes often wholly staminate and the plants occasionally diœcious).
[+] 1. Fœtidæ. Spikes tawny or brown, not elongated, very densely aggregated into a continuous globose somewhat chaffy head; perigynium ovate or ovate-lanceolate, nerveless or nearly so, mostly thin in texture.—Sp. 98, 99.
[+] 2. Vulpinæ. Spikes mostly yellow or tawny when mature, densely aggregated or sometimes somewhat scattered below or even panicled; perigynium thick in texture, spongy at base, mostly stipitate, bearing very conspicuous nerves, which converge below and are especially prominent on the outer side.—Sp. 100–102.
[+] 3. Multifloræ. Heads various, mostly loosely flowered, sometimes a panicle, yellow or tawny; spikes short (rarely longer than broad), staminate flowers sometimes occupying whole spikes in the middle or at the apex of the head; perigynium mostly small and short and nearly nerveless, or in some species becoming nearly lanceolate and more or less prominently nerved, firm in texture, usually numerous.—Sp. 103–108.
[+] 4. Arenariæ. Spikes longer than in the last section, linear or nearly so, aggregated into short, almost globose heads; perigynium lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, mostly larger and more delicate in texture; scales awn-pointed or very acute. Staminate flowers variously situated.—(C. arenaria.)
[+] 5. Muhlenbergianæ. Spikes green or nearly so when mature, aggregated or scattered, never in compound heads; perigynium mostly short-ovate, staminate flowers always at the top of the spike.—Sp. 109–114.
[+] 6. Dioicæ. Spike commonly one, small; plants small and slender, often diœcious.—Sp. 115–117.
[*] 12. Hyparrhenæ. Staminate flowers borne at the base of the spikes (or in n. 124 and 125 variously situated).
[+] 1. Elongatæ. Spikes silvery green or sometimes tawny when mature, distinct, mostly small; perigynium not wing-margined nor conspicuously broadened, mostly nearly flat on the inner surface.—Sp. 118–124.
[+] 2. Ovales. Spikes tawny or dark, rather large, sometimes crowded; perigynium with a more or less thin or winged margin, which is mostly incurved at maturity, rendering the perigynium concave inside.—Sp. 125–132.
[+] 3. Cyperoideæ. Spikes green, oblong, densely crowded into a short head subtended by two or three leafy bracts which are erect and prolonged from six inches to a foot; perigynium linear-lanceolate, scarcely margined.—Sp. 133.
Artificial Key.
Spike 1, staminate at top; scales of pistillate flowers leaf-like Sp. 93–95
Spike 1, scales not leaf-like.
Usually diœcious, stigma 2 115–117
Stigmas 3.—
Perigynium densely hairy 84
Spike staminate at base; perigynia squarrose 21
Spike staminate at top.—
Globose; leaves broad 97
Perigynium nearly linear, beakless 96
Perigynium long, spindle-shaped 1
Spikes several or numerous, sessile, spicate or capitate; stigmas 2.
All in a globose or ovoid uninterrupted head.
All staminate above.—
Usually green at maturity 112, 114
Usually yellow or tawny or brown 98, 99, 104, 105
All staminate below.—
Leafy-bracteate 133
Not leafy-bracteate.—
Green 118–120
Usually tawny or brown 125–132
Some or all of the spikes distinct or the head interrupted.
Staminate and pistillate flowers variously disposed, some of the spikes often unisexual.
Head large and long 108, C. arenaria
Head short or linear 124, 125
Spikes staminate above 100–114
Spikes staminate below 118–133
Spikes usually more or less pedicelled, the wholly or partially staminate spikes uppermost.
Terminal spike (rarely the 2 or 3 uppermost) staminate only at base.
Stigmas 2 34–38, 79
Stigmas 3; spikes erect,
Short and squarrose 20, 21
Not squarrose 22, 30, 32, 46, 47, 54, 79
Stigmas 3; spikes more or less drooping 31, 51–53, 55–57
Terminal spike or spikes staminate.
Stigmas 2.—
Spikes spreading or pendulous 34, 37, 40, 41
Spikes erect or nearly so 9–16, 34–41, 85–91, 79
Stigmas 3; spikes spreading or drooping.
Perigynium prominently 3-angled 68–74
Perigynium large, thin, much inflated 9–16
Perigynium firmer, not inflated.
Beakless 42–45
Beaked or prominently pointed.—
Teeth long, stiff and sharp 17–19
Teeth short and thin, or none 30, 31, 39, 48–53
Stigmas 3; spikes erect or ascending.
Perigynium hairy.—
Spikes very large, globose 6
Spikes very small, sessile or nearly so 81–83, 85–92
Spikes cylindrical, heavy 24–28
Perigynium granular-roughened 23
Perigynium smooth,
Thin and turgid, loosely enclosing the achene.—
Beakless 58, 59
Beaked 5–17
Firm in texture, not inflated,
Long-beaked, deeply toothed 2–4, 26, 28
Less prominently beaked, short-toothed, sharply 3-angled 69–74
Wholly beakless and pointless 58, 59, 63, 78, 79
Very small, black and shining; leaves capillary 80
Culm and leaves thinly pubescent 64
Perigynium more or less pointed or beaked.
Spikes spreading or drooping 51–53, 68–70, 75
Spikes erect 60–62, 65–68, 71–78
[*] 1. Physocárpæ.—[+] 1. Pauciflòræ.
1. C. pauciflòra, Lightf. (Pl. 5, fig. 1–16.) Very slender but erect, 6–18´ high; leaves very narrow, much shorter than the culm; staminate and pistillate flowers 2–5; perigynium at maturity easily detached.—Cold sphagnum swamps, New Eng. to N. Penn. and Minn.; local. (Eu.)
[*] 1.—[+] 2. Lupulìnæ.
[++] Teeth of the perigynium strongly reflexed.
2. C. subulàta, Michx. Green, very slender but erect, 6´–2° high; leaves narrow, somewhat shorter than the culm; bracts leafy, sheathing; pistillate spikes 2–4, scattered, 2–6-flowered; perigynium deflexed.—Deep sphagnum swamps, R. I. to E. Penn., and southward; very local.
[++][++] Teeth erect or spreading.
[=] Whole plant yellowish; perigynium little or not at all inflated.
3. C. Michauxiàna, Boeckl. Slender but stiff and erect, 1–2° high; leaves narrow and firm, shorter than the culm; spikes 2–3, the lowest usually remote and short-peduncled, the remainder aggregated and sessile; staminate spike small, wholly sessile; perigynium not inflated, erect or spreading, twice longer than the blunt scale. (C. rostrata, Michx.)—Bogs and lake-borders, mountains of N. H. and N. Y., and westward to L. Superior; local.
4. C. folliculàta, L. Stout, 2–3° high; leaves very broad and flat, lax; pistillate spikes 3–4, scattered, all but the uppermost prominently peduncled; staminate spike short-peduncled; perigynium larger, inflated, the scale awned and nearly as long.—Cold swamps, New Eng. to N. J. and Penn., and west to Mich.; rather local.
[=][=] Plant green; perigynium much inflated.
5. C. intuméscens, Rudge. Slender, 18–30´ high; leaves narrow, pistillate spikes two, loosely 1–8-flowered, the perigynium erect-spreading, not prominently many-nerved.—Wet pastures and swamps; common.
6. C. Gràyii, Carey. Larger and stouter; leaves broad and flat, 3–4´´ wide; pistillate spikes 1 or 2, the lowest often peduncled, perfectly globular and compactly 12–30-flowered, the perigynium spreading or deflexed and prominently many-nerved.—Meadows and copses, Vt. to Ill., and south to Ga.; rare eastward.—In var. hispídula, Gray, the perigynium is sparsely hispidulous.
7. C. lupulìna, Muhl. Very stout and leafy; leaves rather broad and loose; pistillate spikes 2–6, approximate at the top of the culm, all closely sessile or the lower sometimes short-peduncled, oblong or short-cylindrical, very heavy and densely flowered; staminate spike small and sessile; perigynium large and rather soft, erect or but slightly spreading, giving the spike a hop-like aspect (whence the name). (C. lurida, Bailey.)—Swamps and wet pastures; frequent.
Var. pedunculàta, Dewey. Spikes more or less scattered, some or all prominently peduncled; staminate spike usually conspicuous, often long-peduncled, very variable in size; perigynium more spreading. (C. gigantea, Rudge.)—With the species, but more common.
Var. polystàchya, Schwein. & Torr. Stouter, the leaves very broad (often ½´); bracts broad and far exceeding the culm; pistillate spikes 4–6, all long (3–4´) and cylindrical, more or less short-peduncled, somewhat scattered, becoming yellow; perigynium very large, ascending. (C. lupuliformis, Sartw.)—N. Y. and N. J.; not common.
C. lupulìna × retrórsa, Dudley. Distinguished from C. lupulina by its straw-colored perigynium, which is less inflated and more spreading, standing at nearly right angles to the axis of the spike; scales acute to short-awned, rough. (C. lurida × retrorsa, Bailey).—Ithaca, N. Y. (Dudley), and Lansing, Mich. (Bailey). Resembles n. 16.
8. C. grándis, Bailey. Distinguished from C. lupulina, var. polystachya, by its much more scattered and mostly shorter slim spikes, which are comparatively loosely flowered; perigynium swollen below but very abruptly contracted into a slender beak 3–4 times as long as the body, spreading at right angles or nearly so, never becoming yellow; scales narrow, smooth. (C. gigantea of previous editions.)—Swamps, Ky., Del., and southward; local.
[*] 1.—[+] 3. Vesicàriæ.
[++] Spikes very small, globular or short-oblong.
9. C. oligospérma, Michx. Very slender, but stiff, 18–30´ high; leaves and bracts very narrow, becoming involute; staminate spike single, peduncled; pistillate spikes 1 or 2, sessile or the lowest very short-peduncled, 3–8-flowered; perigynium turgid, short-ovoid, gradually contracted into a very short and minutely toothed beak, prominently few-nerved, yellow, nearly twice longer than the blunt scale.—Deep swamps and borders of lakes, N. Eng. to Penn. and Minn.; frequent.
10. C. miliàris, Michx. Culm very slender but erect, 12–18´ high, smooth, or slightly rough above on the angles; leaves almost filiform, mostly shorter than the culm; staminate spikes 1–2, exceedingly narrow, elevated an inch or two; pistillate spikes 1–3, the upper one sessile and the lowest very short stalked, 9´´ long or less, the lower subtended by a short leafy bract; perigynium very small, broad or round-ovate or ovate-oblong, thin but firm, bearing a nerve on each side but otherwise nerveless or very nearly so, rounded into a very short terete entire or somewhat erose beak; scales brown, lance-ovate, white tipped, about as long as the perigynium. (C. rotundata? of last ed.)—Outlet of Moosehead Lake, Maine, and northward.
Var. màjor, Bailey. Culm much stouter (often over 2° high), thick and very sharply angled; leaves stout and channelled or involute; staminate spikes short-stalked; the pistillate 1–5, darker, mostly longer and larger; scale varying from wholly obtuse to acutish.—Outlet of Moosehead Lake (Porter), and northward.
Var. (?) aùrea, Bailey. Taller and mostly stouter than the type; pistillate spikes one or two, often staminate at top, yellow or stramineous; perigynium longer, gradually produced into a conspicuous and more or less toothed beak, prominently few-nerved, yellow, broader and usually longer than the blunt scale. (C. pulla, and var. miliaris, last ed.)—Outlet of Moosehead Lake (Smith), and northward.
[++][++] Spikes much larger, cylindrical.
[=] Scales all, or all but the very lowest, smooth.
11. C. utriculàta, Boott. Very stout and robust, 3–4° high; leaves broad (4–6´´) and flat, very prominently nodulose, particularly below; spikes 3–4, 3–6´ long, very thick and dense above but usually more or less attenuate below, erect or nearly so, all but the lowest sessile or very short-stalked; perigynium ovate, only moderately inflated, rather abruptly contracted into a short toothed beak, at maturity usually squarrose, rather prominently few-nerved, the upper longer than the sharp scale, the lower shorter than or only equalling the sharper or awned scale. (C. rostrata, Bailey, etc.)—Swamps, everywhere; common. Passes imperceptibly into var. mìnor, Boott, which is distinguished by its much smaller size, spikes 2½´ long or less, smaller perigynium, blunt scales, and narrower and little nodulose leaves. With the type.
12. C. monìle, Tuckerm. Rather slender but erect, 2–3° high, the culm sharply angled and usually rough above; pistillate spikes 2–3, the lowest one or two short-stalked, erect or spreading, 1–3´ long, narrowly cylindrical; perigynium turgid, prominently beaked, about 10-nerved, ascending, longer than the very sharp scale. (C. Vaseyi, Dewey.)—Meadows and swales; common.—In var. monstròsa, Bailey, the plant is very slender throughout, and the terminal spike more or less pistillate, while the remaining spikes are reduced to one or two which are very small and loosely flowered and usually on very long filiform peduncles. E. Mass. (Swan).
13. C. Tuckermàni, Dewey. Differs from the last chiefly in the comparatively shorter (1–2´ long) spikes, which are much thicker (usually ½´ or more); perigynium greatly inflated and very thin and papery, the body broader than long (about 3´´ thick); scale thin and narrow, acute, all but the very lowest less than half the length of the perigynium.—Swamps, W. New Eng. to N. J., and west to Minn.; frequent.
14. C. bullàta, Schkuhr. (Pl. 6, fig. 15–20.) Slender, 1–2° high; culm very sharply and roughly angled, thin but stiff; leaves narrow, rough-edged, stiff; spikes 1 or 2, remote, short and thick (rarely 1½´ long), sessile or the lower short-peduncled, more or less spreading; perigynium turgid but very firm, dull straw colored and shining as if varnished, prominently few-nerved, the long beak usually minutely roughened; scale membranaceous and blunt, about {1/3} as long as the perigynium.—Swamps from E. Mass, to N. J. and E. Penn., and southward; frequent.
C. bullàta × utriculàta, Bailey. Perigynium considerably smaller and more spreading, less shining; scales longer and sharper. (C. Olneyi, Boott.)—Providence, R. I. (Olney).
15. C. retrórsa, Schwein. Stout, 2–3° high; culm obtusely angled and smooth or nearly so; leaves broad and soft, roughish, much longer than the culm; spikes 3–5, approximate near the top of the culm or the lowest remote, all but the lowest 1 or 2 sessile, 1–2´ long and very compactly flowered, erect or spreading; perigynium very thin and papery, much inflated, prominently nerved, strongly reflexed; scale very short and small.—Swamps, from Penn. northward; common.—In var. Hárth, Gray, a common monstrous form, the spikes are more or less scattered and peduncled, loosely flowered, and the perigynium less reflexed or spreading.
[=][=] Scales all rough-awned.
16. C. lùrida, Wahl. Variable in size, mostly ranging from 1½–3° high, stout; culm rather obtusely angled and smooth; leaves long and loose, rough; spikes 2–4, variously disposed, the 1 or 2 upper sessile, nearly erect or often drooping, very densely flowered; perigynium thin and turgid, often somewhat shining, rather lightly about 10-nerved, very long and slenderly beaked, ascending; staminate spike single, scales linear, half as long as the perigynium or more. (C. tentaculata, Muhl.)—Swamps, N. Eng. to S. Ill., and southward; abundant eastward. Very variable.—Var. grácilis, Bailey. Plant more slender; spikes 2–3, very small and narrowly cylindrical (1´ long or less, and 3´´ broad or less). Mts. of Vt., Penn., and Tenn.
Var. fláccida, Bailey. Lower, scarcely exceeding 12–15´ in height; spikes 2–4, all sessile and approximate at the top of the culm, small and straight (1´ long or less), dull brown or reddish-brown, loosely flowered and entirely lacking the dense and comose appearance of the type; perigynium very thin and much inflated, the body usually larger than in the type and more gradually contracted into the beak.—N. Y. to N. J.; apparently scarce.
C. lùrida × lupulìna, Bailey. Very like C. lurida, but the spikes usually all approximate or only the lowest separated, erect or spreading, all sessile, green or greenish, often curved; perigynium very long-beaked and ascending; staminate spike one, sessile or very nearly so, strongly resembling that of C. lupulina. (C. tentaculata, var. altior, Boott.)—Mass., Conn., and N. Y.; little known. C. lupulina × retrorsa is distinguished from this by its yellow or straw-colored more scattered spikes which are shorter and always straight, and the loose, larger and more inflated perigynia.
[*] 1.—[+] 4. Pseudocypèræ.
[++] Spikes all erect or ascending.
17. C. Schweinítzìi, Dewey. Soft but erect, 1–2° high, stoloniferous, yellowish-green and becoming straw-colored in drying; culm flattish and smooth; leaves broad (3–4´´), the radical longer than the culm, the others mostly short; spikes 3–4, the lower one or two short-peduncled, narrowly long-cylindrical (1½–3´ long, 4´´ broad); perigynium thin and somewhat inflated, prominently few-nerved, the long beak short-toothed, ascending; scale awned and commonly rough at the tip, a little shorter than the perigynium.—Swamps, W. New Eng. to N. J., and west to Mich.; local.
[++][++] Spikes widely spreading or drooping.
18. C. hystricìna, Muhl. Slender but erect, 1–2° high; culm very sharply angled and rough, at least above; leaves rather narrow, roughish; spikes 1–3, borne near the top of the culm, the upper one often sessile, the remainder on more or less filiform stalks, short (rarely 1½´ long) and compactly flowered; perigynium greenish, very strongly 15–20-nerved, the very slender beak strongly toothed; scale linear and rough-awned, nearly or quite as long as the perigynium.—Swales, throughout; frequent. Often confounded with n. 16.
Var. Dudlèyi, Bailey. Taller; spikes larger and slimmer (1½–2½´ long), light straw-colored, all secund and widely divaricate or nodding; perigynium stronger toothed; scales usually more prominent.—Swales, Conn. (Wright), Ithaca, N. Y. (Dudley), Wisc. (Lapham).
19. C. Pseùdo-Cypèrus, L. Tall and stout, 2–3° high; culm thick and very sharply triangular, rough throughout; leaves very long, rough-margined; spikes 3–5, all slenderly peduncled and more or less drooping, all somewhat contiguous, long (mostly 2–3´) and narrowly cylindrical, very compactly flowered; perigynium elliptic-lanceolate, more or less 2-edged, many-costate, the beak shorter than the body, with erect short teeth, strongly reflexed; scale very rough-awned, about the length of the perigynium.—Swamps and lake-borders, N. Eng. to Penn., and Mich.; rare. (Eu.)
Var. Americàna, Hochst. Mostly stouter, the leaves broader (about ¼´); spikes thicker and commonly more drooping; perigynium longer, the beak mostly longer than the body and the teeth long and prominently spreading. (C. comosa, Boott.)—Swamps; common.
[*] 1.—[+] 5. Squarròsæ.
20. C. stenólepis, Torr. Stout and very leafy, 1–2° high; culm obtusely angled, very smooth; leaves about 3´´ broad, rough on the nerves, the upper and the bracts very much longer than the culm; terminal spike often pistillate at top; other spikes 3–5, the uppermost sessile on the zigzag rhachis, short (1–1½´ or less) and evenly cylindrical, often staminate at top; perigynium very abruptly contracted into a short but slender toothed beak, shorter than the long-linear and rough scale.—Swamps and meadows, central Penn., to N. Ohio, west and southward; frequent.
21. C. squarròsa, L. Cespitose, 2–3° high; culm sharply angled, more or less rough above; leaves broad and weak, roughish, exceeding the culm; bracts much less prominent than in the last; spikes 1–3, thick, the terminal always two-thirds pistillate or more, the remainder more or less stalked, erect or slightly nodding, globular or oblong-cylindric, brown, exceedingly densely flowered; perigynium larger, the beak rough; scale short and usually invisible.—Bogs, throughout; infrequent.
[*] 2. Trachychlænæ.—[+] 1. Shortiànæ.
22. C. Shortiàna, Dewey. Tall and slender but strict, in small clumps, 2–3° high; leaves about ¼´ broad, flat, rough on the nerves; spikes 3–5, somewhat approximate near the top of the culm, the lowest 2 or 3 short-peduncled, erect, small (1´ long or less, and 2´´ wide), evenly cylindrical, exceedingly densely flowered; perigynium small, circular or round-ovate, flat, sharp-edged, nerveless, the orifice entire, perfectly squarrose; scale thin and blunt, about the length of the perigynium.—Wet meadows, S. Penn. and Va. to Ill.; rare eastward.
[*] 2.—[+] 2. Anómalæ.
23. C. scabràta, Schwein. Tall and rather stout, very leafy, 1–3° high, culm sharply and very roughly angled; leaves broad and flat, very rough; spikes 3–5, scattered, the upper 1 or 2 sessile, the remainder often long-peduncled and sometimes nodding, 1–2´ long, narrowly cylindrical and compactly flowered; perigynium broadly ovate, prominently few-nerved, rough, the beak nearly as long as the body and slightly toothed; scale acute and rough-tipped, green-nerved, about as long as the body of the perigynium.—Wet meadows and glades, as far west as Mich.; common eastward.
[*] 2.—[+] 3. Hirtæ.
24. C. vestìta, Willd. Stout and stiff, 2–3° high; culm sharply angled, smooth or somewhat rough; leaves narrow and rather short, roughish; staminate spike 1, rarely 2, sessile or nearly so; pistillate spikes 2–5, approximate and sessile, or rarely the lowest sub-radical, often staminate at top, oblong or short-cylindric (rarely 1´ long), compactly flowered; perigynium ovate, nerved, stiffly hairy, short-beaked, the beak often purple, and white-hyaline at the orifice, which becomes more or less split with age; scale thin and blunt or acute, shorter than the perigynium.—Tufted in sandy soils, from N. Eng. to N. Y., and southward; frequent.
25. C. striàta, Michx., var. brèvis, Bailey. Stiff, 1½–2½° high; culm sharply angled, smooth or slightly rough above, mostly exceeding the leaves; leaves narrow and stiff, becoming involute; spikes 1–2, mostly closely sessile, considerably separated when two, short (rarely 1½´ long) and rather thick, erect; perigynium broad-ovate with impressed nerves, smooth, ascending, short-beaked and very short-toothed; scale thin, obtuse or acutish, mostly about ½ as long as the perigynium.—Pine-barren swamps, N. J., and southward; local.
26. C. Houghtònii, Torr. Stiff, 1–2° high, extensively creeping; culm rather sharply angled, rough, exceeding the leaves; leaves flat and very sharp-pointed; spikes 1–3, sessile or the lowest short-stalked, erect, varying from nearly globular to cylindric (1½´ long), compact; perigynium short-ovate, stiffly pubescent, prominently nerved and toothed; scale thin-margined, acute or awned, shorter than the perigynium.—Sandy knolls and banks from Maine to Minn. along our northern borders, and northwestward; rather local.
27. C. filifórmis, L. Tall and very slender but erect, 2–3° high; culm obtuse, smooth; leaves very long, involute-filiform, rough; spikes 1–3, sessile, somewhat scattered, erect, short and thick (rarely over 1´ long); perigynium very short-ovate, the teeth very short, the few nerves obscured by the dense stiff hairs; scale thin and blunt, about as long as the perigynium.—Bogs, throughout, north of Penn.; frequent. (Eu.)
Var. latifòlia, Boeckl. Culm mostly rough above; leaves flat, 1–2´´ broad; spikes usually somewhat slimmer and scales often sharper and longer. (C. lanuginosa, Michx.)—Swales and low meadows, throughout; common.
C. hírta, L. Variable in size (½–2° high), widely creeping; culm rather slender but erect, obtuse and smooth or slightly rough above; leaves soft and flat, generally sparsely hairy and the sheaths very hirsute, rarely smooth; spikes 2–3, distant, more or less shortly-peduncled, erect or nearly so, 1½´ long or less and rather loose; perigynium long-ovate, nerved, soft-hairy, the prominent beak slenderly toothed; scale thin and green-nerved, awned, mostly a little shorter.—E. Mass. to central N. Y. and Penn. (Nat. from Eu.)
[*] 2.—[+] 4. Paludòsæ.
[++] Teeth slender, mostly spreading.
28. C. trichocárpa, Muhl. Stout and tall, 2–3° high; culm sharply angled, rough above; leaves very numerous, flat and very rough, but not hairy, much exceeding the culm; spikes 2–5, scattered, the lower stalked and more or less spreading, long and heavy (1–4´) but loosely flowered at base; perigynium long-ovate, many-costate, sparsely short-hairy, about twice as long as the membranaceous, acute or acuminate scale.—Marshes; frequent.—Var. imbérbis, Gray. Mostly smaller throughout; perigynium smooth; scales usually sharper and longer. Drier places, N. Y. to Mo.; infrequent.
Var. Dewèyi, Bailey. Leaves narrower, often becoming somewhat involute, smoother; spikes short (seldom over 1½´ long), all but the lowest one sessile; perigynium smooth, thick in texture, becoming polished with age, the nerves impressed; scales sharp, mostly a little shorter than the perigynium.—Dakota (Seymour), and northwestward. Resembles small forms of n. 29.
Var. aristàta, Bailey. Mostly stouter; leaves more or less hairy on the under surface and sheaths; perigynium usually longer, smooth, the teeth longer and more spreading. (C. aristata, R. Br.)—N. Eng. to Minn.; rare eastward.
[++][++] Teeth short, erect or very nearly so.
29. C. ripària, W. Curtis. Very large and stout, 2–4° high, stoloniferous; leaves mostly broad, flat, rough, glaucous, much longer than the sharply angled culm; spikes 2–4, scattered and all more or less peduncled, the lowest often very long-stalked, varying from almost globular in starved plants to 3–4´ long, erect or the lower somewhat drooping, loosely flowered below; perigynium ovate-lanceolate, coriaceous, rather lightly many-nerved, becoming polished, the beak short and thick; scale varying from blunt to awned, shorter or longer than the perigynium.—Swales; common. (Eu.)
C. acutifórmis, Ehrh. Stout, 2–3° high; culm thick and sharp, mostly smooth; leaves broad, flat and glaucous, much prolonged; spikes 3–5, all but the uppermost peduncled, spreading or drooping, narrowly cylindric (2–3´ long), loosely flowered below; perigynium ovate, very strongly many-nerved, the short beak slightly toothed; scale rough-awned and longer than the perigynium. (C. paludosa, Gooden.)—Swales, Dorchester, and New Bedford, Mass. (Nat. from Eu.) The former station has been recently destroyed.
[*] 3. Microrhynchæ.—[+] 1. Atràtæ.
[++] Alpine; plant small.
30. C. alpìna, Swartz. Small and slender, ½–2° high; culm thin and obtuse, smooth or roughish, naked above; leaves narrow and flat, shorter than the culm; spikes commonly 3, sometimes 2 or 4, aggregated, globular and very small, all closely sessile or rarely the lowest exceedingly short-stalked; perigynium orbicular or obovate, nerveless or nearly so, the short beak slightly notched, a little longer than the ovate and black mostly obtuse scale.—Isle Royale, L. Superior. (Eu.)
31. C. atràta, L., var. ovàta, Boott. Very slender but erect, 1–2° high; culm rather sharp, roughish above; leaves narrow but flat, shorter than the culm; spikes 3–5, all but the terminal one on slender stalks ½–2´ long, drooping when mature, 1´ long or less, ovate-oblong or short-cylindric, reddish-brown; perigynium broadly ovate, thin and puncticulate, very short-beaked, the orifice slightly notched; scale blunt, thin-margined, about as long as the perigynium. (C. atrata, Man.)—White Mountains, N. H., Smugglers' Notch, Vt. (Brainerd), and northward.
[++][++] Paludose; plant larger.
32. C. fúsca, All. Rather slender but stiff, 1–3° high; culm sharp, roughish above; leaves very narrow, rough, mostly shorter than the culm; spikes 2–4, the terminal rarely all staminate, all sessile and approximate or the lowest sometimes very short-stalked, varying from globular to narrowly cylindric (often becoming 1½´ long), dark brown or variegated; perigynium elliptic and beakless, whitish and granular, nearly nerveless, the orifice entire; staminate scales very long-lanceolate, the pistillate lance-ovate and very sharp, conspicuously longer than the perigynium. (C. Buxbaumii, Wahl.)—Bogs, throughout; frequent. (Eu.)
[*] 3.—[+] 2. Rígidæ.
33. C. vulgàris, Fries. Low and stiff, about 1° or sometimes 18´ high; culm sharp, smooth or rather rough above; leaves narrow and stiff, shorter than the culm, glaucous blue; staminate spike sessile or nearly so; spikes 2–4, all sessile or rarely the lowest very short-stalked, short and erect (1´ long or less), very densely flowered or sometimes becoming loose below, the lowest subtended by a bract 1–3´ long; perigynium appressed, oval or round-ovate, mostly finely striate toward the base, the beak entire or very nearly so, bright green until over-mature; scale ovate and very obtuse, purple with a faint white nerve, conspicuously narrower and shorter than the perigynium, thus causing the spike in the growing plant to assume a characteristic green-and-black appearance.—Swales and low meadows along the sea-board, from Mass. northward; common. (Eu.)
Var. strictifórmis, Bailey. Taller (1½–2½° high) and looser; culms slender; leaves long and narrow, lax, scarcely glaucous; staminate spike longer peduncled; pistillate spikes looser and often longer, mostly brown or tawny-green. (C. limula, Man.)—Swales from E. Penn. northward, near the seaboard; frequent. Often confounded with n. 34, but easily distinguished by the non-cespitose habit, sheaths not fibrillose, and the short scales very obtuse.
Var. hyperbòrea, Boott. Somewhat stoloniferous, low, often smaller than the type; spikes shorter and mostly loosely flowered, often becoming very thin; scales generally longer, giving the spikes a darker color; stigmas often 3. (C. rigida, var. (?) Bigelovii, Tuckerm.)—Alpine summits of N. H., Vt., and N. Y. (Eu.)
[*] 3.—[+] 3. Acùtæ.
[++] Stigmas 2; scales not conspicuously acute, or if so, divaricate.
[=] Spikes erect, or rarely spreading in n. 34.
34. C. strícta, Lam. Tall and slender but erect, 2–4° high, generally in dense clumps when old, or rarely in small tufts; culm sharp, rough above; leaves long and narrow, rough on the edges, the lowest sheaths usually becoming prominently fibrillose; 1 or 2 lowest bracts leafy and equalling the culm; spikes 3–5, variable in size and shape, scattered, the lowest usually more or less peduncled and clavate and the others sessile, erect or spreading, oblong or cylindric (½–2´ long and 2–3´´ broad), all compactly flowered above but often attenuate at base (or rarely alternate-flowered throughout), the upper mostly staminate at top, all greenish-purple or pallid; perigynium ovate and small, tawny, mostly lightly few-nerved and somewhat granular, the beak very short and commonly entire; scale obtuse to nearly acute, about equalling the perigynium or a little shorter.—Swales, throughout; abundant and variable.
Var. angustàta. Stricter; spikes longer and narrower (3–4´ long about 1½´´ broad), never clavate, more approximate and always erect, the staminate portion usually much longer (often 1–2´), rust-colored; scales narrower and sharper, mostly longer than the perigynium. (C. angustata, Boott, in part.)—Same range as the type, but less common.
Var. decòra, Bailey. Usually smaller; basal sheaths rarely fibrillose; spikes shorter (seldom over 1´ long), sessile or very nearly so, rarely attenuate at base, spreading, the terminal staminate flowers few, rust-colored; bracts more spreading; scales very sharp and spreading, longer than the perigynium. (C. aperta, Man.)—N. Eng. to Wisc.; rather rare.
C. strícta × filifórmis. Leaves and culms very slender; spikes short (1´ long or less), sessile and compact, the upper 1 or 2 scarcely bracted, pallid; perigynium small, smooth.—Keweenaw Co., Mich. (Farwell.) Exactly intermediate between the two species.
35. C. aquátilis, Wahl. Large and stout, glaucous, 2–4° high; culm very obtuse and smooth; leaves exceedingly long, broader than in the last, the bracts broad and prolonged far beyond the culm; spikes 3–5, 1–2´ long, very compact or the lowest sometimes attenuate below, erect, thick (3´´ broad or less); perigynium round-ovate or broadly elliptic, nerveless, greenish, imbricated; scale obtuse and much shorter and narrower than the perigynium.—Swamps and lake-margins, N. Eng. to Minn.; not common. (Eu.)
36. C. lenticulàris, Michx. Rather slender but erect, pale throughout, 1–2° high; culm sharp, usually slightly rough above; leaves very narrow, numerous, much surpassing the culm; spikes 3–6, more or less aggregated or the lowest remote, the terminal androgynous or staminate, mostly sessile, erect; perigynium ovate, minutely granular, brown-nerved, the tip empty and entire; scale pale and obtuse, about ½ the length of the perigynium.—Gravelly borders of ponds and lakes, northern N. Eng. to Minn.; mostly local.
[=][=] Spikes widely spreading or drooping.
37. C. tórta, Boott. Slender but erect, 1½–2½° high, in clumps, with exceedingly tough and cord-like roots; culm rather sharp, smooth or roughish above; leaves flat and rather soft, those of the culm very short; spikes 3–5, mostly somewhat approximate or the lower remote, the upper sessile and ascending but the others drooping, long and slender (often 3´ long, 2´´ broad or less); perigynium lance-ovate, thin and green, nerveless, the slim upper half empty and more or less tortuous, the beak entire or erose; scale purple-margined and very obtuse, shorter than the perigynium.—Cold banks and swamps, Vt. to N. C.; infrequent.
[++][++] Stigmas 2; scales long-acute and ascending.
38. C. salìna, Wahl., var. cuspidàta, Wahl. Rather stout, 1–2½° high; culm rather sharp, smooth; leaves narrow but flat; spikes 2–4, somewhat approximate, the lowest 1 or 2 very short-stalked, erect, short (1½´ or less) and rather thick, the lower subtended by leaf-like bracts 3–4´ long; perigynium elliptic, somewhat granular, marked with 2 or 3 nerves or nerveless, the minute beak entire; scale brown-margined, produced into a lighter and rough awn much exceeding the perigynium. (C. salina, Man.)—Salt marshes, Mass., and along the coast northward; rare in the United States. (Eu.) Anomalous forms, which appear to be hybrids, have been separated as
C. strícta × salìna, Bailey. Spikes thinner and more scattered, more inclined to be peduncled; scales blunt or short-awned, little exceeding the perigynium.—Near Boston, Mass., W. Boott, Morong.
[++][++][++] Stigmas 3.
39. C. prasìna, Wahl. Slender, somewhat flexuose, 1½–2½° high; culm rather sharp, smooth; leaves very narrow, soft and flat, rough; spikes 2–3, peduncled and spreading or drooping, somewhat approximate, green, 1–2´ long, narrow and loosely flowered; perigynium pale, narrowly triangular-ovate, thin, nearly nerveless, produced into a short but slender entire or minutely toothed beak; scale very thin and acute, nearly colorless, shorter than the perigynium. (C. miliacea, Muhl.)—Meadows and bogs, Vt. to Mich., and southward; infrequent.
[*] 3.—[+] 4. Cryptocárpæ.
40. C. marítima, O. F. Mueller. Mostly stout, 1–2½° high; culm sharp, smooth or rough above; spikes 2–6, scattered, all or all but the upper one on very long weak stalks and pendulous, 1–3´ long and thick and bushy, usually staminate at top; perigynium nearly orbicular, pale, few-nerved or nerveless, the beak very short and entire or nearly so; scale produced into a greenish rough awn 3–8 times as long as the perigynium.—Salt marshes of the coast, Mass., Maine, and northward; not common. Leaves smooth, broad and flat. (Eu.)
41. C. crinìta, Lam. Robust and mostly stout, 2–4° high; culm sharp and rough or sometimes smooth; leaves about 3´´ broad, flat, more or less rough on the nerves and margins; spikes 3–6, somewhat scattered, all variously peduncled, mostly secund, curved and drooping (or in small forms rarely nearly erect), 1–4´ long, narrowly and evenly cylindric, compact or attenuate below, often staminate at top; perigynium ovate, thin and puncticulate, obscurely nerved, the minute point entire; scale greenish-brown and rough-awned, 2–3 times as long as the perigynium. (C. gynandra, Schwein.)—Swales; common.—Var. mìnor, Boott. Much smaller in all its parts, 10–18´ high; leaves narrow; spikes 3–4, 1½´ long or less, less drooping; scales less prominent.—Maine to N. Y.; scarce. Somewhat resembles n. 39.
C. crinìta × tórta, Bailey. More slender than C. crinita, the leaves narrower; spikes nearly as slender as those of C. torta; scales blunt or simply acute and little longer than the perigynium, or sometimes very short-awned.—Moist meadows near the Glen House, White Mts. (Brainerd). Might be mistaken for drooping spiked forms of n. 34.
[*] 3.—[+] 5. Pendulìnæ.
[++] Spikes narrowly cylindrical.
42. C. littoràlis, Schwein. Somewhat slender but erect, 1–2° high; leaves narrow and rather stiff, flat, glaucous, shorter than the sharp and nearly smooth culm; staminate spikes 1–3, dark purple, 1½´ long or less, the scales obtuse; pistillate spikes 2–4, somewhat approximate, on thread-like peduncles, 1–2´ long, usually staminate at top; perigynium lance-oval, faintly nerved, the minute beak entire, mostly longer than the obtuse purple scale; bracts prominently purple-auricled. (C. Barrattii, Schwein. & Torr.)—Marshes near the coast, N. J. and southward; rare.
[++][++] Spikes globular or oblong.
[=] Scales very sharp, prominently longer than the perigynium.
43. C. Magellánica, Lam. Slender but erect, 8–18´ high; leaves flat and lax, somewhat shorter than the culm; lowest bract as wide as the leaves or nearly so and exceeding the culm; spikes 2–3, approximate, all slenderly stalked and drooping; perigynium orbicular or broad-ovate, nerved in the centre, ½–{2/3} the length of the scale. (C. irrigua, Smith.)—Deep swamps, throughout, north of Penn.; local. (Eu.)
[=][=] Scales blunt, little exceeding the perigynium.
44. C. rariflòra, Smith. Very small but stiff, 4–10´ high, somewhat stoloniferous; culm obtuse and very smooth; leaves very narrow, becoming involute, shorter than the culm; spikes 1–2, only 3–10-flowered, drooping, borne in the axil of a minute awl-like and purple-auricled bract; perigynium ovate, nearly pointless, obscurely nerved, mostly a little shorter than the enveloping scale.—Mt. Katahdin, Maine (Goodale). (Eu.)
45. C. limòsa, L. Slender but rather stiff, 1–2° high, stoloniferous; culm sharp, rough above; leaves very narrow, strongly keeled or involute; spikes 1–2, nodding on short stalks or the upper one erect, oblong, springing from the axil of a very narrow bract which is nearly always shorter than the culm; perigynium very short-pointed, about the length of the broad scale.—Deep swamps, throughout, north of Penn.; local. (Eu.)
[*] 4. Hymenochlæ̀næ.—[+] 1. Virescéntes.
46. C. viréscens, Muhl. Slender, erect or spreading, 1–1½° high; leaves very narrow, more or less hairy; spikes 3–5, green, short-oblong, all somewhat stalked and often spreading, compact (1½´´ thick or less); perigynium ovate and costate, very hairy, longer than the thin and white acute scale.—Var. costàta, Dewey, usually the commoner form, is taller (often reaching 2½°), with spikes long-cylindric, ½–2´ long, and a stronger ribbed perigynium.—Banks and copses, N. Eng. to Mich., and southward; common eastward.
47. C. trìceps, Michx., var. hirsùta, Bailey. Usually stiffer; leaves hairy; spikes 2–4 (usually 3), all contiguous or occasionally the lowest somewhat removed, sessile, short-oblong or globular, green or brown (2–3´´ thick); perigynium broad-ovate, flattish, very obtuse, often sparsely hirsute when young but smooth at maturity; staminate scales very sharp; pistillate scales acute or short-awned, about the length of or shorter than the perigynium.—Dry copses and fields, N. Eng. to Mo., and southward; rare northward.—Var. Smíthii, Porter. Tall, slender, olive-green, the leaves very long, very nearly smooth; spikes small, globular or short-cylindrical (½´ long or less), the lowest often somewhat remote, all more inclined to be peduncled; perigynium globular and turgid, brown, squarrose, giving the spike a characteristic plump appearance.—Fields and woodlands, southern N. J., E. Penn., and southward; also in Ark.; frequent.
[*] 4.—[+] 2. Sylváticæ.
48. C. longiróstris, Torr. Very slender but erect, 1½–3° high, growing in stools; leaves narrow, flat, loose; spikes 3–5, 1–2´ long, loosely flowered, drooping; perigynium thin, slightly inflated, green, nearly nerveless, spreading, the beak longer than the body, about the length of the awned scale.—Shady banks from N. Eng. to Neb., and northward; frequent.—Var. mìnor, Boott. Smaller and slenderer; spikes 9´´ long or less, very narrow and very loosely or even alternately few-flowered; perigynium smaller. Neb. and westward.
[*] 4.—[+] 3. Fléxiles.
49. C. castànea, Wahl. Slender but erect, 1–2½° high; leaves broad and flat, hairy, much shorter than the rough culm; spikes 2–4, approximate, widely spreading or drooping on filiform stalks, 1´ long or less, rather dense, tawny; perigynium broad lanceolate, gradually narrowed into a beak ½ as long as the body, thin, with a nerve on each side, longer than the light brown or whitish acute thin scale. (C. flexilis, Rudge.)—Banks, Conn. to Minn.; local.
C. arctàta × castànea, Bailey. Leaves mostly narrower, less hairy or smooth; spikes very slender and loosely flowered (scarcely over 1´´ wide), erect or drooping, chestnut color; perigynium thin, long-ovate, shorter-beaked, lightly nerved, mostly surpassing the pointed whitish scale. (C. Knieskernii, Dewey.)—Oneida Co., N. Y.; Keweenaw Co., Mich. (Farwell); N. Minn.
50. C. capillàris, L. Very slender but erect, 2–12´ high; culm smooth, longer than the narrow flat or at length involute leaves; spikes 2–4, either scattered or approximate, all more or less long-peduncled and drooping, borne in the axils of conspicuous sheathing bracts, very small (3–12-flowered); perigynium thin, very small, oblong-ovoid, the beak hyaline-lipped, longer than the very obtuse white scale.—Alpine summits of the White Mts.; Cortland, N. Y., Alcona Co., Mich., and Point de Tour, L. Huron. (Eu.)
[*] 4.—[+] 4. Débiles.
[++] Perigynium thin, rarely with more than two prominent nerves.
51. C. arctàta, Boott. Slender, erect, 1–2° high; radical leaves much shorter than the culm and very broad (2½–5´´), flat; bracts broad and short, long-sheathing; spikes 3–5, all widely spreading or drooping on filiform stalks, 1–3´ long and exceedingly slender; perigynium short (2´´ long or less), abruptly and conspicuously stipitate and abruptly contracted into a beak, 3-cornered, prominently nerved, green, mostly spreading, scarcely longer than the very sharp or cuspidate scale.—Woods and copses, N. Eng. to Penn. and Minn.; common.
Var. Faxòni, Bailey. Spikes shorter and usually short-peduncled, erect or nearly so, much more densely flowered, part of them commonly contiguous at the top of the culm, rendering the shorter staminate spike inconspicuous; perigynium usually larger.—Lisbon, N. H. (Faxon); Keweenaw Co., Mich. (Farwell); extreme northern Minn. (Bailey); also in Canada.
52. C. débilis, Michx., var. Rúdgei, Bailey. Very slender and diffuse, 1–2½° high (or rarely reduced to 3–4´!); leaves narrow and lax, longer than the culm; spikes mostly heavier than in the last; perigynium much longer, very gradually narrowed at each end, scarcely angled and not prominently nerved, rusty when ripe, erect, twice longer than the obtuse or acutish scale. (C. debilis, of last ed.)—Copses, N. Eng. to N. Mich., and southward; frequent east and southward.—Var stríctior, Bailey. Usually taller, strict; leaves broader (about 2´´ wide) and firmer; spikes stiffer, simply spreading or even erect; perigynium mostly shorter and greener, often little exceeding the scale. White Mts. (Faxon).—Var pùbera, Gray. Perigynium usually more slender, more nerved and minutely pubescent. Center and Lancaster Counties, Penn. (Porter, Lumsden), and Bedford Co., Va. (Curtiss).
C. débilis × viréscens, Bailey. Plant slender and very green; leaves flat, rough, mostly longer than the culm, spikes 2–3, 2´ long, thin and slender, erect or nearly so, the terminal one bearing a few pistillate flowers at top; perigynium exactly intermediate between the two species, lance-ovate, nerved and slightly hairy, short-beaked, thin, twice longer than the scale.—Revere, near Boston, Mass. (Faxon).
[++][++] Perigynium firm, prominently many-nerved.
53. C. venústa, Dewey, var. mìnor, Boeckl. Slender but strict, 1½–2° high; leaves narrow and strict, about as long as the culm; spikes 1–2´ long, scattered, the upper usually ascending, the terminal one sometimes staminate at top; perigynium ascending, the very short and stout beak prominently toothed, thrice longer than the rusty narrow scale. (C. glabra, Boott.)—Sphagnous swamps, Oneida Co., N. Y., N. J., and southward; local.
[*] 4.—[+] 5. Gracíllimæ.
[++] Perigynium small, scarcely turgid.
54. C. æstivàlis, M. A. Curtis. Slender but erect, 1–1½° high; leaves very narrow, flat, shorter than the culm, the sheaths pubescent; spikes 3–4, erect or spreading, 1–2´ long and very loosely flowered, all but the lowest short-stalked; perigynium very small, ovate, scarcely pointed and the orifice entire, few-nerved, about twice longer than the obtuse scale.—Saddle Mountain, W. Mass., and southward in the mountains to N. C.; rare.
55. C. gracíllima, Schwein. Tall and slender, sometimes diffuse, 1½–3° high; leaves broad and flat (the radical about 3´´ wide), very dark and bright green; spikes 3–4, scattered, the terminal rarely staminate, densely flowered except at base, peduncled and drooping, green; perigynium ovate, thin and slightly swollen, nerved, obtuse, orifice entire, twice longer than the very obtuse scale.—Woodlands and low meadows, throughout; common.—In poorer soil and sunny places, it runs into var. hùmilis, Bailey, and is then smaller, has much narrower leaves and very small erect spikes (2–12-flowered), and mostly smaller perigynia.
C. gracíllima × hirsùta, Bailey. In habit like var. humilis; spikes tawny; perigynium like that of C. triceps, var. hirsuta; plant smooth, or very minutely pubescent under a strong lens.—Philipstown, N. Y. (Barratt).
C. gracíllima × pubéscens, Bailey. Tall and erect; leaves narrower than in the last, usually slightly hairy; spikes slender, erect or slightly spreading, often staminate at top; perigynium exactly intermediate between the two species, ovate, obscurely nerved, sparsely hairy, beaked, about the length of the ovate ciliate rough-awned scale. (C. Sullivantii, Boott.)—Columbus, Ohio (Sullivant); Yonkers, N. Y. (E. C. Howe); Stanton, Del. (Commons).
[++][++] Perigynium large, prominently inflated.
56. C. formòsa, Dewey. Slender, erect, 1–2½° high; leaves flat, mostly rather broad, those of the culm very short; spikes 3–5, scattered, oblong or short-cylindrical (1´ long or less), compact, all flexuose or drooping; perigynium ovate, puncticulate, obscurely nerved, short-beaked with a slightly notched orifice, all but the lowest one or two twice longer than the blunt or cuspidate scale.—Woods and copses, Vt. to Mich.; local.
57. C. Davísii, Schwein. & Torr. Always taller; spikes heavier; perigynium more inflated, strongly nerved and prominently toothed, no longer or shorter than the conspicuously awned and spreading scale.—Wet meadows, W. Mass. to S. Minn., and southward; rare east and northward.
[*] 4.—[+] 6. Gríseæ.
58. C. grísea, Wahl. Stout, 1–2° high; leaves broad (2–3´´) and slightly glaucous; bracts broad and leaf-like, diverging, very much exceeding the culm; staminate spike small and sessile; pistillate spikes 3–4, short (1´ long or less), the highest two usually contiguous to the staminate spike and sessile, the others somewhat remote and peduncled, all erect, compact; perigynium oblong, pointless, marked with impressed nerves, turgid and cylindric, all but the lowest longer than the narrow, cuspidate or blunt, nerved scale.—Moist grounds, throughout, except along our northern borders; common.—Var. angustifòlia, Boott. Much more slender; leaves scarcely half so wide, the bracts, especially, much narrower and shorter and more erect; spikes slender, perigynium scarcely inflated, triangular-oblong, bearing a sharp beak-like point, 2-ranked; scale nerveless, long-awned and spreading. N. J. to S. Ohio, and southward; common.—Var. globòsa, Bailey. Low, 3–12´ high, often spreading; spikes few-flowered, often with but 2 or 3 perigynia; perigynium short, inflated, very blunt, nearly globose or obovate; scale short, not prominently cuspidate or the upper ones wholly blunt. Mo., Kan., and southward.
Var. (?) rígida, Bailey. Rigid; leaves rather narrow, long and erect; staminate spike prominently peduncled; pistillate spikes scattered, all more or less stalked, conspicuously 2 ranked; perigynium triangular-oblong, hard, longer than the cuspidate ascending scale.—Sellersville, Penn., and Del.
59. C. glaucodèa, Tuckerm. Lax or somewhat strict (6–18´ high), densely glaucous; leaves flat, variable in width; spikes as in n. 58; perigynium firm, not inflated, prominently impressed-nerved, glaucous, longer than the short-cuspidate or blunt thin and appressed scale. (C. flaccosperma, last ed.)—Meadows and swamps, Mass. to S. Ill., and southward; local.
[*] 5. Spirostàchyæ.—[+] 1. Granulàres.
60. C. granulàris, Muhl. Erect or spreading, 8´–2° high, somewhat glaucous; leaves flat, various; bracts broad and long, much exceeding the culm; spikes 3–4, scattered, all but the upper peduncled, erect or ascending, compact, short-oblong to cylindric, never exceeding 1´ in length; staminate spike small and usually sessile; perigynium ovoid, very strongly nerved, the nearly entire short beak usually bent; scale thin and pointed, about ½ the length of the perigynium.—Moist grassy places; common.—Var. haleàna, Porter. Habitually lower and more slender; radical leaves very broad (3–4´´) and more glaucous; pistillate spikes ½´ long or less, thinner; perigynium a half smaller, narrower. Wisc. to Va.; infrequent.
61. C. Cràwei, Dewey. Low, strict, stoloniferous (4–12´ high); leaves narrow; bracts scarcely exceeding the culm; spikes 2–4, scattered, the lowest radical or nearly so, short-peduncled or the upper sessile, erect, compact, 9´´ long or less; staminate spike generally peduncled; perigynium ovate, usually resinous dotted, obscurely or few-nerved, very short-pointed, longer than the obtuse or short-pointed scale.—Moist places, N. Y. to Ill. and Minn.; local, especially eastward.
[*] 5.—[+] 2. Exténsæ.
C. exténsa, Gooden. Slender but strict, 1–2° high; leaves involute; spikes about 3, the lowest remote and short-peduncled, the remainder approximate and sessile, short (about ½´ long) and compact; perigynium ovate, very strongly nerved, ascending, the short stout beak sharply toothed, longer than the blunt brown-edged scale.—Long Island and Coney Island, N. Y.; Norfolk, Va., McMinn. (Nat. from Eu.)
62. C. flàva, L. Very slender but strict and stiff, 1–2° high, yellowish throughout; leaves flat but narrow, mostly shorter than the culm; staminate spike sessile or nearly so, usually oblique; pistillate spikes 2–4, all contiguous or rarely the lowest one remote, all but the lowest sessile, short-oblong or globular, densely flowered, the lowest subtended by a long divaricate bract; perigynium ovate, produced into a deflexed beak as long as the body, strongly nerved, thrice longer than the blunt scale.—Swales and wet meadows, N. Eng. to L. Superior; rare westward. (Eu.)—Var. gráminis, Bailey. Smaller and green, 6–12´ high; leaves mostly longer than the culm; bracts erect; perigynium straight or nearly so, the beak often rough. Grassy places, probably common and generally distributed.
Var. virídula, Bailey. Small and slender, very strict, green or greenish-white; leaves narrow, equalling or exceeding the culm; bracts long and strictly erect, spikes very small or sometimes becoming cylindric, more closely aggregated; perigynium conspicuously smaller, the beak very short and straight. (C. Œderi, last ed.)—Cold bogs, N. Eng. to Penn., and northwestward; local.
[*] 5.—[+] 3. Pallescéntes.
[++] Perigynium wholly beakless.
63. C. palléscens, L. Slender, erect, 4´–2° high, tufted; leaves narrow, flat, the lower slightly pubescent, particularly on the sheaths; spikes 2–4, ½´ long or less, densely flowered, all but the upper one very shortly peduncled, erect or spreading; perigynium globular-oblong, thin and very nearly nerveless, about the length of the cuspidate scale.—Glades and meadows, N. Eng. to Penn., Wisc. and L. Superior; rare westward. (Eu.)
[++][++] Perigynium very stout-beaked.
64. C. Torrèyi, Tuckerm. Stiff, 1–1½° high; culm and leaves thinly pubescent; spikes all sessile, very short; perigynium obovate, very strongly many-nerved, retuse, the beak short and straight, equalling or exceeding the mostly cuspidate scale.—Supposed to have been collected, a half-century ago, in N. Y. by Torrey, and in Penn. by Schweinitz. It occurs in the Rocky Mountain region, and high northward.
[*] 6. Dactylostàchyæ.—[+] 1. Oligocárpæ.
[++] Sheaths smooth.
65. C. conoídea, Schkuhr. Slender but strict, 1–1½° high; staminate spike long-peduncled or rarely nearly sessile; spikes 2–3, scattered, short-stalked or the upper one sessile (the lowest frequently very long-stalked), oblong (rarely 1´ long) and rather loosely flowered, erect; perigynium oblong-conical, impressed-nerved, gradually narrowed to a point, the orifice entire; scale loosely spreading and rough-awned, equalling or exceeding the perigynium.—Moist grassy places, N. Eng. to Ill., and southward; rare westward.
66. C. oligocárpa, Schkuhr. Diffuse, 10–18´ high; bracts flat and spreading; staminate spike sessile or stalked; spikes 2–4, scattered, stalked or the uppermost sessile, loosely 2–8-flowered, erect; perigynium small, hard, finely impressed-nerved, abruptly contracted into a conspicuous mostly oblique beak, the orifice entire; scale very loosely spreading and rough-awned, longer than the perigynium.—Dry woods and copses, W. New Eng. to Mo., and southward; rare westward. Often confounded with small forms of n. 58.
[++][++] Sheaths pubescent.
67. C. Hitchcockiàna, Dewey. Erect, 1½–2° high; spikes 2–4, all more or less peduncled, very loosely few-flowered, erect; perigynium triangular-ovate, many-striate, the strong beak prominently oblique, shorter than the rough-awned scale.—Rich woods, W. New Eng. to Ill., and southward to Penn. and Ky.; frequent.
[*] 6.—[+] 2. Laxiflòræ.
[++] Sheaths green.
[=] Perigynium mostly obscurely triangular, the beak very prominent.
68. C. laxiflòra, Lam. Slender but mostly erect, 1–2° high; leaves rarely over 2´´ wide, rather soft; staminate spike peduncled or at least conspicuous; pistillate spikes 2–4, scattered, peduncled or the upper one sessile, loosely flowered, cylindric or sometimes reduced to short-oblong, erect or the lower loosely spreading; perigynium obovate, conspicuously nerved, the short entire beak much bent or recurved; scale thin and white, blunt or cuspidate, mostly shorter than the perigynium.—Grassy places, throughout; common. Exceedingly variable.—Var. vàrians, Bailey. Mostly stouter than the type, the leaves broader; pistillate spikes ½–1´ long, the two upper more or less contiguous to the staminate spike and sessile or nearly so; bracts leafy and prolonged.—Copses and grassy places, throughout; common. Counterfeits var. patulifolia.—Var. striátula, Carey. Diffuse; pistillate spikes rarely over ½´ long, the upper sessile and aggregated about the inconspicuous staminate spike, the lowest usually long-exserted. Grassy places, throughout; very common.—Var. latifòlia, Boott. Rather low; leaves ½´ broad or more; staminate spike sessile or very nearly so; pistillate spikes cylindric and loose, the upper one or two contiguous; bracts very broad. Deep rich woods, E. Mass. (Deane) to Penn. and Mich.; common westward.—Var. patulifòlia, Carey. Glaucous; leaves 3´´ broad or more; staminate spike prominent, mostly stalked; pistillate spikes long and alternately flowered, scattered and peduncled; perigynium (as in the following varieties) elliptic, attenuate at both ends, mostly less prominently nerved, and the beak not strongly recurved. Open places, N. Eng. to Mich., and southward; frequent.—Var. divaricàta, Bailey. Tall and stout; leaves narrower; staminate spike large and stalked; pistillate spikes scattered, all but the upper one prominently peduncled, long; perigynium very large, divaricate, triangular, contracted into a stipe-like base at least half as long as the body. Near Washington, Vasey.—Var. stylofléxa, Boott. Very weak and slender; leaves 2´´ wide or less; staminate spike usually peduncled; pistillate 2–3, scattered, few-flowered, lowest drooping; perigynium very long-pointed. S. E. Penn., and southward; frequent.
[=][=] Perigynium sharply triangular, short, and mostly not prominently beaked.
a. Spikes drooping or flexuose.
69. C. digitàlis, Willd. Very slender, bright green, tufted, 6–18´ high; leaves very narrow (1–2´´ wide); staminate spike short stalked; pistillate spikes 2–4, all on filiform stalks and all but the upper widely spreading or drooping, linear, alternately flowered; perigynium very small, impressed-nerved, longer than the acute whitish scale.—Dryish woods and glades, N. Eng. to Mich., and southward; frequent.—Var. copulàta, Bailey. Leaves much broader, and the culms weak and reclined; spikes heavier and mostly shorter; perigynium larger, very sharp. Rich woods, central Mich., and probably elsewhere westward.
70. C. laxicúlmis, Schwein. Differs from the variety of n. 69 chiefly in its more cespitose habit, its densely glaucous-blue covering, very slender culm, and very long and filiform peduncles. (C. retrocurva, Dewey.)—Glades, N. Eng. to Mich. and Va.; rare westward.
b. Spikes erect.
71. C. ptychocárpa, Steudel. Low, glaucous, 3–10´ high; leaves flat and rather broad (2´´ or more), much exceeding the culm; bracts leafy and much prolonged; staminate spike very small and sessile, mostly overtopped by the upper pistillate spike; pistillate spikes 2–3, sessile or short-stalked or rarely the lowest long-peduncled, erect; perigynium tawny, much as in n. 69, twice longer than the very thin obtuse scale.—Low grounds or swamps, E. Mass., N. J., Del., and southward; local.
72. C. platyphýlla, Carey. Low, spreading, glaucous, 6–12´ high; leaves ½´ broad or more, mostly shorter than the culms; bracts with thin and sharp-pointed leaf-like tips 1–2´ long; staminate spike stalked; pistillate spikes 2–3, scattered, all more or less peduncled, alternately 2–10-flowered; perigynium short, strongly many-striate, about the length of the acute or cuspidate scale.—Rich shady woods and banks, N. Eng. to Mich., and southward to Va.; mostly local.
73. C. Careyàna, Torr. Tall and slender, mostly erect, 1–2° high; leaves bright green, firm, 3–4´´ wide or more, shorter than the long culm; bracts leafy, longer than in the last; staminate spike heavy and stalked; pistillate spikes 2–3 (mostly 2), the upper usually near the terminal spike, and nearly sessile, the other remote and long-peduncled, loosely 2–8-flowered; perigynium very large and very sharply angled, the beak oblique, finely many-nerved, twice longer than the sharp scale.—Rich woods, N. Eng. to Mich., and southward to Washington; rare.
[++][++] Sheaths usually purple.
74. C. plantagínea, Lam. Slender but erect, 1–2° high; leaves ½–1´ broad, very firm, appearing after the flowers and persisting over winter, shorter than the culm; staminate spike purple and clavate, stalked; pistillate spikes 3–4, scattered, loosely few-flowered, erect, the peduncles included in the leafless sheaths; perigynium smaller than in n. 73, prominently beaked, about as long as the sharp scale.—Rich woods, N. Eng. to Wisc., and southward; local.
[*] 6.—[+] 3. Paníceæ.
[++] Beak cylindrical and prominent; plant not glaucous.
75. C. Saltuénsis, Bailey. Very slender and more or less diffuse, strongly stoloniferous, 1–1½° high; leaves narrow and soft, shorter than the culm; spikes 2–3, scattered, all peduncled and more or less spreading, loosely 3–10-flowered; perigynium small, nearly nerveless, thin, the beak straight and sharply toothed; scale loose, acute, shorter than the perigynium. (C. vaginata, last ed.)—Deep swamps, Vt. to Minn.; local.
76. C. polymórpha, Muhl. Stout, 1–2° high; leaves rather broad, short; spikes 1–2, short-stalked, erect, compact or rarely loose, usually staminate at the apex, 1½´ long or less; perigynium long-ovate, obscurely nerved; the very long and nearly straight beak oblique or lipped at the orifice; scale reddish-brown, obtuse, shorter than the perigynium.—Moist meadows, Mass. to N. C.; local.
[++][++] Beak short or none; plant often glaucous.
[=] Plants of ordinary habit.
77. C. tetánica, Schkuhr. Rather slender, rarely glaucous, somewhat stoloniferous; culm scabrous, at least above; spikes all peduncled, the upper one very shortly so, pale, all more or less attenuate below, the lower borne in the axils of bracts 3´ long or more; perigynium not turgid, greenish, prominently many-nerved, the beak strongly bent; scale obtuse or abruptly mucronate, all except the lowest mostly shorter than the perigynium.—Meadows and borders of ponds from W. Mass. westward; common westward.—Var. Woòdii, Bailey. Very slender and strongly stoloniferous; leaves narrow, very long and lax; spikes mostly alternately flowered throughout; scales often sharper. (C. Woodii, Dewey.) Rich woods, N. Y. to Mich., and south to Washington; frequent.—Var. Mèadii, Bailey. Stiffer; leaves mostly broader and stricter; spikes thick and densely flowered, not attenuate at base, the upper one often sessile; perigynium larger. (C. Meadii, Dewey.) R. I. to Neb., and southward; rare eastward.—Var. Cánbyi, Porter. Stout and stiff; leaves still broader (about 2´´ wide) and flat; spikes thick, often ¼´ wide; perigynium long, straight or very nearly so; scale large, nearly equalling or exceeding the perigynium. E. Penn. (Canby); Ill. and Wisc.; little known.
C. panícea, L. Strict, often stiff, glaucous-blue 1–2° high; culm smooth; bracts 1–2´ long; spikes 1–3, scattered, colored, peduncled, erect, rather compact or loose below, seldom 1´ long; perigynium ovoid, yellow or purple, somewhat turgid, scarcely nerved, the point usually curved, mostly longer than the purple-margined scale.—Fields, E. Mass. and R. I. (Nat. from Eu.)
[=][=] Very strict, densely glaucous.
78. C. lívida, Willd. Culms 18´ high or less; leaves narrow, often becoming involute; spikes 1 or 2 and aggregated or approximate, or rarely a third nearly radical, sessile or nearly so, erect, narrow; perigynium ovoid-oblong, nerved, granular, beakless, the point straight or nearly so, orifice entire; scale obtuse, mostly a little shorter than the perigynium.—Pine-barrens of N. J., and sphagnum swamps northward to N. Eng. and L. Superior; local. (Eu.)
[*] 6.—[+] 4. Bicolòres.
79. C. aùrea, Nutt. Low and slender, 1° high or less; bracts exceeding the culm; spikes 2–4, all but the lowest usually approximate, peduncled or the upper one or two sessile, erect, loosely few-flowered or sometimes becoming ¾´ long, at maturity yellow or brown, the terminal one frequently pistillate above; perigynium fleshy at maturity, nerved, longer than the blunt scale.—Wet meadows and springy banks, throughout; rather common.
[*] 6.—[+] 5. Digitàtæ.
[++] Spikes two or more.
80. C. ebúrnea, Boott. Exceedingly slender and capillary, erect, 4–12´ high, stoloniferous; leaves shorter than the culm; staminate spike very small and very short-peduncled, overtopped by the two upper pistillate spikes; pistillate spikes 2–4, approximate or the lowest remote, all stalked, erect, 2–6-flowered; perigynium very small, almost nerveless, smooth and becoming black and shining at full maturity; scale white and thin, obtuse, shorter than the perigynium.—Tufted in sandy or light soils from N. Eng. to Ky. and Neb.; frequent.
81. C. Richardsòni, R. Br. Rather stiff, 4–9´ high, stoloniferous; sheaths short, purple or brown; staminate spike stout and mostly short-peduncled; pistillate spikes 1–2, approximate, the very short stalks included, erect, compact, less than ½´ in length; perigynium obovoid, firm, hairy, the very short beak entire or erose; scale brown with a conspicuous white-hyaline margin, obtuse or pointless, and longer than the perigynium.—Dry ground, western N. Y. to Ill., and northwestward; rare.
82. C. pedunculàta, Muhl. Low and diffuse, 3–10´ high, forming mats; leaves abundant, very green, flat and firm, longer than the weak culms; staminate spike very small, with the uppermost pistillate spike sessile at its base; pistillate spikes 2–4 on each culm, scattered and long-peduncled from green sheaths, erect or spreading, many other spikes nearly or quite radical and very long-stalked, all 3–8-flowered; perigynium triangular-obovate, smooth or very slightly pubescent above, the short and nearly entire beak somewhat oblique; scale green or purple, truncate and cuspidate, mostly a little longer than the perigynium.—Dry woods and banks, N. Eng. to Va. (Kennedy) and Minn.; frequent northward.
[++][++] Spike one or rarely a rudiment of a second; plant diœcious.
83. C. pícta, Steudel. Rather weak, 1° high or less; leaves flat and firm, persisting through the winter, at least twice longer than the culm; a sheathing purple scale at the base of the spike; staminate spike about 1´ long, clavate in anthesis, the purple scales ending in a very short and blunt whitish tip; pistillate spike narrower and mostly longer, the scales more abruptly contracted into a colored cusp and at length deciduous; perigynium obovate, much contracted below into a stipe-like base, very strongly nerved, entirely pointless, hairy above, covered by the scale. (C. Boottiana, Benth.)—In a wooded ravine with Hepatica and Epigæa, near Bloomington, Ind. (Dudley); also Ala. and La.
[*] 7. Sphæridióphoræ.—[+] 1. Scirpìnæ.
84. C. scirpoídea, Michx. Strict, the pistillate plant mostly stiff, 6–18´ high; leaves flat, shorter than the culm; spike 1´ long or less, densely cylindrical, very rarely with a rudimentary second spike at its base; perigynium ovate, short-pointed, very hairy, about the length of the ciliate purple scale.—Mountains of N. New Eng.; Drummond's Island, L. Huron. (Norway.)
[*] 7.—[+] 2. Montànæ.
[++] Some or all of the culms longer than the leaves (or in the type of n. 85 frequently shorter).
[=] Staminate spike minute, wholly or partially concealed in the head; leaves always very narrow; radical spikes often present.
85. C. defléxa, Hornem. Diffuse and low, tufted; culms 1–6´ high, setaceous, more or less curved or spreading, little exceeding or shorter than the leaves; staminate spike exceedingly minute and nearly always entirely invisible in the head; pistillate spikes 2–3, 2–5-flowered, green, or green and brown, all aggregated into a head, the lowest one always more or less short-peduncled and subtended by a leafy bract ½´ long or less; radical spikes few; perigynium very small and much contracted below, sparsely hairy or nearly smooth, the beak flat and very short, mostly longer than the acutish scale. (C. Novæ-Angliæ, last ed., mostly.)—High mountains of N. H. and Vt.
Var. Dèanei, Bailey. Taller and lax, the culms 6–12´ high and some or all prominently longer than the longer and loose leaves; staminate spike much larger (2–3´´ long), erect or oblique, sessile; pistillate spikes larger (4–8-flowered), less aggregated or the lowest usually separated, though rarely more than ¼´ apart; radical spikes usually numerous; bract mostly longer.—Swales or dryish places, high or subalpine regions, Mt. Desert, Maine (Rand); Essex, Mass.; N. H., Vt., and N. Y.; scarce. In aspect like n. 86.
Var. mèdia, Bailey. Rather stiff, 4–12´ high, in dense tufts; most of the spikes equalling or exceeding the leaves, the staminate prominent, erect (3–5´´ long), sessile or very short-peduncled; pistillate spikes 2–3, all scattered, the uppermost at or near the base of the staminate spike, the lowest usually very prominently peduncled and subtended by a conspicuous bract which surpasses the culm, all rather compactly 3–8-flowered, green, or brown and green; radical spikes several; perigynium larger, much like that of short-beaked forms of n. 90.—Keweenaw Co., Mich. (Farwell); also far westward.
86. C. vària, Muhl. Erect, mostly strict, 6–15´ high, tufted and somewhat stoloniferous; culms variable in length, often twice longer than the leaves; staminate spike 3´´ long or less; pistillate spikes closely aggregated, or rarely somewhat loosely disposed but never scattered, all strictly sessile, green; radical spikes none; lower bract usually present; perigynium longer-pointed than in the last, about the length of the sharp scale. (C. Emmonsii, Dewey.)—Banks and dry woods; frequent.—In var. coloràta, Bailey, the scales are purple. Mostly southward.
[=][=] Staminate spike very prominent (or in the variety of n. 89 very small, but the leaves broad); radical spikes none.
a. Scales smooth.
87. C. Nòvæ-Ángliæ, Schwein. Very slender and soft, erect, stoloniferous, 6–8´ high; culms little longer than the very narrow leaves; staminate spike exceedingly narrow (3–8´´ long by about ½´´ wide), mostly minutely peduncled; pistillate spikes 2, or rarely 3, the upper one near the base of the staminate spike, the lower very short-peduncled and removed ½–1´ and subtended by a leafy bract which nearly or quite equals the culm, both rather loosely 3–6-flowered; perigynium very narrow, often nearly oblanceolate, small, very thinly hairy, the beak sharp and prominent; stigmas often 2.—Mountain swamps of W. Mass., and Mt. Desert, Maine (Rand); rare.
88. C. Pennsylvánica, Lam. A foot high or less, erect, strongly stoloniferous, forming large patches; leaves narrow and more or less involute, dark or dull green, mostly nearly as long as the culm; staminate spike ½´ (rarely ¾´) long, usually dull brown or brown-purple, sessile or very nearly so; pistillate spikes 1–3, contiguous or the two lower rarely ½´ apart, all sessile and usually dark-colored, the lowest bract very short or at least rarely prominent; perigynium short- or round-ovate, hairy.—Dry fields; our commonest species.
89. C. commùnis, Bailey. Habitually taller and stricter, 8–18´ high, in small tufts, never stoloniferous; leaves proportionately shorter, broad (about 2´´), flat and pale; staminate spike mostly longer, often short-peduncled and usually paler; pistillate spikes 2–4, scattered on the upper part of the culm, green or tawny, the lowest one or two sometimes peduncled and often with prominent leafy bracts. (C. varia, last ed.)—Dry hill-sides; common.
Var. Wheèleri, Bailey. Mostly greener, 3–14´ high; leaves soft and flat and much shorter than the culm; staminate spike ¼´ long or less, very narrow, sessile and oblique; pistillate spikes mostly closer together.—Knolls in woods, Ionia Co., Mich. (Wheeler), and Alcona Co. (Bailey); Middletown, Conn. (Barratt), and Cheshire Co., N. H. It has much the aspect of n. 86, but is readily distinguished by the broad leaves and more scattered spikes.
b. Scales rough-cuspidate.
C. præ̀cox, Jacq. Rather stiff, the culm sometimes curved, 3–10´ high; leaves flat, shorter than the culm; staminate spike prominently clavate, mostly sessile; pistillate spikes 2–3, all contiguous, sessile or the lowest very short-peduncled and subtended by a bract scarcely as long as itself, all oblong or short-cylindric, the lowest about 6´´ long; perigynium triangular-obovoid, the very short beak entire or erose, thinly hispid-hirsute, about the length of the scale.—Fields, E. Mass. (Nat. from Eu. early in the century.)
[++][++] Part or usually all of the culms much shorter than the leaves.
90. C. umbellàta, Schkuhr. (Pl. 6, fig. 11–14.) Low, growing in small and dense mats (1–3´ across); leaves short and often stiff (2–6´long), flat, the earliest very narrow but the later often 2´´ broad; spikes all on separate scapes which rarely exceed 1–2´ in length (or rarely one or two short true culms), usually densely aggregated at the surface of the ground and hidden by the leaves, the pistillate spikes green or tawny and rather loosely few-flowered; perigynium slenderly beaked, toothed, very lightly pubescent, about the length of the acute and often rough-tipped scale.—Dry banks and knolls, N. Eng. to N. J. and N. Y., and perhaps farther westward; infrequent.—Var. vícina, Dewey. Tufts looser and larger; leaves longer (often 1° or more) and laxer, sometimes broader; some pistillate spikes borne near the base of the staminate on a true culm which is 3–8´ high, one or two on each culm. With the species and farther westward; infrequent.
91. C. nìgro-marginàta, Schwein. Leaves mostly stiffer than in n. 90, often broader, and some of the culms prolonged; perigynium smooth or nearly so, shorter beaked; scales purple-margined, giving the spikes a very dark or variegated appearance, considerably larger and longer than in the last.—Dry hillsides, N. J., and southward; local.
[*] 7.—[+] 3. Triquétræ.
92. C. pubéscens, Muhl. Strict, 1–2° high, pubescent throughout; leaves flat and soft, shorter than the culm; spikes 2–4, the lower 1 or 2 short-peduncled, and about ½´ long, loosely flowered, erect; perigynium very hairy, conspicuously beaked and minutely toothed, straight, about the length of the truncate and rough-cuspidate thin scale.—Copses and moist meadows, N. Eng. to Ky., and westward; frequent.
[*] 8. Phyllostáchyæ.
93. C. Jamèsii, Schwein. (Pl. 5, fig. 17–21.) Diffuse, 6–10´ high; leaves very narrow (1´´ or less), much surpassing the culm; spike very small, the staminate portion inconspicuous, the pistillate flowers 1–3 and loosely disposed; perigynium globular, produced into a very long and roughened nearly entire beak; scale narrow, the lowest often 1–2´ long, the upper often shorter than the perigynium. (C. Steudelii, Kunth.)—Woods, N. Y. to Ill., and southward; frequent.
94. C. Willdenòvii, Schkuhr. Lower, stiffer, the leaves broader and pale; spike larger, the pistillate flowers 3–9, compact; perigynium bearing a prominent two-edged very rough beak; scales chaffy, nerved, as broad as and somewhat longer than the perigynium, or the lowest rarely overtopping the spike.—Copses, Mass. to Mich., and southward; rare.
95. C. Báckii, Boott. Forming dense mats; leaves still broader (2´´ or more), very abundant; staminate flowers about 3; pistillate 2–5; perigynium more gradually beaked, smooth throughout; scales very broad and leaf-like, all exceeding the culm and entirely enveloping the spike.—W. Mass. to Ohio, and far westward; local and rare, especially eastward.
[*] 9. Leptocéphalæ.
96. C. polytrichoìdes, Muhl. Capillary, erect or slightly diffuse, 6–18´ high; leaves mostly shorter than the culm; spike 2–4´´ long, linear, the staminate portion very small; perigynium thin and green, nerved, about twice longer than the obtuse caducous scale.—Bogs; common.
[*] 10. Physocéphalæ.
97. C. Fràseri, Andrews. Cespitose; culm 6–15´ high, naked or the lower portion included in loosely sheathing abortive leaves, smooth and stiff; leaves 1´ broad or more, destitute of midrib, very thick and persistent, pale, 1–2° long; spike whitish; perigynium ovoid, faintly nerved, much longer than the scale.—Rich mountain woods, Va. and southward; very local and rare. A most remarkable plant.
§ 2. VÍGNEA.—[*] 11. Acroarrhènæ.—[+] 1. Fœ́tidæ
98. C. chordorhìza, Ehrh. Very extensively stoloniferous; culm mostly erect, 1–1½° long; leaves involute, shorter than the culm; perigynium globular, very strongly nerved, short-pointed and entire, about the length of the acute scale.—Cold bogs and soft lake-borders, Vt. to Iowa, and northward; infrequent. (Eu.)
99. C. stenophýlla, Wahl. Stiff, 3–8´ high; leaves involute and shorter than the culm; perigynium ovate, flat on the inner face, lightly nerved, gradually contracted into a short and entire rough-edged beak, tightly enclosing the achene, at maturity longer than the hyaline acutish scale.—Dry grounds, Thayer Co., Neb. (Bessey); Emmet Co., Iowa (Cratty), and westward. (Eu).
[*] 11.—[+] 2. Vulpìnæ.
[++] Beak shorter than or about as long as the body of the perigynium.
100. C. conjúncta, Boott. Strict but rather weak, 1½–3½° high; culm soft and sharply triangular or nearly wing-angled, becoming perfectly flat when pressed; leaves soft, about 3´´ broad; head 1–3´ long, interrupted, often nearly green, infrequently bearing a few setaceous bracts; perigynium lance-ovate, light colored, whitish and thickened below, the beak lightly notched and roughish, about equalling or a little exceeding the cuspidate scale.—Swales and glades, N. J., Ky., and westward; usually rare.
[++][++] Beak twice the length of the body of the perigynium or longer.
101. C. stipàta, Muhl. Stout, 1–3° high, in clumps; culm rather soft, very sharp; head 1–3´ long, rarely somewhat compound at base, interrupted, the lowest spikes often ½´ long; perigynium lanceolate, brown-nerved, the beak toothed and roughish, about twice the length of the body, and much longer than the scale.—Swales; common and variable.
102. C. crus-córvi, Shuttlew. Stout, glaucous, 2–3° high; culm rough, at least above; leaves flat and very wide; head much branched and compound, 3–6´ long; perigynium long lanceolate, the short base very thick and disk-like, the roughish and very slender beak thrice the length of the body or more, 3–4 times the length of the inconspicuous scale.—Swamps, S. Minn. to Neb. and Ky., and southward; rare northward.
[*] 11.—[+] 3. Multiflòræ.
[++] Spikes conspicuously panicled.
103. C. decompósita, Muhl. Stout, exceedingly deep green, 1½–3° high, in stools; culm very obtusely angled, almost terete below; leaves firm, channelled below, longer than the culm; head 2–4´ long, the lower branches ascending and 1–2´ long; perigynium very small, round-obovate, few-nerved, hard and at maturity shining, the abrupt short beak entire or very nearly so; scale acute, about the length of the perigynium.—Swamps, N. Y. to Mich., and southward; local.
[++][++] Spikes in a simple or nearly simple head.
[=] Leaves very narrow (1´´ broad or less), becoming more or less involute.
104. C. teretiúscula, Gooden. Slender but mostly erect, 1½–2½° high, in loose stools; culm rather obtuse, rough at the top, mostly longer than the leaves; head 1–2´ long, compact or somewhat interrupted, narrow ({1/4}´ wide or less); perigynium very small, ovate and truncate below, bearing a few inconspicuous short nerves on the outer side, stipitate, firm and at maturity blackish and shining, the short beak lighter colored; scale chaffy and acute, about the length of the perigynium.—Swales, N. Eng. to Penn., and westward; common. (Eu.)—Var. ramòsa, Boott. More slender; head mostly longer, the upper portion often somewhat nodding, the spikes scattered and the lowest ones often slightly compound. N. Y., and westward; common.
[=][=] Leaves broader and flat (occasionally involute in n. 106).
a. Scales very sharp, mostly rough-tipped.
1. Perigynium large (2´´ long or more), nerveless on the inner face.
105. C. alopecoídea, Tuckerm. Stout but rather soft, 2–3° high; culm rather sharp, thick and soft in texture; leaves 2–3´´ wide, about the length of the culm, very green; head 1½´ long or less, sometimes green, and occasionally a little compound, the spikes many and compactly or somewhat loosely disposed or the lowest often separate and all mostly short-oblong; perigynium ovate, tapering into a rough beak, very prominently stipitate, with a few brown nerves on the outer face, ascending, about equalling or a little exceeding the scale.—Open swales, N. Y., Penn., and Mich.; local. In aspect like n. 101.
Var. sparsispicàta, Dewey. Weak, the leaves much narrower and lax; head 1–3´ long and linear or nearly so, the spikes smaller and separated or scattered.—S. E. Mich. (Cooley, Clark); little known.
106. C. grávida, Bailey. Lower and the culm thinner and more sharply angled, 1–2° high; leaves rather narrower and firmer, shorter than the culm; head short, always simple, globular or short-oblong, the lowest spikes rarely distinct; spikes few (4–7), globular, or broader than long; perigynium broadly ovate, nearly twice larger, sessile, plump and somewhat polished at maturity, prominently spreading.—N. Ill. to Iowa and Neb.—Var. laxifòlia, Bailey. Much larger, 2–3½° high; leaves broader (about ¼´) and lax; head large and dense, ovoid or oblong, scarcely interrupted. N. Ill. to Dak.
2. Perigynium very small, mostly nerved on the inner face.
107. C. vulpinoídea, Michx. Mostly rather stiff, 1–2½° high; culm very rough, at least above; leaves various, mostly flat and longer than the culm; head 1–4´ long, usually much interrupted and frequently somewhat compound, varying from dull brown to almost green at maturity, commonly provided with many very setaceous short bracts; spikes very numerous, ascending and densely flowered; perigynium ovate or lance-ovate, mostly ascending.—Low places, variable; very abundant, especially northward.
b. Scales blunt, smooth and hyaline-tipped.
108. C. Sartwéllii, Dewey. Stiff and strict, 1½–2½° high; leaves produced into a long slender point, mostly shorter than the culm; staminate flowers variously disposed, frequently whole spikes being sterile; head 1–3´ long and rather narrow, the individual spikes usually clearly defined, or occasionally the head interrupted below, tawny-brown; perigynium elliptic or lance-elliptic, nerved on both sides, very gradually contracted into a short beak; scale about the length of the perigynium. (C. disticha, last ed.)—Bogs, central N. Y., west and northward; frequent.
[*] 11.—[+] 4. Arenàriæ.
C. arenària, Linn. Extensively creeping, 1° high or less; leaves very narrow and very long-pointed, shorter than the culm; head about 1´ long, dense or sometimes interrupted, ovoid or oblong; spikes few to many, those at the apex of the head usually staminate, the intermediate ones staminate at the summit, the lowest entirely pistillate and subtended by a bract about 1´ long; perigynium very strongly nerved on both faces, wing-margined above, sharply long-toothed, about the length of the scale.—Sea-beaches near Norfolk, Va. (McMinn). (Adv. from Eu.)
[*] 11.—[+] 5. Muhlenbergiànæ.
[++] Heads narrow, the spikes scattered (or often aggregated in C. muricata.)
[=] Perigynium almost terete.
109. C. tenélla, Schkuhr. Exceedingly slender, 6´–2° high, in tufts; leaves flat, soft, and weak, mostly shorter than the culm; spikes 1–3-flowered, or the terminal 4–6-flowered, all distinct and scattered on the upper part of the culm, the bracts obsolete or the lowest present and very short; perigynium elliptic-ovate, very plump, finely nerved, the minute beak entire, longer than the white scale, usually at length splitting and exposing the blackish achene.—Cold swamps, N. Eng. to Penn., and far westward; common. (Eu.)
[=][=] Perigynium flattish.
110. C. ròsea, Schkuhr. Always slender and weak, erect, 1–2½° high, exceeding the narrow leaves; spikes 5–8, 6–14-flowered, the upper 3–4 aggregated, the others 3–9´´ apart, the lowest usually with a setaceous bract; perigynium lance-ovate, thin and shining, nerveless, scarcely margined, rough on the edges above, perfectly squarrose, very green, about twice longer than the translucent white scale.—Rich woods, N. Eng. to Minn. and Neb.; frequent.—Var. radiàta, Dewey. Lower and much more slender, the culms sometimes almost capillary; spikes 2–5, scattered, 2–4-flowered; perigynium mostly narrower and more ascending. Open places and drier woods; common.
Var. Texénsis, Torr. Very slender but strict, 1° high or less; spikes 3–4, all contiguous or the lower ones approximate, 2–6-flowered; perigynium lanceolate, the base prominently spongy, smooth or nearly so, conspicuously divaricate.—Dry places, S. Ill. (Schneck), and southward.
Var. retrofléxa, Torr. Often rather stiff, 1–1½° high; spikes 4–8, the upper ones aggregated, the lower 1 or 2 separated and commonly subtended by a conspicuous bract, often brownish; perigynium ovate, smooth throughout, very prominently corky and swollen at the base, which is frequently contracted almost to a stipe, at maturity usually widely spreading or reflexed; scale brownish and sharp, at length deciduous. (C. retroflexa, Muhl.)—Copses, throughout; rare northward.
111. C. sparganioìdes, Muhl. Stouter, stiff; culm 2–3° high; leaves very broad (usually ¼´ or more) and flat, their sheaths conspicuously clothing the base of the culm; spikes 6–10, the 2 or 3 upper ones contiguous, the remainder entirely separate, very green, oblong or short-cylindric, the lowest often compound, all truncate at top; perigynium ovate, wing-margined, rough on the short beak, often obscurely nerved on the outer face, considerably longer than the rough-pointed scale.—Rich woods; frequent.
C. muricàta, L. Culm 1–2° high, rough, longer than the narrow leaves; spikes 5–10, variously disposed, but usually some of them scattered, frequently all aggregated, rarely tawny; perigynium heavy, ovate, thin and shining, nerveless, the long beak minutely rough, spreading, a little longer than the sharp green or brownish scale.—Dry fields, E. Mass., where it is common, and sparingly south and westward to Va. and Ohio. (Nat. from Eu.)
[++][++] Heads short-oblong or globular, the spikes all aggregated, or only the lowest one or two separate.
[=] Plant very stiff throughout.
112. C. Muhlenbérgii, Schkuhr. Pale, growing in small tufts, 1–2½° high; culms much prolonged beyond the few narrow and at length involute leaves; head {3/4}´ long or less, the individual spikes clearly defined; spikes globular, 4–8; perigynium nearly circular, very strongly nerved on both faces, broader than the rough-cuspidate scale and about as long.—Open sterile soils; frequent.—Var. enérvis, Boott. Perigynium nearly or entirely nerveless. Southeastern N. Y., and southward; rare.
[=][=] Plant strict but not stiff.
113. C. cephaloídea, Dewey. Lax, very green, 2–3° high; leaves broad (2–3´´) and thin, shorter than the long culm; head rather loose, ¾´ long or more, all but the very uppermost spikes clearly defined; perigynium ovate, entirely nerveless, long rough-pointed, spreading, twice longer than the very thin scale or more.—Shady banks, W. Mass. to Mich.; frequent.
114. C. cephalóphora, Muhl. Mostly smaller and stricter, pale; leaves half as wide or less; head small, rarely ½´ long, globular or very short-oblong, never interrupted, the lower 1 or 2 spikes usually bearing a very setaceous short bract; perigynium twice smaller than in the last, scarcely longer than the rough-cuspidate scale.—Dry and mostly sterile knolls; common.
Var. angustifòlia, Boott. Low, 8´ high or less; leaves very narrow; head smaller, usually tawny; perigynium mostly broader.—West and southward; rare.
[*] 11.—[+] 6. Diòicæ.
[++] Perigynium nerveless or very nearly so.
115. C. capitàta, L. Rigid, 3´–1° high; leaves filiform, shorter than the culm; head globular, uniformly staminate above, brown, very small; perigynium broadly ovate, very thin, whitish, prominently beaked, erect and appressed, longer than the very thin and obtuse scale.—Alpine summits of the White Mountains. (Eu.)
[++][++] Perigynium prominently nerved.
116. C. gynòcrates, Wormsk. Stiff but very slender, 3–6´ high, diœcious; leaves filiform and setaceous, about the length of the culm; spike oblong, 2–4´´ long; perigynium elliptic-ovate, nearly terete, stipitate, widely spreading or reflexed at maturity, 1 or 2 sometimes borne at the base of the staminate spike.—Cold sphagnum swamps, Penn., north and westward; local, particularly southward.
117. C. exìlis, Dewey. Very stiff, slender, 1–2° high; leaves involute-filiform and very stiff, shorter than the culm; spike varying from almost globular to cylindrical (frequently 1´ long), either unisexual or the sexes variously placed, very rarely a supplementary spike at base; perigynium elliptic-ovate, flattish, stipitate and somewhat cordate at base, strongly brown-nerved on the outer face, rather faintly nerved on the inner, rough-edged above, sharply toothed, spreading, a little longer than the scale.—Cold swamps and lake-borders, N. Eng. and eastern N. Y. to N. J.; rare.
[*] 12. Hyparrhènæ.—[+] 1. Elongàtæ.
[++] Perigynium very sharp-margined, firm, often thickened at base, spreading in open and at maturity stellate spikes.
118. C. echinàta, Murray, var. cephalántha, Bailey. Rather stiff but slender, 1–2° high; leaves very narrow and involute, about the length of the culm; spikes 5–8, approximate or even aggregated into a head, green, compactly 15–30-flowered, short-oblong or nearly globular; perigynium ovate-lanceolate, rough on the margins above, nerved on both faces, spreading or reflexed at maturity, the beak long and prominent, longer than the sharp white scale. (C. stellulata, last ed.)—E. Penn. (Porter) to Mass. (Morong), and westward to L. Superior; rare.—Var. conférta, Bailey. Very stiff; spikes contiguous or scattered, spreading, short-oblong or globular, dense; perigynium broadly ovate or even nearly round-ovate, very strongly nerved, reflexed or widely spreading. Near the sea-coast; uncommon. The perigynia resemble those of n. 112.—Var. micróstachys, Boeckl. Mostly very slender; spikes few, 3–10-flowered, usually tawny; perigynium small, lance-ovate, nerved on the outer face but usually nerveless on the inner, erect or spreading, the beak rather long or prominent. (C. scirpoides, Schkuhr. C. sterilis, Willd.) Swales, throughout; very common and variable.—Var. angustàta, Bailey. Exceedingly slender; spikes few and very few-flowered, mostly all contiguous; perigynium lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, twice the length of the scale or more. N. Y., Vt., and northward; rare.
[++][++] Perigynium scarcely sharp-margined, thin in texture, not thickened at base, mostly in closely flowered and rounded or oblong spikes.
[=] Perigynium ovate or nearly so, the beak short or none.
a. Bracts not prolonged.
119. C. canéscens, L. Stiff and rather stout, 1–2½° high, glaucous and pale throughout, growing in stools; spikes 4–8, globular or oblong, very densely 20–50-flowered, approximate or somewhat scattered on the upper part of the culm, usually prominently contracted below with the staminate flowers; perigynium short-ovate, silvery-white and minutely puncticulate, never thickened at base, faintly few-nerved, smooth throughout, ascending, the beak very short and entire; scale obtuse or acutish, about the length of the perigynium.—Cool swamps and bogs, N. Eng. to Penn., west and northward; frequent northward. (Eu.)
Var. vulgàris, Bailey. Very slender, lower, not glaucous, in small and loose tufts; spikes smaller and usually fewer, loosely flowered; perigynium mostly more beaked, prominently spreading.—Mostly in drier places; very common. Perigynium much shorter than in any form of n. 118.
Var. alpícola, Wahl. Low and stiff, or at lower altitudes becoming somewhat slender, seldom much over 1° in height; spikes small, globular or nearly so, dense, well defined and brown or tawny; perigynium as in the type, ascending. (C. vitilis, Fries.)—Mountains from N. Eng. to Ga., sparingly along our northern boundary, and far westward. (Eu.)
Var. polystàchya, Boott. Erect and mostly strict, not glaucous, 1½–2½° high, scarcely tufted; leaves very lax and exceeding the culm; spikes oblong, more or less aggregated in an oblong interrupted head, the lowest 1 or 2 subtended by short scale-like bracts; perigynium somewhat spreading. (C. arcta, Boott.) Low woods, N. New Eng. to N. Minn.; rare. Resembles C. echinata, var. cephalantha.
120. C. Norvégica, Willd. Low and stiff, but rather slender, 1° high or less; leaves very narrow, mostly shorter than the culm; spikes 3–5, somewhat scattered, brown, globular or oblong, compactly many-flowered, the terminal one long-contracted below with the staminate flowers; perigynium very short-ovate, thick, the beak rough, a little longer than the very obtuse scale.—Salt marshes, Maine, and northward, rare. (Eu.)
121. C. tenuiflòra, Wahl. Very slender and diffuse, 1–1½° high, in tufts; leaves very narrow and lax, shorter than the filiform culm; spikes 2–4, all loosely few-flowered and silvery-green, and aggregated into a small globular head; perigynium elliptic, obscurely nerved, smooth, beakless, spreading, about the length of the white thin scale.—Bogs, N. New Eng. to N. Minn.; local. (Eu.)
b. Bracts much prolonged, the lowest 2–3´ long.
122. C. trispérma, Dewey. (Pl. 6, fig. 1–5.) Exceedingly slender, in small and loose tufts, the weak reclining culms 1–2° long; leaves soft and narrow, shorter than the culm; spikes 2–3, 1–3´ apart, silvery-green, 2–3-flowered; perigynium very thin, finely nerved, the beak entire or nearly so; scale acute, very thin, usually shorter than the perigynium.—Cold bogs, throughout; common northward.
[=][=] Perigynium ovate-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate.
123. C. Deweyàna, Schwein. Weak, 1–1½° high; leaves flat and soft, shorter than the culm, yellowish-green; spikes 3–6, mostly oblong or sometimes but 2–3-flowered, loose, the upper ones contiguous but the lower 1 or 2 usually considerably separated on the zigzag rhachis and mostly subtended by a bract, all silvery-green; perigynium ovate-lanceolate or narrower, very thin in texture, nerveless, somewhat thickened below on the outer face, the long beak rough; scale very thin, acute or cuspidate, about the length of the perigynium.—Dry woods; common.
124. C. bromoìdes, Schkuhr. Lax, 1–2° high, in dense stools; leaves very narrow, about as long as the culm; staminate flowers variously situated in the head, sometimes a few spikes wholly sterile, rarely the plants diœcious; spikes 3–6, oblong or short-cylindric, erect, silvery-tawny or brown; perigynium linear-lanceolate, firm especially at the base, prominently nerved, the long and roughened beak toothed; scale sharp, shorter than the perigynium.—Open bogs; common.
[*] 12.—[+] 2. Ovàles.
[++] Perigynium ovate-lanceolate, with winged margins.
125. C. siccàta, Dewey. Extensively creeping, 1–2° high, erect; leaves firm, narrow, about the length of the culm; staminate flowers variously situated, usually some of the spikes wholly sterile; spikes 3–5, aggregated or separated, ovoid or short-oblong, silvery-brown; perigynium firm, nerved on both faces, the long beak rough and toothed, the margins prominent or sometimes very narrow; scale acute, about the length of the perigynium.—Sandy fields and banks, N. Eng. to Ohio, west and northward; frequent.
[++][++] Perigynium ovate-lanceolate or narrower, scale-like, with little distinction between body and margin.
126. C. Muskinguménsis, Schwein. Robust, erect, 2–3° high; leaves many and lax, loosely sheathing, those on the sterile shoots crowded near the top, all flat and long-pointed; spikes 6–12, contiguous, erect, narrowly cylindric (often 1´ long), becoming light brown and presenting a dried appearance, very densely flowered; perigynium linear-lanceolate (3´´ long), prominently nerved, ciliate on the white margins above, appressed, twice the length of the scale or more. (C. arida, Schwein. & Torr.)—Woods and copses, Mich. and Ohio to Ill. and Wisc.; local.
127. C. tribuloìdes, Wahl. Stout and erect, 2–3° high; leaves narrower than in the last, loosely sheathing; spikes 6–15, aggregated into an oblong or somewhat interrupted heavy head, short-oblong or sometimes nearly globular, green or tawny-green, compact, not narrowed above; perigynium linear-lanceolate (3´´ long), obscurely nerved, erect but the points conspicuous, rough-margined, nearly twice the length of the scale. (C. lagopodioides, Schkuhr.)—Open swales; frequent.—Var. turbàta, Bailey. Culm softer and often lax; the leaves broader; spikes more loosely disposed, forming a head 1–2´ long, which is slender and more or less interrupted but always erect, green, becoming tawny, if at all, only when the perigynia begin to fall, obovate-oblong (¼ to rarely ½´ long), contracted below; perigynium ascending and more appressed, the points therefore not conspicuous. Woods, throughout; rare.—Var. redúcta, Bailey. Very slender, 1–2° high, the culm projecting beyond the leaves; spikes 2–10, small and nearly globular (usually less than 3´´ broad), all usually distinct, the lowest separated, brown, especially at maturity, the head often flexuose; perigynium small, the points spreading and conspicuous. Copses, N. Eng. to Dak.; infrequent.
Var. Bébbii, Bailey. Stiff or rather slender, erect, 1–2½° high; head dense, ovoid or oblong (¼–¾´ or very seldom 1´ long), the lowest spike only rarely distinct, straw-colored; spikes small (3´´ long or less), their axes ascending; bracts at the base of the head small or none; points of the small perigynium conspicuous. (C. Bebbii, Olney.)—Dry low grounds, throughout; common.
Var. cristàta, Bailey. Stout and stiff, 1½–3° high; head more or less open or at least the lower 1 or 2 spikes commonly distinct, 1´ long or more, green; spikes larger than in the last and almost exactly globular, their axes more divergent or fully horizontal; bracts usually conspicuous, sometimes one of them foliaceous; perigynium spreading, the points more conspicuous. (C. cristata, Schwein.)—Moist ground, throughout from Penn. northward; common.
128. C. scopària, Schkuhr. Rather slender but erect, 1–2½° high; leaves very narrow, shorter than the culm; head short and comparatively thick, always tawny or brown, bractless or nearly so; spikes 3–8, all contiguous or bunched, ovate-oblong, always prominently narrowed or cone-shaped above, ascending; perigynium as in n. 127, but erect or ascending.—Open swales, throughout; common eastward.
Var. mìnor, Boott. Much smaller, 6–10´ high, the leaves very narrow; head very small and darker brown; spikes very small (2–4´´ long).—Rocky and sterile places, northward; frequent.
[++][++][++] Perigynium ovate or broader, thickened in the middle, wing-margined (in n. 129 marginless).
[=] Head silvery-brown, silvery-green, or silvery-whitish.
129. C. adústa, Boott. Very stiff and stout, 1½–2½° high, in dense tufts; head very heavy, erect, varying from globular to oblong, silvery-brown; spikes 5–10, globular and heavy, all aggregated or sometimes distinct, the lowest 1 or 2 subtended by a short and very broad-based, nerved and pointed bract; perigynium broadly ovate, wingless or very nearly so, plump, shining, nerved on the outer face but nerveless on the inner, filled by the large achene; scale acute, about the length of the perigynium. (C. pinguis, Bailey.)—Dry and mostly hard soils, Mt. Desert, Maine (Greenleaf), and northward, and Crawford Co., Mich. (Bailey), to N. Minn., and far northwestward; local.
130. C. fœ̀nea, Willd. Slender, erect or the top of the culm flexuose, 1–2° high; head long and weak, often nodding; spikes 5–8, small, nearly globular and much contracted below, silvery-green, alternately disposed; perigynium varying from ovate to long-ovate, very thin, much longer than the small achene, prominently rough-margined, strongly many-nerved on both faces, especially on the small inner face; bracts entirely wanting or inconspicuous. (C. adusta, last ed.)—Dryish copses, N. Eng. to Penn. and Minn.; not common.—Var. perpléxa, Bailey. Mostly taller and stouter; spikes larger and less attenuated or even truncate below, approximate or even aggregated, the head erect or nearly so and the lowest bract occasionally prominent; perigynium thicker and firmer in texture. N. Eng. to Minn.; infrequent.
131. C. silícea, Olney. Stiff, 1–2° high, in clumps; leaves very narrow, becoming involute, not exceeding the culm; head 1–3´ long, usually flexuose or nodding above the middle at maturity; spikes 5–8, silvery-white or silvery-tawny at full maturity, all more or less separated, ovate, conspicuously contracted below and cone-shaped above, erect on the culm; perigynium very broad-ovate and very thin, obscurely nerved, appressed, about as long as the acute colorless scale. (C. fœnea, var. sabulonum, last ed.; C. straminea, var. moniliformis, Tuckerm.)—Sands of the sea-shore, Maine to N. J.; frequent.
[=][=] Head dull brown or green (usually somewhat silvery in var. fœnea of n. 132).
132. C. stramínea, Willd. Very slender, erect, but the top of the culm often flexuose, 1–3° high; leaves narrow and long-pointed, stiff, shorter than the culm; spikes 3–8, tawny, very small (2–3´´ broad), globular or sometimes a little tapering below from the presence of many staminate flowers, usually all entirely distinct on the very slender, often zigzag or flexuose rhachis; bracts none, or only the lowest conspicuous; perigynium small and ovate, nerved on both faces but never unusually prominently nerved on the inner face (as is the perigynium of n. 130), the points spreading and rather conspicuous; scale acute, about the length of the perigynium. (C. straminea, var. tenera, last ed.)—Dryish copses and fields; common. Immensely variable.
Var. mirábilis, Tuckerm. Culm long and mostly weak, often 4° high, much longer than the loose leaves; spikes 4–8, larger, usually all contiguous or occasionally the lowest 1 or 2 separate, spreading, loosely flowered, tawny or frequently greenish; perigynium narrowly ovate, thin, longer than the scale, the points much spreading and very conspicuous. (C. mirabilis, Dewey.)—Shady places, throughout; frequent.
Var. brèvior, Dewey. (Pl. 6, fig. 6–10.) Culm always stiff, 1½–2½° high, longer than the stiff long-pointed leaves; spikes 3–8, all distinct, contiguous or more or less separated, large (3–5´´ broad), globular, the head always short and erect; perigynium orbicular or ovate-orbicular, often cordate at base, mostly very broadly winged. (C. straminea, and vars. typica, hyalina, and Meadii, last ed.)—Dry soils, throughout; common.
Var. apérta, Boott. Culm slender but strict below the head, 1–2° high, growing in dense tufts; leaves very narrow, usually much shorter than the culm; spikes 4–6, large, heavy, much contracted below, usually all separated, becoming rusty, disposed in a weak or nodding head; perigynium narrowly ovate.—Bogs, throughout; rare westward. Transition to n. 128, from which the ovate perigynia distinguish it.
Var. invìsa, W. Boott. Culm very slender, weak above; leaves very narrow with exceedingly long thin points, about the length of the culm; spikes small (3´´ broad or less), ovate, variously disposed in dense or open heads or sometimes the lowest remote or even subradical, rusty, the lower ones subtended by filiform bracts 2–5´ long.—Swales near the sea-board, Maine to Del.; infrequent. Apt to be confounded with n. 128.
Var. alàta, Bailey. Culm very stiff, 1½–3° high, longer than the stiff leaves; spikes very large, oblong or conical, always pointed, usually all contiguous, green or sometimes becoming tawny; perigynium orbicular or orbicular-obovate, very abruptly contracted into a short beak which is prominent in the spike. (C. alata, Torr.)—Swales, Mass. to Ill., and southward; rare and uncharacteristic far inland.
Var. cumulàta, Bailey. Culm very stiff, 2–3° high, greatly exceeding the firm leaves; spikes 5–30, all aggregated or densely capitate, green, widely divergent, pointed above, very abruptly contracted or even truncate at base, very densely flowered; perigynium small, broad, very obscurely nerved, the points inconspicuous.—Dry grounds, Penn. to N. Eng., and northward; rare.
Var. fœ̀nea, Torr. Culm very stiff, longer than the leaves, 1–2° high; spikes 4–8, contiguous or separated, never densely aggregated, prominently contracted both above and below, very densely flowered, green, or often silvery-green. (C. fœnea, last ed., excl. vars.; not Willd.)—Near the sea-coast; frequent.
C. leporìna, L. Distinguished from C. straminea, var. brevior, as follows:—Usually lower; spikes rusty-brown, ovoid or oblong, erect or appressed, more or less contracted both above and below, contiguous in an interrupted head 1´ long or less; perigynium lance-ovate, thin, very narrowly margined, erect and appressed, obscurely nerved.—About Boston (W. Boott, Morong). (Adv. from Eu.)
[*] 12.—[+] 3. Cyperoídeæ.
133. C. sychnocéphala, Carey. Erect, 3–18´ high, leafy; head ½–1´ long; perigynium very slender, faintly nerved, 5–6 times longer than the exceedingly small achene, mostly a little longer than the sharp scale.—Glades, central N. Y. to Minn., and far westward; rare.
Order 129. GRAMÍNEÆ. (Grass Family.)
Grasses, with usually hollow stems (culms) closed at the joints, alternate 2-ranked leaves, their sheaths split or open on the side opposite the blade; the hypogynous flowers solitary in the axils of imbricated 2-ranked glumes, forming a 1–many-flowered spikelet; the lower glumes (1 or usually 2) empty, the succeeding flowering glumes enclosing each a somewhat smaller and usually thinner scale (called the palet) and 2 or 3 very minute hyaline scales (lodicules) at the base of the flower. Stamens 1–6, commonly 3; anthers versatile, 2-celled, the cells distinct. Styles mostly 2 or 2-parted; stigmas hairy or feathery. Ovary 1-celled, 1-ovuled, forming a seed-like grain (caryopsis) in fruit. Embryo small, on the outside and at the base of the floury albumen.—Roots fibrous. Sheath of the leaves usually more or less extended above the base of the blade into a scarious appendage (ligule). Spikelets panicled or spiked. Palet usually 2-nerved or 2-keeled, enclosed or partly covered by the glume. Grain sometimes free from, sometimes permanently adherent to, the palet.—A vast and most important family, as it furnishes the cereal grains, and the principal food of cattle, etc. The terms flowering glume and palet are now adopted in place of the outer and inner palets of previous editions, while for convenience the term flower is often retained for the flower proper together with the enclosing flowering glume. (See Plates 7–15.)
Series A. Spikelets jointed upon the pedicel below the glumes, of one terminal perfect flower (sometimes a lower staminate or neutral flower in n. 5), or some or all of the 1-flowered spikelets unisexual in n. 10–12. Glumes 4 (rarely only 2 or 3).
Tribe I. PANICEÆ. Spikelets of one perfect flower, in spikes or panicles. Flowering glume awnless, in fruit more rigid than the empty glumes.
[*] Spikelets in 2–4 ranks on a more or less flattened rhachis.—See also n. 5 (§ Digitaria).
[+] Rhachis produced beyond the upper spikelet; glumes 3.
1. Spartina. Spikelets much flattened laterally in 2 close ranks.
[+][+] Rhachis not produced above the upper spikelet (rarely in n. 3).
2. Beckmannia. Spikelets obovate, in 2 close rows. Glumes 3 (or 4), strongly concave, carinate.
3. Paspalum. Spikelets plano-convex, sessile or nearly so. Glumes 3 (rarely 2).
4. Eriochloa. Spikelets plano-convex, lanceolate, with a basal callus, short-pedicelled.
[*][*] Spikelets irregularly paniculate or spicate.
5. Panicum. Spikelets ovate, not involucrate nor the pedicels bristly. Glumes 4, the lowest usually small or minute.
6. Setaria. Spikelets in dense cylindrical spikes or panicles, the pedicels bristle-bearing.
7. Cenchrus. Spikelets (1–5) enclosed in a globular spiny bur-like involucre.
8. Amphicarpum. Spikelets of 2 kinds, one in a terminal panicle, the other subterranean on radical peduncles.
Tribe II. ORYZEÆ. Spikelets unisexual or perfect, in loose panicles, with only 2 glumes (in our genera) and palet none. Stamens often 6.
9. Leersia. Flowers perfect. Spikelets much flattened. Glumes carinate.
10. Zizania. Spikelets unisexual. Glumes convex, narrow.
Tribe III. MAYDEÆ. Spikelets of a single perfect or unisexual or rudimentary flower, in jointed spikes, in pairs at each joint, mostly imbedded in the thick rhachis.
11. Tripsacum. Spikelets monœcious, the staminate above in the spike.
12. Rottbœllia. One spikelet of each pair sterile and shortly pedicelled, the other fertile, sessile and sunk in the rhachis.
Tribe IV. ANDROPOGONEÆ. Spikelets in pairs or threes on the (usually jointed and bearded) rhachis of a spike or branches of a panicle, one sessile and fertile, the lateral pedicelled and often sterile or rudimentary; 2 upper glumes smaller and hyaline, that of the fertile flower mostly awned.
13. Erianthus. Spikelets in pairs, spicate, all alike fertile, involucrate with a silky tuft.
14. Andropogon. Spikelets spicate, in pairs, the pedicellate sterile or rudimentary; rhachis bearded.
15. Chrysopogon. Spikelets in open panicles, in pairs or threes, only the sessile fertile.
Series B. Rhachis of the spikelet usually jointed above the persistent lower glumes (jointed below the glumes only in n. 19, 31, and 36). Spikelets 1–many-flowered, the uppermost flowers often imperfect or rudimentary.
Tribe V. PHALARIDEÆ. Glumes 5, only the uppermost fertile, the 2 middle ones rudimentary or empty or staminate; palet 1-nerved. Panicle mostly contracted and spike-like.
16. Phalaris. Middle glumes mere rudiments each side of the shining triandrous flower.
17. Anthoxanthum. Middle glumes empty, awned on the back. Stamens 2.
18. Hierochloe. Middle glumes triandrous. Fertile flower diandrous.
Tribe VI. AGROSTIDEÆ. Glumes 3; flower solitary, perfect (rarely a rudimentary or perfect second flower in n. 23 and 32–34), palet 2-nerved.
[*] Flowering glume with a terminal awn (none in n. 22), closely embracing the grain in fruit; spikelets in panicles or loose spikes, the rhachis not produced beyond the flower (except in n. 24 and a single species of n. 23).—Stipeæ.
[+] Fruiting glume firm and indurated, with a callus at base (none in n. 22).
19. Aristida. Awn 3-fid, the branches divaricate. Callus acute.
20. Stipa. Awn simple, twisted. Callus mostly acute.
21. Oryzopsis. Awn simple, straight, deciduous. Flower oblong; callus short, obtuse.
22. Milium. Awn none. Flower small, ovoid, without callus.
[+][+] Fruiting glume thin and membranous; outer glume smaller or minute.
23. Muhlenbergia. Flower mostly hairy at base, the glume mucronate or awned.
24. Brachyelytrum. Rhachis produced into a bristle above. Outer glumes very small, the flowering one long-awned. Stamens 2.
[*][*] Flowering glume awnless or short-awned, loosely embracing the grain, thin, the lower glumes complicate carinate; spikelets in dense spike-like panicles, the rhachis not produced.—Phleoideæ.
25. Heleochloa. Awns none. Spikes short and scarcely exserted.
26. Phleum. Glumes somewhat truncate, mucronate or short awned. Spike cylindric.
27. Alopecurus. Lower glumes united at base, the flowering awned on the back. Palet none. Spike cylindric.
[*][*][*] Glumes membranous, the lower rarely strongly complicate, the flowering with a dorsal awn or awnless; spikelets variously panicled.—Agrosteæ.
[+] Flowering glume 1- (rarely 3-) nerved, awnless; grain loosely enclosed or naked.
28. Sporobolus. Culms wiry or rigid. Leaves involute.
[+][+] Flowering glume 3–5 nerved, mostly awned; grain enclosed.
[++] Rhachis not reduced above the single flower.
29. Agrostis. Spikelets in an open panicle.
30. Polypogon. Empty glumes long-awned. Panicle spike-like.
31. Cinna. Spikelets flattened, in a loose panicle. Palet 1-nerved. Stamen 1
[++][++] Rhachis bearing a rudimentary second flower or short bristle (except in species of n. 33).
32. Apera. Flowering glume bifid, awned. Panicle very loose and delicate.
33. Calamagrostis. Flowers hairy-tufted at base. Glumes membranaceous. Palet thin.
34. Ammophila. Spikelets large. Flowers hairy tufted at base. Glumes and palet chartaceous.
Tribe VII. AVENEÆ. Spikelets 2–several-flowered, panicled, the rhachis or base of the flowers often bearded; upper flower imperfect or rudimentary (except in n. 37). Flowering glume bearing a twisted, bent or straight awn on its back or below the apex.
[*] One of the flowers staminate only.
35. Arrhenatherum. Lower flower staminate, long awned; middle flower perfect, nearly awnless; the upper rudimentary.
36. Holcus. Flowers 2, the lower perfect, awnless, the upper staminate, awned.
[*][*] Flowers all perfect or the uppermost usually rudimentary.
37. Aira. Spikelets very small, in a diffuse panicle. Flowers 2, perfect, awned toward the base.
38. Deschampsia. Spikelets 2-flowered, with a hairy rudiment. Glumes thin-scarious, the flowering one erose-truncate awned near the middle.
39. Trisetum. Spikelets 2–several-flowered. Flowering glume thin, compressed, carinate, 2-toothed, awned above by the excurrent mid nerve.
40. Avena. Spikelets 2–several-flowered. Flowering glume hard and firm, rounded on the back, 5–9 nerved, the mid-nerve long-excurrent at or below the 2-toothed apex.
41. Danthonia. As Avena, but the 3 middle nerves of the flowering glume running into a flattish twisted awn from between the teeth.
Tribe VIII. CHLORIDEÆ. Spikelets 2–several-flowered with one or more of the upper flowers imperfect (flower 1 and perfect in n. 45) arranged in 2 rows upon the rhachis of a 1-sided spike.
[*] Spikelets with one perfect flower.
42. Cynodon. Spikes 3–5, slender, digitate. Flower and the rudiment awnless.
43. Ctenium. Spike solitary, terminal. Flowers 4–6, the middle one perfect.
44. Gymnopogon. Spikes filiform, racemose. Spikelets remote, of a perfect flower and an awned rudiment.
45. Schedonnardus. Spikes 3–9, slender, scattered, distant. Spikelets small, 1-flowered awnless.
46. Bouteloua. Spikes scattered (rarely 1 and terminal), dense. Glume of perfect flower 3-toothed. Rudimentary flowers 1–3 awned.
[*][*] Spikelets with two or more perfect flowers; awns none.
47. Eleusine. Spikes digitate, dense.
48. Leptochloa. Spikes racemose, slender. Spikelets small, alternate.
[*][*][*] Spikelets diœcious; spikes small, very dissimilar.
49. Buchloe. Pistillate spikes capitate, sessile, the spikelets 1-flowered; staminate spikes (2 or 3) on a peduncle, the spikelets 2–3-flowered.
Tribe IX. FESTUCEÆ. Spikelets few–many-flowered, panicled, the uppermost flowers often imperfect or abortive. Glumes pointless or the flowering ones tipped with a straight awn or bristle.
[*] Flowering glume 1–3 nerved, 2–3-toothed. Rhachis short-bearded or glabrous.
50. Triodia. Rhachis of the spikelet bearded. Nerves of the flowering glume 3, villous, at least the middle one more or less excurrent.
51. Diplachne. Rhachis glabrous. Glume 1–3-nerved, with 2 small teeth, and a short awn in the cleft.
[*][*] Glume 3-nerved, entire or 2-toothed and mucronate between the teeth. Rhachis and flowers long-villous. Tall reeds with ample panicles.
52. Phragmites. Spikelets 3–7-flowered, lowest flower naked, staminate or neutral. Glume entire.
53. Arundo. As n. 52, but flowers all perfect. Glume bifid.
[*][*][*] Glume 3-nerved, the nerves (at least the mid-nerve) excurrent; spikelets few, in the axils of floral leaves.
54. Munroa. Low or prostrate much-branched annual.
[*][*][*][*] Glume 3- (rarely 1-) nerved, obtuse or acute, awnless; rhachis and flower naked.
55. Kœleria. Panicle contracted. Spikelets 2–4-flowered. Glumes compressed-keeled, acute or mucronate.
56. Eatonia. Panicle slender, more or less dense. Spikelets 2-flowered. Glumes very dissimilar, usually obtuse, the upper empty one enclosing the flowers.
57. Eragrostis. Spikelets flattened, 2–many-flowered. Glumes acute or acutish. Palet persistent.
[*][*][*][*][*] Glume 3–5-nerved, obtuse or abrupt-cuspidate; spikelet 3–5-flowered; upper sterile flowers convolute around each other.
58. Melica. Glumes 5-nerved or more, scarious, obtuse. Panicle simple or nearly so.
59. Diarrhena. Glumes 3-nerved, coriaceous, the flowering one abruptly cuspidate. Panicle loosely few-flowered.
[*][*][*][*][*][*] Flowering glume 5-nerved or more (sometimes obscurely so). Only the terminal flower abortive, or none.
[+] Glumes more or less strongly compressed and carinate (ventricose in n. 63).
60. Uniola. Spikelets broad, flat and 2-edged, in usually loose panicles. Glumes coriaceous, acute, the 3–6 lower ones empty.
61. Distichlis. Diœcious. Spikelets large, flattened, in a close panicle. Empty glumes 2, acute.
62. Dactylis. Panicle contracted in 1-sided clusters. Glumes herbaceous, awn-pointed, rough-ciliate on the keel.
63. Briza. Spikelets heart-shaped, in lax panicles. Glumes roundish, ventricose, scarious-margined.
64. Poa. Spikelets small, flattened, ovate to lance-ovate, in a loose panicle. Flowering glumes membranous and scarious-margined, pointless, usually webby or pubescent toward the base.
65. Graphephorum. Spikelets compressed, in a loose panicle, the hairy jointed rhachis produced into a hairy pedicel. Glumes thin-membranous, faintly nerved, entire.
[+][+] Glumes convex on the back, not carinate (or somewhat so in n. 70).
66. Scolochloa. Spikelets subterete, in a lax panicle, the rhachis villous at the base of the flowers, ending in a naked pedicel. Glumes coriaceous, prominently 7-nerved, toothed at the apex. In water.
67. Glyceria. Spikelets terete or flattish. Flowering glumes scarious at the usually blunt summit, prominently 5–7-nerved.
68. Puccinellia. Mainly as Glyceria, but the glumes obsoletely 5-nerved.
69. Festuca. Spikelets terete or flattish. Flowering glume acute, pointed or awned at the tip, few-nerved. Styles terminal.
70. Bromus. Glume rounded or keeled on the back, mostly awned below the 2-cleft tip, 5–9-nerved. Styles scarcely terminal.
Tribe X. HORDEÆ. Spikelets 1–several-flowered, sessile on opposite sides of a zigzag jointed channelled rhachis, forming a spike. Empty glumes sometimes abortive or wanting. Uppermost flower imperfect or abortive.
[*] Spikelets single at each joint of the solitary spike.
71. Lolium. Spikelets many-flowered, placed edgewise on the rhachis of the spike, with one empty glume.
72. Agropyrum. Spikelets 3–several-flowered, placed flatwise on the rhachis. Empty glumes 2, right and left.
73. Lepturus. Spikelets small, 1–2-flowered; empty glumes 1 or 2. Spike very slender.
[*][*] Spikelets 2 or more at each joint of the solitary spike; the empty glumes side by side in front of the spikelets (none or rudimentary in n. 76.)
74. Hordeum. Spikelets 1-flowered, 3 at each joint, the lateral ones usually sterile.
75. Elymus. Spikelets 1–several-flowered, all perfect and similar.
76. Asprella. Spikelets few-flowered, somewhat pedicelled, 1–3 at each joint. Glumes none or small and deciduous.
Tribe XI. BAMBUSEÆ. Tall woody reeds, the flat leaves with a short petiole jointed upon the sheath. Spikelets few–many-flowered, flattened, in panicles or racemes.
77. Arundinaria. Flowering glumes rounded on the back, many-nerved, acuminate or bristle-pointed; empty glumes very small.
1. SPARTÌNA, Schreber. Cord or Marsh Grass. (Pl. 9.)
Spikelets 1-flowered, very much flattened laterally, jointed and sessile in 2 ranks on the outer side of a triangular rhachis. Glumes 3, unequal, lanceolate, strongly compressed-keeled, acute or bristle-pointed, mostly rough-bristly on the keel; palet thin, equalling or longer than the flowering glume. Stamens 3. Styles long, more or less united.—Perennials, with simple and rigid often reed-like culms, from extensively creeping scaly rootstocks, racemed spikes, very smooth sheaths, and long tough leaves (whence the name, from σπαρτίνη, a cord, such as was made from the bark of the Spartium or Broom).
[*] Spikelets compactly imbricated, very rough-hispid on the keels; spikes (2–4´ long) more or less peduncled; culm and elongated leaves rigid.
1. S. cynosuroìdes, Willd. (Fresh-water Cord-Grass.) Culm rather slender (2–6° high); leaves narrow (2–4° long, ½´ wide below or less), tapering to a very slender point, keeled, flat, but quickly involute in drying, smooth except the margins; spikes 5–20, scattered, spreading; rhachis rough on the margins; glumes awn-pointed, especially the middle one (its awn about ¼´ long), strongly serrulate-hispid on the keel, the lower equalling the upper, whose strong midrib abruptly terminates below the membranous apex.—Banks of rivers and lakes, or in rich soil, especially northward. Aug.
2. S. polystàchya, Willd. (Salt Reed-Grass.) Culm tall and stout (4–9° high, often 1´ in diameter near the base); leaves broad (½–1´), roughish underneath, as well as the margins; spikes 20–50, forming a dense oblong raceme (purplish); glumes barely mucronate, the lower half the length of the flowering one, of which the rough-hispid midrib reaches to the apex.—Salt or brackish marshes, within tide-water, especially southward.
3. S. júncea, Willd. (Rush Salt-Grass.) Culms low (1–2° high) and slender; leaves narrow and rush-like, strongly involute, very smooth; spikes 1–5, on very short peduncles, the rhachis smooth; glumes acute, the lower scarcely half the length of the middle one, not half the length of the upper.—Salt marshes and sea-beaches. Aug. (Eu.)
[*][*] Spikelets loosely imbricated, or somewhat remote and alternate, the keels only slightly hairy or roughish under a lens; spikes sessile and erect, soft; leaves, rhachis, etc., very smooth; culm rather succulent.
4. S. strícta, Roth. (Salt Marsh-Grass.) (Pl. 9, fig. 1–3.) Culm 1–4° high, leafy to the top; leaves soon convolute, narrow; spikes few (2–4), the rhachis slightly projecting beyond the crowded or imbricated spikelets; glumes acute, very unequal, the larger 1-nerved, a little longer than the flower.—Salt marshes, Penn., etc.—Odor strong and rancid. (Eu.)
Var. glàbra, Gray. Culm and leaves longer; spikes 5–12 (2–3´ long); Spikelets imbricate-crowded.—Common on the coast.
Var. alterniflòra, Gray. Spikes more slender (3–5´ long), and the spikelets remotish, barely overlapping, the rhachis continued into a more conspicuous bract-like appendage; larger glume indistinctly 5-nerved; otherwise as in the preceding form, into which it passes.—Common with the last; also Onondaga Lake, J. A. Paine.
2. BECKMÁNNIA, Host. (Pl. 16.)
Spikelets jointed upon the pedicels, 1–2-flowered (only one fertile), obovate and laterally compressed, imbricated in 2 rows upon one side of the angled rhachis of a spike. Glumes 3 or 4, the 2 lower strongly concave and carinate, obtuse or acutish, the 1 or 2 flowering glumes narrower, lanceolate, acute or acuminate and a little exserted, becoming rather rigid and with the thin palet enclosing the oblong grain.—A stout erect subaquatic perennial, with the short spikes erect and simply spicate or in a strict narrow panicle. (Named for John Beckmann, professor of botany at Goettingen.)
1. B. erucæfórmis, Host, var. uniflòra, Scribn. Glumes 3 and spikelets 1-flowered; spikes (6´´ long or less) panicled.—N. W. Iowa, W. Minn., and westward. The Old World form, which also is found in the far northwest, has 2-flowered spikelets.
3. PÁSPALUM, L. (Pl. 13.)
Spikelets spiked or somewhat racemed, in 2–4 rows on one side of a flattened or filiform continuous rhachis, jointed upon very short pedicels, plano-convex, awnless, 1-flowered. Glumes 3 (rarely only 2), the terminal one flowering. Flower coriaceous, mostly orbicular or ovate, flat on the inner side, convex on the outer. Stamens 3. Spikes one or more, at or toward the summit of an elongated peduncle. (Πασπάλος, a Greek name for Millet.)
[*] Spikes with a (1´´) broad and thin membranaceous or foliaceous and keeled rhachis, the incurved margins partly enclosing the small two-rowed spikelets. (Smooth, aquatic, or nearly so, decumbent or floating.)
1. P. flùitans, Kunth. Annual; leaves lanceolate, flat (3–8´´), broad; spikes numerous in a raceme, the rhachis somewhat projecting beyond the minute and slightly pubescent spikelets into a tapering point, scabrous on the back.—River-swamps, Va. to S. Ill., Mo., and southward. Sept., Oct.
2. P. Walteriànum, Schultes. Perennial; leaves linear, short; spikes 3–7, the lowest partly included in the sheath of the uppermost leaf, the rhachis blunt; spikelets glabrous.—Low or wet grounds, N. J. (Cape May, Nuttall), Del., and southward.
[*][*] Spikes with a narrow wingless rhachis; perennials, or mostly so.
[+] Spikelets very obtuse, orbicular; spikes one terminal and often 1–5 lateral.
3. P. setàceum, Michx. Culm ascending or decumbent (1–2° long), slender; leaves (2´´ wide, flat) and sheaths clothed with soft spreading hairs; spikes very slender (2–4´ long), smooth, mostly solitary on a long peduncle, and usually one from the sheaths of each of the upper leaves on short peduncles or included; spikelets (½´´ wide) narrowly 2-rowed.—Sandy fields; common from E. Mass. to Ill., and southward. Aug.
4. P. læ̀ve, Michx. (Pl. 13, fig. 1–3.) Bright green, sparingly villous, rather stout; stems somewhat decumbent; leaves and spikes widely spreading; spikes (2–4) approximate, 2–4´ long, smooth or nearly so; spikelets about 1´´ wide, 2-rowed.—Moist soil, S. New Eng. to Ky., and southward.
5. P. Floridànum, Michx. Stout, erect, 3–6° high, glaucous; sheaths and leaves more or less villous, the latter and the spikes erect or ascending; spikes (2–5) broader, 2–5´ long, the smooth spikelets nearly 2´´ broad, in 2 rows.—Moist soil; Del. to Fla., Ark., and Tex.
[+][+] Spikelets acute; spikes several, racemose.
6. P. dilatàtum, Poir. Stout, erect, 2–5° high, villous at the top of the sheath; spikes few on a naked peduncle, erect, 2–3´ long; spikelets 1´´ long or more, the lower glume soft-villous on the margin.—Va. to Tex.
[+][+][+] Spikelets acute; spikes always a pair at the summit of the naked peduncle.
7. P. dístichum, L. (Joint-Grass.) Nearly glabrous, rather glaucous; culms ascending (about 1° high) from a long creeping base; leaves linear-lanceolate (2–3´ long); peduncle usually short; spikes short and closely-flowered (9´´–2´ long), often slightly separated; rhachis flat on the back; spikelets ovate, slightly pointed (barely 1½´´ long), approximate on one side of the rhachis.—Wet fields, Va. and southward. July–Sept.
8. P. Ellióttii, Watson. Culms ascending (1–2½° high) from a creeping base; leaves lanceolate (3–6´ long, 4–6´´ wide); spikes slender, rather sparsely flowered (1–4´ long), both sessile upon the long slender peduncle; spikelets ovate-lanceolate (2´´ long), on nearly opposite sides of the rhachis. (Milium paspalòdes, Ell. P. Digitaria, Chapm.; not Poir.)—Va. and southward.
4. ERIÓCHLOA, HBK. (Pl. 16.)
Spikelets ovate, subsessile or shortly pedicelled upon one side of the rhachis of a spike, with a callus at base and jointed on the pedicel, 1-flowered. Glumes 3, the 2 empty ones slightly unequal, membranaceous, acute, the flowering one shorter, indurated, obtuse, enclosing the free grain.—Coarse tufted grasses, with flat leaves, the spikes more or less scattered along a common peduncle, and the pedicels and rhachis of the spike usually pubescent or hairy (hence the name, from ἔριον, wool, and χλόα, grass).
1. E. polystàchya, HBK. Culms erect or decumbent, 2° high; spikes 6–12, erect or ascending, 1–2´ long, forming a compound spike 3–6´ long; spikelets glabrous, very shortly pedicelled, oblong-lanceolate, nearly 2´´ long.—S. Kan. to Tex. and Mex.
5. PÁNICUM, L. Panic-Grass. (Pl. 13.)
Spikelets jointed upon the pedicels, ovate, panicled, racemed, or sometimes spiked, not involucrate, with one perfect and sometimes a second lower rudimentary or staminate flower. Glumes 4, but the lower one usually short or minute (rarely even wanting), and the third empty or sterile, membranaceo-herbaceous. Upper flower perfect, closed, coriaceous or cartilaginous, usually flattish parallel with the glumes, awnless (except in § 3), enclosing the free and grooveless grain. Stamens 3. Stigmas plumose, usually purple. (An ancient Latin name of the Italian Millet, P. Italicum (now Setaria Italica), of uncertain origin and meaning.)
§ 1. DIGITÀRIA. Spikelets crowded 2–3 together in simple and mostly 1-sided clustered spikes or spike-like racemes, wholly awnless and pointless, 1-flowered; lower glume minute or obsolete or wanting; annual, often purplish.
[*] Spikes erect; the rhachis filiform and nearly terete.
1. P. filifórme, L. Culms very slender (1–2° high), upright; lower sheaths hairy; spikes 2–8, alternate, approximate, filiform; spikelets oblong, acute (½´´ long); lower glume almost wanting.—Dry sandy soil, Mass. to N. J. along the coast, to Iowa, Neb., and southward. Aug.
[*][*] Spikes spreading; the rhachis flat and thin.
P. glàbrum, Gaudin. Culms spreading, prostrate, or sometimes erect (5–12´ long), glabrous; spikes 2–6, widely diverging, nearly digitate; spikelets ovoid (about 1´´ long); upper empty glume equalling the flower, the lower almost wanting.—Cultivated grounds and waste places; common, especially southward; sometimes appearing indigenous. Aug., Sept. (Nat. from Eu.)
P. sanguinàle, L. (Common Crab- or Finger-Grass.) (Pl. 13, fig. 1–3.) Culms erect or spreading (1–2° high); leaves and sheaths glabrous or hairy; spikes 4–15, spreading, digitate; spikelets oblong (1½´´ long); second glume half the length of the flower, the lower one small.—Cultivated and waste grounds. Aug.–Oct. (Nat. from Eu.)
§ 2. PANICUM proper. Spikelets scattered, in panicles, awnless.
[*] Panicle elongated and racemose, wand-like or pyramidal; the numerous and usually pointed spikelets short-pedicelled, excepting n. 3 and 4.
[+] Sterile flower none; lower glume short; spikelets ½–1½´´ long; annuals except n. 4; leaves flat; sheaths flattened.
[++] Glabrous and smooth throughout; spikelets appressed, short-pedicelled.
2. P. prolíferum, Lam. Culms usually thickish and rather succulent, branched, geniculate and ascending from a procumbent base; sheaths flattened; ligule ciliate; panicles terminal and lateral, compound, pyramidal, the slender primary branches at length spreading; spikelets pale green, rarely purplish; lower glume broad, {1/3} to ¼ the length of the upper, which is little longer than the flowering one.—Marshy river-banks and shores, especially if brackish, but also in the interior, from Mass. to Iowa, and southward. Aug.
[++][++] Hispid or hairy on the sheaths, at least the lower; spikelets mostly scattered on slender pedicels in an ample, loose, at length very effuse panicle; culms mostly branched from the base, erect or ascending (10–20´ high).
3. P. capillàre, L. (Old-witch Grass.) (Pl. 13, fig. 4, 5.) All the sheaths and usually the leaves copiously hairy or hispid; panicle mostly very compound, the branches divaricate when old; spikelets from ovoid to narrowly oblong, pointed; lower glume half the length of the upper empty one, which is longer than the elliptical obtuse perfect flower.—Sandy soil and cultivated fields everywhere. Aug.–Oct.—Varies extremely in size and appearance, the culms erect and simple, or decumbent, geniculate and branched; in depauperate forms the spikelets only ¾´´, in the larger forms 1½´´ in length.
4. P. autumnàle, Bosc. Root perennial (?), lower sheaths and margins of the small narrow leaves more or less hairy, otherwise glabrous, except some bristly hairs in the main axils of the very effuse capillary panicle, its much elongated divisions sparingly branched, or even simple and terminated with solitary spindle-shaped spikelets; lower glume minute; perfect flower lanceolate-oblong and pointed, nearly equalling the lance-oblong obtusish empty glumes.—Sand-hills, Ill. to Minn., Mo., and southward.
[+][+] Sterile flower rudimentary (staminate in n. 7), its glume fully twice the length of the lower glume; spikelets small (1 or 1½´´ long); root perennial.
5. P. ánceps, Michx. Culms flat, upright (2–4° high); leaves rather broadly linear (1–2° long, 4–5´´ wide), smooth; panicle contracted-pyramidal; spikelets ovate-lanceolate, pointed, a little curved; second glume 5–7-nerved; neutral flower one third longer than the perfect one.—Wet sandy soil, N. J. and Penn. to S. Ill., and southward. Aug.—Spikelets larger and branches of the panicle longer and narrower than in the next.
6. P. agrostoìdes, Muhl. Culms flattened, upright (2–4° high); leaves long, and with the sheaths smooth; panicles terminal and often lateral, pyramidal (4–8´ long); spikelets racemose, crowded and one-sided on the spreading branches, ovate-oblong, acute (purplish); second glume 5-nerved, longer than the neutral flower; perfect flower shorter, bearded at the apex.—Wet meadows and shores, E. Mass. to Minn., Neb., and common southward. Aug.
7. P. Curtísii, Chapm. Culms stout, 3–4° high, often rooting below; mostly glabrous; panicle slender, simple, spike-like (6–8´ long), the spikes appressed; spikelets lanceolate, acute; lower glume half the length of the 5-nerved second one.—Ponds, Del. to Fl. and Tex.
[+][+][+] Sterile flower staminate; lower glume more than half the length of the next; spikelets large (2–2½´´ long), ovate, pointed, as are the glumes, etc.; perennials, glabrous, with tall or stout and rigid upright culms.
8. P. virgàtum, L. (Pl. 13, fig. 8, 9.) Tall (3–5° high); leaves very long, flat; ligule silky-bearded; branches of the compound loose and large panicle (9´–2° long) at length spreading or drooping; spikelets scattered, usually purplish.—Moist sandy soil; common. Aug.
9. P. amàrum, Ell. Culms (1½° high or more) sheathed to the top; leaves involute, glaucous, coriaceous, the uppermost exceeding the contracted panicle, the simple racemose branches of which are appressed; spikelets pale.—Sandy shores, Conn., Va., and southward. Aug., Sept.—The northern form (var. mìnus, Vasey & Scribn.) somewhat smaller than the southern.
[*][*] Panicle short or small, loosely spreading or diffuse; perennials.
[+] Sterile flower none; spikelets warty roughened.
10. P. verrucòsum, Muhl. Smooth; culms branching and spreading, very slender (1–2° long), naked above; leaves linear-lanceolate (2–3´´ wide), shining; branches of the diffuse panicle capillary, few-flowered; spikelets dark green, oval, acute, ¾´´ long; lower glume ¼ as long as the faintly nerved second.—Sandy swamps, N. Eng. to Va., near the coast, and southward.
[+][+] Lower (sterile) flower neutral, or in n. 12 and sometimes in n. 11 staminate, the palet scarious and sometimes small and inconspicuous.
[++] Culm-leaves broadly lanceolate or wider, with 9–15 principal nerves (obscure or none in n. 17).
[=] Spikelets 1–1½´´ long.
11. P. xanthophỳsum, Gray. Culm simple, or at length branched near the base (9–15´ high); sheaths hairy; leaves lanceolate, very acute (4–6´ long by ½´ wide), not dilated at the ciliate-bearded clasping base, smooth except the margins, strongly 9–11-nerved; panicle long-peduncled, very simple, the appressed branches bearing a few roundish-obovate spikelets (about 1½´´ long); lower glume ovate, acutish, {1/3}–½ the length of the 9-nerved second.—Dry sandy soil, Maine to Penn., Wisc., Iowa, and northward; rare. June.—Yellowish-green; spikelets minutely downy; sterile flower sometimes staminate.
12. P. latifòlium, L. Culm (1–2° high) smooth; the joints and the throat or margins of the otherwise smooth sheaths often bearded with soft woolly hairs; leaves broadly oblong-lanceolate from a heart-clasping base (often 1´ wide), taper-pointed, 11–15-nerved, smooth, or sparingly downy-hairy; panicle more or less exserted (2–3´ long), usually long-peduncled, the branches spreading; spikelets obovate, 1½´´ long, downy; lower glume ovate, not half the length of the many-nerved second; sterile flower often (not always) with 3 stamens.—Moist thickets; common. June–Aug.
13. P. clandestìnum, L. (Pl. 13, fig. 6, 7.) Culm rigid (1–3° high), very leafy to the top, at length producing appressed branches, the joints naked; sheaths rough with papillæ bearing very stiff and spreading bristly hairs; leaves oblong-lanceolate from a heart-clasping base, very taper-pointed; lateral and usually also the terminal panicle more or less enclosed in the sheaths, or with the terminal one at length long-peduncled;—otherwise resembling n. 12; but the spikelets more ovoid, often smooth; the lower flower (always?) neutral.—Low thickets and river-banks, N. Eng. to Mich., Mo., and southward. June–Sept.
14. P. víscidum, Ell. Culms stout, upright or ascending, at length much branched, leafy to the top, densely velvety-downy all over, as also the sheaths, with reflexed soft and often clammy hairs, except a ring below each joint; leaves likewise velvety, lanceolate (½´ wide), 11–13-nerved; panicle spreading, the lateral ones included; spikelets obovate, 1 or 1½´´ long, downy; the roundish lower glume scarcely one fourth the length of the 7-nerved second one.—Damp soil, N. J. to Va., and southward. Aug.
15. P. scopàrium, Lam. Culms upright, at length much branched and reclining (1–2° long), roughish; leaves lanceolate (3–5´ long by {1/3}–½´ wide), rather faintly 9-nerved, hairy or smooth, fringed on the whole margin or next the base with long and stiff spreading hairs, the sheaths bristly throughout with similar hairs; panicle open, nearly simple, bearing few tumid-obovate hairy or smoothish spikelets about 1½´´ long; lower glume roundish, about half or a quarter of the length of the upper one. (P. pauciflorum, Ell.)—Wet meadows and copses, E. Mass. to Minn., west and southward. June, July.
16. P. commutàtum, Schultes. Rather slender, erect, 1–2° high, nearly glabrous; leaves lanceolate, acuminate (3–6´ long), the margins toward the base and the sheaths sparsely ciliate; panicle spreading, often short-peduncled; spikelets scattered, glabrous, oblong, acutish, little more than 1´´ long; lower glume ovate, often acute.—N. Y. to Fla.—A frequent variety with smaller spikelets (not 1´´ long) approaches the next, and has also been confused with P. dichotomum.—Ont. to Va. and southward.
[=][=] Spikelets less than 1´´ long.
17. P. nítidum, Michx. (Lam.?) Resembles the last; leaves rather thick and the principal nerves very obscure or none except at the base; panicle broad, more slender; spikelets smaller ({2/3}´´ long), broadly ovate and very obtuse; lower glume very obtuse. (P. sphærocarpon, Ell.)—N. Y. to Ga., and westward.
18. P. microcárpon, Muhl. Like the last; the broadly lanceolate leaves nearly similar, but usually longer (8´ long or less), distinctly nerved; panicle soon exserted on a slender peduncle, rather narrower, with numerous slender branches and very many-flowered (3–7´ long); spikelets about ½´´ long, ovoid, smooth or smoothish; lower glume orbicular and very small.—Dry or moist thickets, Penn. to Mich., Neb., and southward. July–Sept.
[++][++] Culm-leaves linear or sometimes narrowly lanceolate (basal often lanceolate); primary nerves often indistinct or none; spikelets small.
19. P. depauperàtum, Muhl. Culms simple or branched from the base, forming close tufts (6–12´ high), terminated by a simple and few-flowered contracted panicle, often much overtopped by the narrowly linear and elongated (4–7´) upper leaves; spikelets ¾–1½´´ long, oval-obovate, commonly pointed when young; lower glume ovate.—Varies, with the leaves involute, at least when dry (P. involutum, Torr.), and with the sheaths either beset with long hairs or nearly smooth; the panicle either partly included, or on a long and slender peduncle.—Dry woods and hills; rather common. June.
20. P. consanguíneum, Kunth. Culms slender, 1–2° high, often decumbent and rooting below; nearly glabrous or the sheaths and leaves somewhat pubescent or villous; panicle small, with rather few spreading few-flowered branches; spikelets 1–1½´´ long, oblong-obovate, acutish.—Dry woods, Norfolk, Va., and south to Fl. and Tex.
21. P. dichótomum, L.! Culms (8´–2° high) at first mostly simple, bearing a more or less exserted spreading compound panicle (1–3´ long), and linear to linear-lanceolate flat leaves (those tufted at the root usually ovate-lanceolate and very short, thickish); but commonly branching later in the season, the branches often clustered, and bearing nearly simple and included small panicles; spikelets ½-{2/3}´´ long, elliptical, obtuse, downy or smooth; lower glume roundish.—Common everywhere. Very variable both in habit and in the amount of villosity (depending upon the soil, exposure, season, etc.), so that it is difficult to specify any well defined varieties. The more conspicuous forms are (a) commùne, with simple culms erect or ascending, and leaves suberect, usually pale green—(b) fasciculàtum, with clustered leafy branches and short peduncles, a common autumnal state—and (c) grácile, the culms lax, very slender and elongated, with rather distant spreading leaves (usually bright green), and mostly long-pedunculate panicles.
22. P. laxiflòrum, Lam.! Closely resembling the last species, in its several forms; distinguished by the larger acutish spikelets (nearly or quite 1´´ long).—Common.
§ 3. ECHINÓCHLOA. Spikelets imbricated-spiked on the branches of the simple or compound raceme or panicle, usually rough with appressed stiff hairs; lower palet of the sterile flower awl-pointed or awned.
P. Crus-gálli, L. (Barnyard-Grass.) Root annual; culms stout, branching from the base (1–4° high); leaves lanceolate (½´ wide or more), rough-margined, otherwise with the sheaths smooth; spikes alternate (1–3´ long), crowded in a dense panicle; glumes ovate, abruptly pointed; glume of the neutral flower bearing a rough awn of variable length.—Varies greatly; sometimes awnless or nearly so; sometimes long-awned, especially in the var. híspidum, a very large and coarse form with the sheaths of the leaves very bristly.—Moist, chiefly manured soil; the variety in ditches, especially of brackish water; possibly indigenous. Aug.–Oct. (Nat. from Eu.)
6. SETÀRIA, Beauv. Bristly Foxtail Grass. (Pl. 13)
Spikelets altogether as in Panicum proper, and awnless, but with the short peduncles bearing below the joint of the spikelet solitary or clustered bristles resembling awns (but not forming an involucre). Inflorescence a dense spiked panicle, or apparently a cylindrical spike.—Annuals, in cultivated or manured grounds, with linear or lanceolate flat leaves. (Name from seta, a bristle.)
[*] Bristles single or in pairs, roughened or barbed downward.
S. verticillàta, Beauv. Spike cylindrical (2–3´ long, pale green), composed of apparently whorled short clusters; bristles short, adhesive.—Near dwellings. (Adv. from Eu.)
[*][*] Bristles in clusters, roughened or barbed upward.
S. glaùca, Beauv. (Foxtail. Pigeon-Grass.) (Pl. 13, fig. 1, 2.) Spike cylindrical, dense, tawny yellow (2–4´ long); bristles 6–11 in a cluster, much longer than the spikelets; perfect flower transversely wrinkled.—Very common, in stubble, etc. (Adv. from Eu.)
S. víridis, Beauv. (Green Foxtail. Bottle-Grass.) Spike nearly cylindrical, more or less compound, green; bristles few, longer than the spikelets; flower striate lengthwise and dotted.—Cultivated grounds. (Adv. from Eu.)
S. Itálica, Kunth. Spike compound, interrupted at base, thick, nodding (6–9´ long), yellowish or purplish; bristles 2 or 3 in a cluster, either much longer or else shorter than the spikelets.—Cultivated under the name of Millet, or Hungarian or Bengal Grass; rarely spontaneous. (Adv. from Eu.)
7. CÉNCHRUS, L. Hedgehog- or Bur-Grass. (Pl. 14.)
Spikelets as in Panicum, awnless, but enclosed 1 to 5 together in a globular and bristly or spiny involucre, which becomes coriaceous and forms a deciduous hard and rigid bur; the involucres sessile in a terminal spike. Styles united below. (An ancient Greek name of Setaria Italica.)
1. C. tribuloìdes, L. Annual; culms branched and ascending (1° high or less); leaves flat; spike oblong, of 8–20 spherical heads; involucre prickly all over with spreading and barbed short spines, more or less downy, enclosing 2 or 3 spikelets.—Sandy soil, on river banks, etc. Aug.—A vile weed.
8. AMPHICÁRPUM, Kunth. (Pl. 13.)
Spikelets jointed upon the pedicels, 1-flowered, oblong or ovoid, of two kinds; one kind in a terminal panicle, deciduous from the joint without fruit, although the flower is perfect; the other kind solitary at the extremity of slender runner-like radical peduncles (more or less sheathed toward the base), much larger than the others, perfect and fertile, subterranean, fertilized in the bud. Glumes 3, nearly equal, 5-nerved in the panicle, many nerved in the fertile spikelets; palet a little shorter; all becoming indurated and enclosing the very large grain. Stamens 3 (small in the radical flowers). Stigmas plumose, deep purple. (Name from ἀμφίκαρπος, doubly fruit-bearing.)
1. A. Púrshii, Kunth. Annual or biennial(?), erect, 1–4° high; leaves lanceolate, copious on the lower part of the culm, hispid, especially on the sheaths; panicle strict, naked; grain ovoid or oblong (2–3´´ long), terete.—Moist sandy pine-barrens, N. J. to Fla. Sept.
9. LEÉRSIA, Swartz. White Grass. (Pl. 7.)
Flowers crowded in one-sided panicled spikes or racemes, perfect, but those in the open panicles usually sterile by the abortion of the ovary, those enclosed in the sheaths of the leaves close-fertilized in the bud and prolific. Spikelets 1-flowered, flat, more or less imbricated over each other, jointed upon the short pedicels. Glumes 2, chartaceous, strongly flattened laterally or conduplicate, awnless, bristly-ciliate on the keels, closed, nearly equal in length, but the lower much broader, enclosing the flat grain. Palet none. Stamens 1–6. Stigmas feathery, the hairs branching.—Perennial marsh grasses; the flat leaves, sheaths, etc., rough upward, being clothed with very minute hooked prickles. (Named after John Daniel Leers, a German botanist.)
[*] Spikelets narrowly oblong, rather loosely crowded.
1. L. Virgínica, Willd. (White Grass.) Panicle simple; the spikelets closely appressed on the slender branches, around which they are partly curved (1½´´ long); stamens 2 (a third imperfect or wanting); glumes sparingly ciliate (greenish-white).—Wet woods; Maine to Minn., and southward. Aug.
2. L. oryzoìdes, Swartz. (Rice Cut-grass.) (Pl. 7, fig. 1–3.) Panicle diffusely branched; spikelets flat, rather spreading (2½–3´´ long); stamens 3; glumes strongly bristly-ciliate (whitish).—Very wet places; Mass, to Minn., and southward; common. Aug. (Eu.)
[*][*] Spikelets broadly oval, imbricately covering each other (2½–3´´ long).
3. L. lenticulàris, Michx. (Catch-fly Grass.) Smoothish; panicle simple; glumes very flat, strongly bristly-ciliate (said to close and catch flies); stamens 2; otherwise like the preceding.—Low grounds, Va., Ill., and southward.
10. ZIZÀNIA, Gronov. Water or Indian Rice. (Pl. 7.)
Flowers monœcious; the staminate and pistillate both in 1-flowered spikelets in the same panicle. Glumes 2, subtended by a small cartilaginous ring, herbaceo-membranaceous, convex, awnless in the sterile, the lower one tipped with a straight awn in the fertile spikelets. Palet none. Stamens 6. Stigmas pencil-form.—Large, often reed-like water-grasses. Spikelets jointed upon the club-shaped pedicels, very deciduous. (Adopted from ζιζάνιον, the ancient name of some wild grain.)
1. Z. aquática, L. (Indian Rice. Water Oats.) (Pl. 7, fig. 1–4.) Annual; culms 3–9° high; leaves flat, 2–3° long, linear-lanceolate; lower branches of the ample pyramidal panicle staminate, spreading; the upper erect, pistillate; lower glume long-awned, rough; styles distinct; grain linear, slender, 6´´ long.—Swampy borders of streams and in shallow water; common, especially northwestward. Aug.
2. Z. miliàcea, Michx. Perennial; panicle diffuse, ample, the staminate and pistillate flowers intermixed; awns short; styles united; grain ovate.—Penn. (?), Ohio, and southward. Aug.—Leaves involute.
11. TRÍPSACUM, L. Gama-Grass. Sesame-Grass. (Pl. 14.)
Spikelets monœcious, in jointed unilateral spikes, staminate above and fertile below. Staminate spikelets in pairs, sessile at each triangular joint of the narrow rhachis, both alike, 2-flowered, longer than the joints; glumes 4, coriaceous, the lower (outer) one nerved, the second boat-shaped, the upper with the palets very thin and membranaceous, awnless; anthers opening by 2 pores at the apex. Pistillate spikelets 2-flowered (the lower flower neutral), single and deeply imbedded in each oblong joint of the cartilaginous thickened rhachis, occupying a boat-shaped recess which is closed by the polished and cartilaginous ovate outer glume, the inner glume much thinner and pointed, the upper with the palets very thin and scarious, pointless. Styles united; stigmas very long (purple), hispid. Grain ovoid, free.—Culms stout and tall, solid, from very thick creeping rootstocks. Leaves broad and flat. Spikes axillary and terminal, separating spontaneously into joints at maturity. (Name from τρίβω, to rub, perhaps in allusion to the polished fertile spike.)
1. T. dactyloìdes, L. Spikes (4–8´ long) 2–3 together at the summit (when their contiguous sides are more or less flattened), and also solitary from some of the upper sheaths (when the fertile part is cylindrical); in var. monostàchyum, the terminal spike also solitary.—Moist soil, from Conn. to Penn. and Fla., near the coast, and from Ill. southward. Aug.—Culm 4–7° high; leaves like those of Indian Corn. This is one of our largest and most remarkable Grasses; sometimes used for fodder at the South.
12. ROTTBŒ́LLIA, L. f. (Pl. 16.)
Spikelets in pairs at each joint of a terete slender spike, awnless; one imperfect or rudimentary on a short and thick appressed pedicel; the other sessile and imbedded in an excavation of the joint of the rhachis, 1-flowered or rarely with a second staminate flower. Glumes 4, obtuse, the outer hard and cartilaginous, with a transverse depression next the base, the inner one boat-shaped and membranaceous, the 2 upper thin and delicate. Stamens 3. Styles 2.—Tall or coarse perennials, with rigid stems, and single cartilaginous spikes terminating the stem and axillary branches, chiefly subtropical. (Named for Prof. C. F. Rottboell, an excellent Danish botanist, who wrote much upon Gramineæ, Cyperaceæ, etc.)
1. R. rugòsa, Nutt. Culm flattish, 2–4° high; leaves linear; spikes 1–2´ long, the lateral ones on short clustered branches in the axils, often partly included in the sheaths of the leaves; sterile flower neutral; lower glume transversely rugose.—Low pine-barrens, from S. Del. (W. M. Canby) southward near the coast. Sept.–Oct.
13. ERIÁNTHUS, Michx. Woolly Beard-Grass. (Pl. 14.)
Spikelets spiked, in pairs upon each joint of the slender rhachis, one sessile, the other pedicelled, both 1-flowered, alike. Glumes 4, the 2 lower nearly equal, one 4–5-nerved, the other many-nerved; the 2 upper hyaline, one empty, the upper awned from the tip. Stamens 3. Grain free.—Tall and stout reed-like perennials, with the spikes crowded in a panicle, and clothed with long silky hairs, especially in a tuft around the base of each spikelet (whence the name, from ἔριον, wool, and ἄνθος, flower).
1. E. saccharoìdes, Michx. (Pl. 14, fig. 1, 2.) Culm (4–6° high) woolly-bearded at the joints; panicle contracted; the silky hairs longer than the spikelets, shorter than the awn; stamens 2. (E. alopecuroides, Ell.)—Wet pine-barrens, from N. J. and Ill. southward; rare. Sept., Oct.
2. E. brevibárbis, Michx. Culm (2–5° high), somewhat bearded at the upper joints; panicle rather open; silky hairs shorter than the spikelets.—Low grounds, Va., and southward.
14. ANDROPÒGON, Royen. Beard-Grass. (Pl. 14.)
Spikelets in pairs upon each joint of the slender rhachis, spiked or racemed, one of them pedicelled and sterile (staminate, pistillate or neutral), often a mere vestige, the other sessile, 1-flowered and fertile; lower glume the larger, coriaceous and nerved, blunt, the second carinate and acute, the 2 upper hyaline, the flowering glume awned from the tip. Stamens 1–3. Grain free.—Coarse, mostly rigid perennials, mostly in sterile or sandy soil; with lateral or terminal spikes commonly clustered or digitate; the rhachis hairy or plumose-bearded, and often the sterile or staminate flowers also (whence the name, composed of ἀνήρ, man, and πώγων, beard).
[*] Spikes digitate, thickish, short-bearded, the sterile spikelet staminate; stamens 3.
1. A. furcàtus, Muhl. (Pl. 14, fig. 1–3.) Tall, 3–4° high, rigid, the naked summit of the culm (and usually some lateral branches) terminated by 2–5 rigid spikes; spikelets approximate, appressed; hairs at the base of the fertile spikelet, on the rhachis and on the stout pedicel of the awnless staminate spikelet short and rather sparse; awn of fertile flower long and bent; leaves flat, roughish, the lower ones long. ("A. provincialis, Lam.")—Common in dry sterile soil. Aug.–Oct.
[*][*] Spikes with slender often zigzag rhachis, silky-villous.
[+] Single and scattered along the branches, with the silky hairs shorter than the flowers; sterile spikelet conspicuous but mostly neutral; the fertile triandrous.
2. A. scopàrius, Michx. Culms slender (1–3° high), with numerous paniculate branches; lower sheaths and narrow leaves hairy; spikes slender, scattered, mostly peduncled (1–2´ long), very loose, often purplish, silky with lax dull-white hairs; sterile spikelet awn-pointed or awnless; the fertile about half the length of its twisted or bent awn.—Dry ground. July–Sept.
3. A. marítimus, Chapm. Smooth and glaucous; culms ascending from creeping rootstocks, 1–1½° high; leaves rather rigid, divaricate, their compressed sheaths imbricated; panicle short; peduncles included within the conspicuous bracts; rhachis and pedicels copiously ciliate with spreading hairs; glumes larger, 3–4´´ long.—Sandy sea-coast; Cape May, and south to Fla.
[+][+] In pairs or clustered; the copious soft-silky hairs much longer than the flowers; sterile spikelet a small neutral rudiment (in n. 4 and 5), or altogether wanting on the very plumose-hairy pedicel; fertile flower monandrous, its awn capillary; leaves narrow, the lower or their sheaths often rather hairy.
4. A. argénteus, Ell. Smooth; culms rather slender (1–3° high); spikes in pairs (rarely in fours) on short mostly exserted and loosely paniculate peduncles, densely flowered (1–2´ long), very silky with long bright white hairs. (A. argyræus, Schultes.)—Md. to Va., near the coast, and southward.
5. A. Ellióttii, Chapm. Closely resembling the last; sheaths and leaves villous; upper nodes of the branches densely bearded.—Md. to Fla. and Tex.
6. A. Virgínicus, L. Culm flattish below, slender (2–3° high) sparingly short-branched above, sheaths smooth; spikes 2 or 3 together in distant appressed clusters, shorter than their sheathing bracts, weak (1´ long), the spikelets loose on the filiform rhachis, the soft hairs dull white. (A. dissitiflorus, Michx. A. vaginàtus, Ell., a form with larger and inflated sheaths.)—Sandy soil, E. Mass. to Va., Ill., and southward. Sept., Oct.
7. A. macroùrus, Michx. Culm stout (2–3° high), bushy-branched at the summit, loaded with very numerous spikes forming thick leafy clusters; sheaths rough, the uppermost hairy; flowers nearly as in the preceding; the sterile spikelet of each pair wholly wanting, its pedicel slender and very plumose.—Low and sandy grounds, N. Y. to Va., near the coast, and southward.
8. A. laguroìdes, DC. Culms slender, tall, the elongated peduncle bearing numerous sessile spikes in a spike-like panicle 2–4´ long; spikes slender, 1´ long or more, very silky; spikelets glabrous, the sterile a narrow convolute empty glume.—Central Kan. to Tex. and Mex.
[+][+][+] Spikes digitate-clustered, very silky; sterile spikelet larger than the fertile one.
9. A. Hàllii, Hackel. Culm stout, 2–3° high; lateral peduncles few, scarcely exserted from the sheaths; spikes 2–5, 1–3´ long, dense; spikelets 3–4´´ long.—Central Kan. to Dak., and westward.
15. CHRYSOPÒGON, Trin. (Pl. 14.)
Spikelets in pairs on the ramifications of an open panicle (those at the ends of the branches in threes), the lateral ones pedicellate, sterile or often reduced merely to their pedicels; only the sessile middle or terminal one fertile, its glumes coriaceous or indurated, sometimes awnless; otherwise nearly as in Andropogon. Stamens 3. (Name composed of χρυσός, gold, and πώγων, beard.)
1. C. nùtans, Benth. (Indian Grass. Wood-Grass.) Root perennial; culm simple (3–5° high), terete; leaves linear-lanceolate, glaucous; sheaths smooth; panicle narrowly oblong, crowded or loose (6–12´ long); the perfect spikelets at length drooping (yellowish or russet-brown and shining), clothed especially toward the base with fawn-colored hairs, lanceolate, shorter than the twisted awn; sterile spikelets small and imperfect, deciduous, or reduced to a mere plumose-hairy pedicel. (Andropogon avenaceus, Michx. Sorghum nutans, Gray.)—Dry soil; common, especially southward.
16. PHÁLARIS, L. Canary-Grass. (Pl. 13.)
Spikelets crowded in a clustered or spiked panicle, 1-flowered. Glumes 5, the third and fourth reduced to mere rudiments (a scale or a pedicel), one on each side, at the base of the flowering glume and palet, which are flattish, awnless and shining, shorter than the equal boat-shaped and keeled persistent empty glumes, finally coriaceous or cartilaginous, and closely enclosing the flattened free and smooth grain. Stamens 3.—Leaves broad, mostly flat. (The ancient name, from φαλός, shining, alluding to the shining seed.)
§ 1. PHALARIS proper. Panicle very dense, spike-like; glumes wing-keeled.
P. Canariénsis, L. (Canary-Grass.) Annual, 1–2° high; spike oval; empty glumes white with green veins, the rudimentary ones small lanceolate scales.—Waste places and roadsides; rare. (Adv. from Eu.)
§ 2. DÍGRAPHIS. Panicle branched, the clusters open in anthesis; glumes not winged on the back.
1. P. arundinàcea, L. (Reed C.) (Pl. 13, fig. 1, 2.) Perennial, 2–4° high; leaves flat (3–5´´ wide); glumes open at flowering, 3-nerved, thrice the length of the fertile flower; rudimentary glumes reduced to a minute hairy scale or pedicel.—Wet grounds; common, especially northward. June, July.—Var. pícta, the leaves striped with white, is the familiar Ribbon-Grass of the gardens. (Eu.)
17. ANTHOXÁNTHUM, L. Sweet Vernal-Grass. (Pl. 13.)
Spikelets spiked-panicled, 1-flowered. Glumes 5, the third and fourth empty, hairy, 2-lobed and awned on the hack, the flowering glume and palet small, hyaline and obtuse; basal glumes persistent, very thin, acute, keeled, the lower half as long as the upper. Squamulæ none. Stamens 2. Grain ovate, adherent. (Name compounded of ἄνθος, flower, and ἄνθων, of flowers. L.)
A. odoràtum, L. Spikelets (brownish or tinged with green) spreading at flowering-time; one middle glume bearing a bent awn from near its base, the other short-awned below the tip.—Meadows, pastures, etc. Low slender perennial; very sweet-scented in drying. May–July. (Nat. from Eu.)
18. HIERÓCHLOE, Gmelin. Holy Grass. (Pl. 13.)
Spikelets 3-flowered, open-panicled, the two lower (lateral) flowers staminate only, 3-androus, sessile, the carinate glumes often awned on the middle of the back or near the tip, the uppermost flower perfect, short-pedicelled, scarcely as long as the others, 2-androus, awnless. Basal glumes persistent, carinate, acute, somewhat 3-nerved, equalling or exceeding the spikelet.—Perennials; leaves flat. (Name composed of ἱερός, sacred, and χλόη, grass; these sweet-scented grasses being strewn before the church-doors on saints' days, in the North of Europe.)
1. H. boreàlis, Roem. & Schultes. (Vanilla or Seneca Grass.) (Pl. 13, fig. 1, 2.) Panicle somewhat one-sided, pyramidal (2–5´ long); peduncles smooth; staminate flowers with the glume mucronate or bristle-pointed at or near the tip; rootstock creeping.—Moist meadows, chiefly northward near the coast and along the Great Lakes. May.—Culm 1–2° high, with short, lanceolate leaves. Spikelets chestnut-color; the staminate flowers strongly hairy-fringed on the margins, and the fertile one at the tip. (Eu.)
2. H. alpìna, Roem. & Schultes. Panicle contracted (1–2´ long); one of the staminate flowers with its glume barely pointed or short-awned near the tip, the other long-awned from below the middle; lowest leaves very narrow.—Alpine mountain-tops, N. Eng., N. Y., and northward. July. (Eu.)
19. ARÍSTIDA, L. Triple-awned Grass. (Pl. 8.)
Spikelets 1-flowered, not jointed on the pedicels. Outer glumes unequal, often bristle-pointed; the flowering glume tipped with three awns; the palet much smaller. Otherwise much as in Stipa.—Culms branching; leaves narrow, often involute. Spikelets in simple or panicled racemes or spikes. Grain linear. All grow in sterile, dry soil, and all ours have the awns naked and persistent, and flower late. (Name from arista, a beard or awn.)
[*] Awns separate to the base, not jointed with the glume.
[+] Awns very unequal; the much shorter or minute lateral ones erect, the elongated middle one horizontal or turned downward; low (5–18´ high) and branching, mostly tufted annuals, and the spikelets in nearly simple spikes.
[++] Middle awn more or less coiled.
1. A. ramosíssima, Engelm. Culms much branched; spikes loose, usually exserted; lower glumes 6–10´´ long, exceeding the upper, usually rather strongly 3–5-nerved; middle awn 1´ long, soon abruptly hooked-recurved, the lateral ones 1–3´´ long.—Dry prairies of Ill., Ky., and Mo.—Also var. uniaristàta, Engelm., with the lateral awns wanting.
2. A. basiràmea, Engelm. Spikes closer, mostly enclosed at base, at all the lower nodes (even to the base of the culm) very short and sessile; lower glumes 4–8´´ long, mostly thin and 1-nerved or rather faintly 3-nerved; middle awn very slender, 6´´ long, the lateral 2´´ long.—Ill. to Neb. and Minn.
3. A. dichótoma, Michx. (Poverty Grass.) Culms low, very slender, much branched throughout, ascending; spikelets in narrow strict simple or compound spikes; lower glumes nearly equal (3–4´´ long), longer than the flowering glume and fully equalling its minute lateral awns (or unequal and shorter, in var. Curtíssii, Gray), the soon reflexed middle awn about as long.—Dry, sandy or gravelly fields; common, Maine to Ill., and southward.
[++][++] Middle awn nearly straight (not coiled).
4. A. grácilis, Ell. Culms slender, erect (6–18´ high), naked above and terminating in a slender raceme- or spike-like virgate panicle; lower glumes 1-nerved, about the length of the upper, the exserted lateral awns varying from one third to fully half the length of the horizontally bent middle one: or in var. depauperàta, from one fifth to one third its length.—Sandy soil, coast of Mass., and from Ill. southward.—Middle awn 3–9´´ long in the ordinary forms, but not rarely shorter, and very variable often on the same plant.
[+][+] Awns all diverging and alike, or the lateral ones moderately shorter, rarely at all coiled.
[++] Glumes equal or the middle one longer.
5. A. strícta, Michx. Culms (2–3° high) densely tufted from a perennial root, bearing a (1°) long spiked panicle; leaves involute-thread-form, long, rigid, sometimes downy; awns about the length of the glumes (6´´) or the lateral one third shorter.—Va. and southward.
6. A. oligántha, Michx. Culms (6–20´ high) tufted from an annual root, bearing a loosely few-flowered raceme; leaves short, somewhat involute when dry; lower glume 3–5-nerved (nearly 1´ long); awns capillary, 1½–3´ long, much exceeding the slender spikelet.—Va. to Ill., and common southwestward.
7. A. purpùrea, Nutt. Perennial; culms (1° high or less) densely tufted, spreading; leaves revolute and filiform, short; panicle loose, of rather few slender-pedicellate spikelets; lower glumes thin, 1-nerved, loose, the outer about half the length of the inner, which is 8–10´´ long; awns 2–4´´ long.—Minn. and Dak. to Tex.—Very variable.
[++][++] Middle glume shorter than the lower; perennials, simple-stemmed, 2–4° high.
8. A. purpuráscens, Poir. (Pl. 8.) Glabrous; leaves long, rather involute; spikelets in a (10–18´) long spiked panicle; lower glumes 1-nerved; awns much longer than the spikelet, the middle one about 1´ long.—Mass. to Mich., Minn., and southward; common.
9. A. lanàta, Poir. Tall and stout; leaves tardily involute, rough above, rigid; sheaths woolly; panicle (1–2° long) spike-like or more compound and open; glumes 1-nerved, 6–8´´ long; middle awn 1´ long.—Del. to Fla.
[*][*] Awns united below into one, jointed with the apex of the glume; root annual.
10. A. tuberculòsa, Nutt. Culm branched below (6–18´ high), tumid at the joints; panicles rigid, loose, the branches in pairs, one of them short and about 2-flowered, the other elongated and several-flowered; lower glumes (1´ long, including their slender-awned tips) longer than the upper, which is tipped with the common stalk (about its own length) of the 3 equal divergently-bent awns (1½–2´ long) twisting together at the base.—Sandy soil, E. Mass. to N. J.; also Wisc., Minn., and southward.
20. STÌPA, L. Feather-Grass. (Pl. 8.)
Spikelets 1-flowered, terete; the flower falling away at maturity (with the conspicuous obconical bearded and often sharp-pointed callus) from the membranaceous persistent lower glumes. Fertile glumes coriaceous, cylindrical-involute and closely embracing the smaller palet and the cylindrical grain, having a long and twisted or tortuous simple awn jointed with its apex. Stamens mostly 3. Stigmas plumose.—Perennials, with narrow involute leaves and a loose panicle. (Name from στύπη, tow, in allusion to the flaxen appearance of the feathery awns of the original species. In our species the awn is naked.)
[*] Callus or base of the flower short and blunt; lower glumes pointless.
1. S. Richardsònii, Link. Culm (1½–2° high) and leaves slender; panicle loose (4–5´ long), with slender few-flowered branches; lower glumes nearly equal, oblong, acutish (2½–4´´ long), about equalling the pubescent linear-oblong fertile one, which bears a tortuous awn 6–9´´ long.—Pleasant Mountain, near Sebago Lake, Maine, Mt. Marcy, N. Y., north shore of L. Superior, Mont., and northward.
[*][*] Callus pungently pointed, at maturity villous-bearded; flowering glume slender and minutely bearded at the tip; empty glumes taper-pointed.
2. S. avenàcea, L. (Black Oat-Grass.) (Pl. 8.) Culm slender (1–2° high); leaves almost bristle-form; panicle open; fertile glume blackish, nearly as long as the lower ones (about 4´´ long); the awn bent above, twisted below (2–3´ long).—Dry woods, S. New Eng. to Wisc., and southward.
3. S. spàrtea, Trin. (Porcupine Grass.) Culm rather stout (1½–3° high); panicle contracted; fertile glume linear, ¾–1´ long (including the long callus), pubescent below, shorter than the lanceolate slender subulate pointed greenish lower glumes; the twisted strong awn (3½–7´ long), pubescent below, rough above.—Plains and prairies, from Ill. and N. Mich. northwestward.
4. S. virídula, Trin. Culms clustered, 1–3° high or more; panicle narrow and usually dense, 6–18´ long; glumes very thin, 3–4´´ long; fertile glume usually somewhat silky, with a short callus; awn 1´ long, slender, glabrous or a little pubescent below.—W. Minn., Dak., and southwestward.
21. ORYZÓPSIS, Michx. Mountain Rice. (Pl. 8.)
Spikelets 1-flowered, nearly terete. Lower glumes herbaceous or thin-membranaceous, several-nerved, nearly equal, commonly rather longer than the oblong flower, which is deciduous at maturity, and with a very short obtuse callus or scar-like base. Flowering glume coriaceous, at length involute so as closely to enclose the equal palet and the oblong grain; a simple untwisted and deciduous awn jointed on its apex. Stamens 3. Squamulæ 2 or 3, conspicuous. Stigmas plumose.—Perennials, with rigid leaves and a narrow raceme or panicle. Spikelets greenish, rather large. (Name composed of ὄρυζα, rice, and ὄψις, likeness, from a fancied resemblance to that grain.)
[*] Styles distinct, short; culm leafy to the summit; leaves broad and flat.
1. O. melanocárpa, Muhl. Leaves lanceolate, taper-pointed; sheaths bearded in the throat; panicle simple or sparingly branched; awn thrice the length of the blackish glume (nearly 1´ long).—Rocky woods, N. Eng. to Penn., Minn., Mo., and westward. Aug.—Culm 2–3° high.
[*][*] Styles united below, slender; culms tufted, naked; leaves concave or involute.
2. O. asperifòlia, Michx. (Pl. 8, fig. 1, 2.) Culms (9–18´ high), with sheaths bearing a mere rudimentary blade, overtopped by the long and rigid linear leaf from the base; very simple panicle or raceme few-flowered; awn 2–3 times the length of the rather hairy whitish glume.—Hillsides, etc., in rich woods; common, N. Eng. to Minn., and northward. May.—Leaves without keels, rough-edged, pale beneath, lasting through the winter. Squamulæ lanceolate, almost as long as the palet!
3. O. Canadénsis, Torr. Culms slender (6–15´ high), the lowest sheaths leaf-bearing; leaves involute-thread-shaped; panicle contracted (1–2´ long), the branches usually in pairs; glume pubescent, whitish; awn short and very deciduous, or wanting.—Rocky hills and dry plains, Maine to W. New Eng., the mountains of Penn., Wisc., Minn., and northward; rare. May.—Glumes 1–2´´ long, sometimes purplish.
22. MÍLIUM, Tourn. Millet-Grass. (Pl. 13.)
Spikelets 1-flowered, diffusely panicled, not jointed with their pedicels, consisting of 2 equal membranaceous convex and awnless persistent glumes, with a coriaceous awnless flowering glume and narrow palet. Stamens 3. Stigmas branched-plumose. Grain not grooved, enclosed in its glume and palet, all deciduous together. (The ancient Latin name of the Millet, which however belongs to a different genus, of uncertain meaning.)
1. M. effùsum, L. Smooth perennial, 3–6° high; leaves broad and flat, thin; panicle spreading (6–9´ long); flower ovoid-oblong.—Cold damp woods and mountain meadows, N. Eng. to Ill., and northward. June. (Eu.)
23. MUHLENBÉRGIA, Schreber. Drop-seed G. (Pl. 8.)
Spikelets 1-flowered, in contracted or rarely in open panicles. Empty glumes mostly acute or bristle-pointed, persistent, usually thin; the lower rather smaller or minute. Flower very short-stalked or sessile, the glume and palet usually minutely bearded at base, herbaceous, deciduous with the enclosed grain, often equal, the glume 3-nerved, mucronate or awned at the apex. Stamens 3. (Dedicated to the Rev. Dr. Henry Muhlenberg, a distinguished American botanist of the early part of this century.)
§ 1. MUHLENBERGIA proper. Panicles contracted or glomerate, on branching rigid culms from scaly creeping rootstocks; leaves short and narrow.
[*] Flowering glume barely mucronate or sharp-pointed.
1. M. sobolífera, Trin. Culms ascending (1–2° high), rarely branching; the simple contracted panicle very slender or filiform; lower glumes barely pointed, almost equal, one third shorter than the flower; flowering glume abruptly short-mucronate, equalling the palet.—Open rocky woods, Mass. to Mich., Minn., and southward. Aug.—Spikelets less than 1´´ long.
2. M. glomeràta, Trin. Culms upright (1–3° high), sparingly branched or simple; panicle (2–3´ long) oblong-linear, contracted into an interrupted glomerate spike, long-peduncled, the branches sessile; glumes awned, nearly equal, and (with the bristle-like awn) about twice the length of the unequal very acute flowering glume and palet.—Bogs and wet rocks, common, especially northward. Aug.—Var. ramòsa, Vasey. A stout strict much-branched leafy form, the lower glumes but little longer than the flower. Ill. to Dak.
3. M. Mexicàna, Trin. Culms ascending, much branched (2–3° high); panicles lateral and terminal, often included at the base, contracted, the branches densely spiked-clustered, 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. sylvática, 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. ambígua, Torr. Culms ascending, clustered 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. (shore 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. Willdenòvii, 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. diffùsa, 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. TRICHÓCHLOA. Panicle very loose and open, the long branches and pedicels capillary; leaves narrow, often convolute-bristle-form.
8. M. capillàris, Kunth. (Hair-Grass.) 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. BRACHYÉLYTRUM, 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 ½´ long without the awn. (Name composed of βραχύς, short, and ἔλυτρον, husk, from the minute glumes.)
1. B. aristàtum, Beauv. Rocky woods; common. June.—Var. Engelmánni, Gray, is a western form, with the second glume awn-pointed, nearly half the length of the flowering one.
25. HELEÓCHLOA, 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 ἕλος, a meadow, and χλόα, grass.)
H. schœnoìdes, Host. Usually nearly prostrate and tufted; leaves rather rigid, tapering to a sharp point; spike oblong, thick, 7–20´´ long. (Crypsis schœnoides, Lam.)—Waste places, N. J. to Del. (Nat. from Eu.)
26. PHLÈUM, L. Cat's-tail Grass. (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 φλέως, a Greek name for a kind of reed.)
P. praténse, L. (Timothy. Herd's-Grass 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. alpìnum, 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. ALOPECÙRUS, L. Foxtail Grass. (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.—Clusters contracted into a cylindrical and soft dense spike; perennial. (Name from ἀλώπηξ, fox, and οὐρά, tail, from the shape of the spike.)
A. praténsis, L. (Meadow Foxtail.) Culm upright, smooth (2° high); the upper leaf much shorter than its inflated sheath; spike stout, 1½–2½´ 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. geniculàtus, 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. aristulàtus, Torr. The awn very slender and scarcely exserted. (A. aristulatus, Michx.)—In water and wet places; common. June–Aug.
28. SPORÓBOLUS, R. Br. Drop-seed Grass. Rush-Grass. (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 σπορά, seed, and βάλλω, to cast forth.)
[*] Panicle contracted, often simple; grain oval or oblong; perennial, except n. 2.
1. S. ásper, 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. vaginæflòrus, 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 vaginæflora, Torr.)—Barren and sandy dry fields; common, especially southward. Sept.
3. S. cuspidàtus, Torr. Erect culms and appressed leaves more slender than in the preceding; panicle exserted, very simple and narrow; spikelets smaller, the lower glumes acuminate, 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. depauperàtus, Vasey. Resembling n. 3, but the culms decumbent 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. Virgínicus, Kunth. Culms tufted, slender (5–12´ long), often procumbent, branched; leaves convolute, rigid; palets rather shorter than the nearly equal acute glumes. (Vilfa Virginica, Beauv.)—Sandy seashore, Virginia (Clayton) and southward.—Spikelets much smaller and more numerous than in the others.
6. S. mìnor, Vasey. Culms tufted, very slender, geniculate and ascending, simple, 1° high; leaves short and narrow; peduncles little exserted from the sheaths; spikelets (1½–2´´ long) in a very narrow simple compressed panicle (1–2´ long), not crowded; glumes and palet nearly equal, acute or somewhat acuminate.—Va. to N. C., Tenn. and Tex.
S. Índicus, R. Br. Culms stout, erect, 2–3° high; leaves elongated, attenuate; panicle very narrow, 6–18´ long, the densely crowded spikelets ½´´ long.—On ballast, and naturalized southward. (From Trop. Am.)
[*][*] Panicle pyramidal, open; glumes very unequal; grain globose, utricular; perennials.
7. S. júnceus, 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. heterólepis, 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. cryptándrus, 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 shores, coast of New Eng. and of the Great Lakes, Minn. to Kan., and westward. Aug., Sept.
10. S. airoìdes, Torr. Culm tufted, often stout, erect, ½–3° high; leaves strongly revolute and attenuate, rather rigid; panicle open and diffuse, broadly pyramidal, glabrous; spikelets solitary on slender pedicels, 1´´ long; lower glumes unequal, rather obtuse.—Neb. to Tex., and westward.
S. asperifòlus, Thurb., a similar but smaller species, with thinner and shorter leaves very rough on the margin, the inflorescence scabrous, and spikelets smaller, with the glumes nearly equal, is very common westward, and probably occurs within our limits—as also S. confùsus, Vasey (S. ramulosus of authors, not Kunth), a low slender annual, with very short culms and a delicate diffuse panicle, the very small spikelets (½´´ long) on filiform-clavate pedicels.
[*][*][*] Empty glumes almost equal; panicle racemose-elongated, open, the pedicels capillary; sheaths naked at the throat; spikelets not unfrequently two-flowered; perennial.
11. S. compréssus, Kunth. Very smooth, leafy to the top; culms tufted, stout, very flat; sheaths flattened, much longer than the internodes; leaves erect, narrow, conduplicate-channelled; empty glumes acutish, about one third shorter than the obtuse flowering one.—Bogs, on Long Island and in the pine-barrens of N. J. Sept.—Forming strong tussocks, 1–2° high. Panicle 8–12´ long; spikelets 1´´ long, purplish.
12. S. serótinus, Gray. Smooth; culms very slender, flattish (8–15´ high), few-leaved; leaves very slender, channelled; panicle soon much exserted, the diffuse capillary branches scattered; glumes ovate, obtuse, about half the length of the flower.—Sandy wet places, Maine to N. J. and Mich. Sept.— A very delicate grass; the spikelets half a line long.
29. AGRÓSTIS, L. Bent-Grass. (Pl. 7.)
Spikelets 1-flowered, in an open panicle. Empty glumes somewhat equal, or the lower rather longer, usually longer than the flowering one, pointless. Flowering glume and palet very thin, pointless, naked; the first 3–5-nerved, frequently awned on the back; the palet often minute or none. Stamens chiefly 3. Grain (caryopsis) free.—Culms usually tufted, slender; root commonly perennial. (Name from ἀγρός, a field, the place of growth.)
§ 1. AGROSTIS proper. Palet manifest, but shorter than the glume.
A. álba, L. (Fiorin or White Bent-Grass.) Rootstocks creeping or stoloniferous; culms 1–2° high, often decumbent at base; leaves short, flat, the ligule long and acute; panicle contracted after flowering, greenish, purplish or brownish, the branches slightly rough; flowering glume nearly equalling the empty ones, 3-nerved, rarely short-awned, the palet about half as long.—Meadows and fields, a valuable grass; naturalized from Eu. and cultivated, and perhaps native north and westward.
Var. vulgàris, Thurb. (Red Top. Herd's-Grass of Penn., etc.) (Pl. 7, fig. 1, 2.) Panicle more or less spreading after flowering; ligule short and truncate. (A. vulgaris, With.)—Low meadows and pastures; nat. from Eu. and cultivated, also perhaps indigenous.
1. A. arachnoìdes, Ell. Culms (1° high) and leaves very slender; panicle open, weak and drooping; glumes nearly equal, roughish on the keel and margins, the flowering glume shorter, with 2 minute bristles at the truncate apex and a long exceedingly delicate awn on the back above the middle; palet minute.—Mo. to Ky., Tenn., and S. Car.
2. A. exaràta, Trin. Culms erect, 1–2° high; leaves mostly erect; panicle narrow, crowded, greenish, the rays mostly flower-bearing to the base; spikelets 1½–2´´ long; glumes nearly equal, acute, the flowering ones shorter, sometimes awned above the middle.—Wisc. (Vasey) to Sask., and far westward.
§ 2. TRICHÒDIUM. Palet abortive, minute, or none.
3. A. elàta, Trin. Culms firm or stout (2–3° high); leaves flat (1–2´´ wide); upper ligules elongated (2–3´´ long); spikelets crowded on the branches of the spreading panicle above the middle (1½´´ long); flowering glume awnless, slightly shorter than the rather unequal lower ones; the palet wanting.—Swamps, N. J. and southward. Oct.
4. A. perénnans, Tuckerm. (Thin-Grass.) Culms slender, erect from a decumbent base (1–2° high); leaves flat (the upper 4–6´ long, 1–2´´ wide); panicle at length diffusely spreading, pale green; the branches short, divided and flower-bearing from or below the middle; flowering glume awnless (rarely short-awned), shorter than the unequal lower ones; the palet minute or obsolete.—Damp shaded places. July, Aug.—Spikelets, etc., as in n. 5, into which it seems to vary.
5. A. scàbra, Willd. (Hair-Grass.) (Pl. 7, fig. 3.) Culms very slender, erect (1–2° high); leaves short and narrow, the lower soon involute (the upper 1–3´ long, less than 1´´ wide); panicle very loose and divergent, purplish, the long capillary branches flower-bearing at and near the apex; flowering glume awnless or occasionally short-awned on the back, shorter than the rather unequal very acute empty ones; the palet minute or obsolete; root biennial?—Exsiccated places; common. June–Aug.—Remarkable for the long and divergent capillary branches of the extremely loose panicle; these are whorled, rough with very minute bristles (under a lens), as also the keel of the glumes. Spikelets 1´´ long. A dwarf mountain form occurs, growing in tufts in hollows of rocks, etc.—A variety (?) from about the White Mountains, etc. (var. montana, Tuckerm.), has a more or less exserted awn.
6. A. canìna, L. (Brown Bent-Grass.) Culms 8´–2° high; root-leaves involute-bristle-form, those of the culm flat and broader; panicle loose; lower glumes slightly unequal, ovate-lanceolate, very acute, the flowering one exsertly awned on the back at or below the middle; spikelets brownish or purplish, rarely pale or greenish (1–1½´´ long).—Meadows, sparingly naturalized eastward. A mountain form with shorter and more spreading panicle (A. Pickeríngii & A. concinna, Tuckerm., A. canina, var. alpina, Oakes, & Ed. 2, and essentially A. rubra, L. ex Wahl., and A. borealis, Hartm.) is indigenous on mountain-tops, Maine to N. Y.; also an ampler form in the Alleghanies of Penn. and southward (A. rupéstris, Chapman, etc.). July–Aug. (Eu.)
30. POLYPÒGON, Desf. Beard-Grass. (Pl. 8.)
Spikelets 1-flowered, in a contracted, mostly spike-like panicle. Empty glumes nearly equal, long-awned, much longer than the membranaceous flowering one which is commonly short-awned below the apex. Stamens 3. Grain free. (Name composed of πολύ, much, and πωγών, beard.)
P. Monspeliénsis, Desf. Panicle interrupted; lower glumes oblong, the awn from a notch at the summit, the flowering one also awned; root annual.—Isles of Shoals (Robbins), ballast heaps, and southward. (Nat. from Eu.)
31. CÍNNA, L. Wood Reed-Grass. (Pl. 8.)
Spikelets 1-flowered, much flattened, crowded in an open flaccid panicle. Empty glumes persistent, lanceolate, acute, strongly keeled, rough-serrulate on the keel; the lower rather smaller, the upper a little exceeding the flower, which is manifestly stalked, smooth and naked; flowering glume much like the lower, longer than the palet, usually short awned or mucronate on the back below the pointless apex. Stamen one, opposite the 1-nerved palet! Grain linear-oblong, free.—A perennial, rather sweet-scented grass, with simple and upright somewhat reed-like culms (2–7° high), bearing an ample compound terminal panicle, its branches in fours or fives; the broadly linear-lanceolate flat leaves (4–6´´ wide) with conspicuous ligules. Spikelets green, often purplish-tinged. (From κίννα, a name in Dioscorides for a kind of grass.)
1. C. arundinàcea, L. (Pl. 8, fig. 1, 2.) Panicle 6–15´ long, rather dense, the branches and pedicels spreading in flower, afterward erect; spikelets 2½–3´´ long.; awn of the glume either obsolete or manifest.—Moist woods and shaded swamps; rather common. July, Aug.
2. C. péndula, Trin. Panicle loose and more slender, the branches nearly capillary and drooping in flower; pedicels very rough; glumes thinner, the lower less unequal; spikelets 1½–2´´ long; palet obtuse. (C. arundinacea, var. pendula, Gray.)—Deep damp woods, N. New Eng. to Lake Superior and northward, and on mountains southward. (Eu.)
32. APÈRA, Adans.
With the characters of Agrostis; distinguished by the presence of a second rudimentary flower in the form of a short bristle, and by the 2-toothed palet little shorter than the flowering bifid glume, which is dorsally awned.—A rather late annual, with narrow flat leaves, and a contracted or spreading panicle with numerous filiform branches and very numerous small shining spikelets. (Name from ἄπηρος, unmaimed; application obscure.)
A. spìca-vénti, Beauv. Spikelets ½–1´´ long.—Sparingly naturalized. (Nat. from Eu.)
33. CALAMAGRÓSTIS, Adans. Reed Bent-G. (Pl. 8.)
Spikelets 1-flowered, and (in our species) often with a pedicel or rudiment of a second abortive flower (rarely 2-flowered), in an open or spiked panicle. Lower glumes mostly membranaceous, keeled or boat-shaped, often acute, commonly nearly equal, and exceeding the flower, which bears at the base copious white bristly hairs; flowering glume thin, bearing a slender awn on the back or below the tip, or sometimes awnless; the palet mostly shorter. Stamens 3. Grain free.—Perennials, with running rootstocks, and mostly tall and simple rigid culms. (Name compounded of κάλαμος, a reed, and ἀγρόστις, a grass.)
§ 1. DEYEÙXIA. Rudiment of a second flower present in the form of a plumose or hairy small pedicel behind the palet (very rarely more developed and having a glume or even stamens); glumes membranaceous, or the flowering one thin and delicate, the latter 3–5-nerved and awn-bearing.
[*] Panicle loose and open, even after flowering; the mostly purple-tinged or lead-colored strigose-scabrous glumes not closing in fruit; copious hairs of the rhachis about equalling the flowering glume, not surpassed by those of the rudiment; awn delicate, straight.
1. C. Canadénsis, Beauv. (Blue-Joint Grass.) (Pl. 8, fig. 1, 2.) Culm tall (3–5° high); leaves flat when fresh, glaucous; panicle oblong; glumes ovate-lanceolate, acute, 1¼–1½´´ long; awn from near the middle of the upper glume, not exceeding and scarcely stouter than the basal hairs. (Deyeuxia Canadensis, Hook. f.)—Wet grounds; common northward. July.
2. C. Langsdórffii, Trin. Spikelets larger, 2½–3´´ long; glumes lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate and gradually taper-pointed; awn stouter; otherwise like the preceding, (Deyeuxia Langsdorffii, Kunth.)—Mountains of N. New Eng., L. Superior, and northward. (Eu.)
[*][*] Panicle strict, its short branches appressed or erect after flowering, and the glumes mostly closed; flowering glume less delicate, roughish, sometimes of as firm texture as the lower; awn stouter.
[+] Leaves narrow, inclined to be involute; awn straight.
3. C. strícta, Trin. Panicle glomerate and lobed, strict, 2–4´ long; glumes 1½–2´´ long, ovate-oblong, not acuminate; hairs scarcely or little shorter than the flower, and as long as those of the rudiment; awn from the middle of the thin flowering glume or lower, and barely exceeding it. (Deyeuxia neglecta, Kunth?)—Mountains of N. New Eng., Lake Superior, and north and westward. (Eu.)
4. C. Lappónica, Trin. Culm and rootstocks stouter than in C. stricta; the narrow panicle less dense, and purplish spikelets larger; glumes fully 2´´ long, tapering to a point; awn from much below the middle of the glume, stout. (Deyeuxia Lapponica, Kunth.)—Isle Royale, Lake Superior, to Lab., north and westward. Aug. (Eu.)
[+][+] Leaves broader, flat; awn stouter, bent, divergent, or twisted when dry.
5. C. confìnis, Nutt. Tall; panicle elongated (4–6´), its rather slender branches spreading at flowering-time, afterward appressed; glumes lance-oblong, very acute, 2´´ long, pale; hairs of the flower copious, equal, slightly or one third shorter than the thin flowering glume and than those of the rudiment; awn borne much below the middle of the glume, somewhat surpassing it; grain glabrous. (Deyeuxia confinis, Kunth.)—Swamps, N. and W. New York (especially Penn Yan, Sartwell) and Penn.; Minn., and westward. July.
6. C. Nuttalliàna, Steud. Culm stout (3–5° high); panicle contracted and spike-like; glumes lanceolate and tapering into slender awl-shaped tips, 3´´ long; hairs on the lower side scanty and barely half the length of the firm and keeled flowering glume, on the other side longer and equalling the copious tuft on the summit of the rudiment; awn borne half-way between the middle and the tapering tip of the glume, stout, not twisted; grain bearded at the top. (Deyeuxia Nuttalliana, Vasey.)—Moist grounds, E. New Eng. to Penn., Va., and southward. Aug.
7. C. Pórteri, Gray. Culm slender (2–4° high); a woolly-bearded ring at the junction of the broadly linear leaves with the sheath; panicle long and narrow, with the branches appressed; glumes lanceolate, acute, pale, 2–2½´´ long; hairs of the flower and of the short rudiment scanty, and both reaching about to the middle of the flower behind the palet, but very short or none at the base of the firm-membranaceous flowering glume, which bears near its base a twisted awn of its own length. (Deyeuxia Porteri, Vasey.)—Dry woods, Pulpit Rocks and vicinity, Huntingdon Co., Penn., Prof. T. C. Porter.
8. C. Pickeríngii, Gray. Culm 1–1½° high; leaves short; panicle pyramidal, purplish; glumes ovate-oblong, bluntish or bluntly pointed (1½–2´´ long); hairs both of the flower and of the rudiment very short and scanty, one fourth or fifth the length of the flower, none behind the obtuse flowering glume, which bears between its middle and base a short stout (straight or bent, not twisted) awn. (Deyeuxia Pickeringii, Vasey.)—White Mts., in the alpine region of Mt. Washington, and a more luxuriant form with smaller spikelets at Echo Lake, Franconia; Andover, Mass. (J. Robinson); Cape Breton.
§ 2. CALAMOVÍLFA. Rudiment of second flower wanting; glumes and palet rather chartaceous, compressed-keeled; flowering glume 1-nerved, entirely awnless; palet strongly 2-keeled; panicle at length open and loose.
9. C. brevípilis, Gray. Branches of the diffuse pyramidal panicle capillary (purplish); empty glumes orate, mucronate; the upper slightly, the lower nearly one half shorter than the flowering glume and palet, which are more than twice the length of the hairs and bristly-bearded along the keels. (Ammophila brevipilis, Benth.)—Sandy swamps, pine-barrens of N. J.; rare. Sept.—Culm 2–4° high; leaves nearly flat; spikelets 2´´ long.
10. C. longifòlia, Hook. Culm (1–4° high) stout, from thick running rootstocks; leaves rigid, elongated, involute above and tapering into a long thread-like point; panicle at first close, becoming open and pyramidal, the branches smooth; glumes lanceolate, the upper as long as the flower, the lower ¼ shorter; the copious hairs more than half the length of the naked flower. (Ammophila longifolia, Benth.)—Sands, along the upper Great Lakes, from Ill. and Mich. to Dak., Kan., and westward. Aug.—Spikelets 2½–3´´ long.
34. AMMÓPHILA, Host. (Pl. 16.)
Spikelets large, in a contracted spike-like panicle, 1-flowered, with a pedicel-like rudiment of a second flower (plumose above), the flower hairy-tufted at base. Empty glumes scarious-chartaceous, lanceolate, compressed-keeled, nearly equal; flowering glume and palet similar, a little shorter, the glume 5-nerved, slightly mucronate or obscurely awned near the tip, the palet 2-keeled.—A coarse perennial maritime species, with running rootstocks. (Name from ἄμμος, sand, and φιλέω, to love.)
1. A. arundinàcea, Host. (Sea Sand-Reed.) Culm stout and rigid (2–3° high) from firm running rootstocks; leaves long, soon involute; panicle contracted into a dense cylindrical spike (5–9´ long); spikelets 5–6´´ long; hairs only one third of the length of the flower. (Calamagrostis arenaria, Roth.)—Sandy beaches, N. J. to Maine and northward, and on the Great Lakes. Aug. (Eu.)
35. ARRHENATHÈRUM, Beauv. Oat-Grass. (Pl. 12.)
Spikelets open-panicled, 2-flowered, with the rudiment of a third flower; the middle flower perfect, its glume barely bristle-pointed from near the tip; the lowest flower staminate only, bearing a long bent awn below the middle of the back (whence the name, from ἄῤῥην, masculine, and ἀθήρ, awn);—otherwise as in Avena, of which it is only a peculiar modification.
A. avenàceum, Beauv. Root perennial; culm 2–4° high; leaves broad, flat; panicle elongated; glumes scarious, very unequal.—Meadows and lots; absurdly called Grass of the Andes. May–July. (Nat from Eu.)
36. HÓLCUS, L. (partly). Meadow Soft-Grass. (Pl. 12.)
Spikelets crowded in an open panicle, 2-flowered; the boat-shaped membranaceous glumes enclosing and much exceeding the remotish flowers. Lower flower perfect, its papery or thin-coriaceous glume awnless and pointless; the upper flower staminate, otherwise similar, but bearing a stout bent awn below the apex. Stamens 3. Styles plumose to the base. Grain free. (A name in Pliny for a kind of grass, from ὁλκός, attractive, of obscure application.)
H. lanàtus, L. (Velvet-Grass.) Perennial, soft-downy and pale; panicle oblong; upper empty glume mucronate-awned under the apex; awn of the staminate flower curved.—Moist meadows. June. (Nat. from Eu.)
37. AÌRA, L. Hair-Grass.
Spikelets very small, in an open diffuse panicle, of 2 perfect contiguous flowers. Glumes thin-membranaceous, the two lower persistent, nearly equal, acute, keeled; the flowering ones obscurely nerved, acutely 2-cleft at the apex, bearing a slender twisted awn below the middle. Stamens 3. Styles plumose to the base. Grain oblong, adnate.—Low annuals, with short setaceous leaves. (An ancient Greek name for Darnel.)
A. caryophýllea, L. Culms 5–10´ high, bearing a very diffuse panicle of purplish and at length silvery scarious spikelets.—Dry fields, Nantucket; also Newcastle, Del., W. M. Canby. (Nat. from Eu.)
A. præ̀cox, L. Culms tufted, 3–4´ high; branches of the small and dense panicle appressed; awn from below the middle of the glume.—Sandy fields, N. J. to Va.; rare. (Nat. from Eu.)
38. DESCHÁMPSIA, Beauv. (Pl. 12.)
Spikelets small, panicled, of 2 perfect flowers and the hairy pedicel or rudiment of a third (rarely staminate); rhachis hairy. Empty glumes persistent, membranaceous and shining, carinate, acute, nearly equal; flowering glumes toothed or erose-denticulate at the truncate summit, usually delicately 3–5-nerved, with a slender twisted awn near or below the middle. Grain oblong, free.—Root perennial. (Named for Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, a French botanist.)
[*] Empty glumes somewhat shorter than the flowers.
1. D. flexuòsa, Trin. (Common Hair-Grass.) (Pl. 12, fig. 1–3.) Culms slender, nearly naked (1–3° high) above the small tufts of involute bristle-form root-leaves (1–6´ long); branches of the small spreading panicle capillary; awn longer than the palet, at length bent and twisted. (Aira flexuosa, L.)—Dry places; common. June. (Eu.)
2. D. cæspitòsa, Beauv. Culm tufted (2–4° high); leaves flat, linear; panicle pyramidal or oblong (6´ long); awn straight, barely equalling the glume. (Aira cæspitosa, L.)—Shores of lakes and streams; N. Eng. to Penn., Mich., and northward. June, July. (Eu.)
[*][*] Empty glumes longer than the flowers, 2–2½´´ long.
3. D. atropurpùrea, Scheele. Culms 8–15´ high, weak; leaves flat, rather wide; panicle of few spreading branches; awn stout, twice longer than the nerveless truncate ciliolate-denticulate glume. (Aira atropurpurea, Wahl.)—Alpine summits of N. H. and N. Y., to Lab. and northward. Aug. (Eu.)
39. TRISÈTUM, Persoon. (Pl. 12.)
Spikelets 2–several-flowered, often in a contracted panicle; the flowering glume compressed-keeled, of about the same thin-membranaceous texture as the empty glumes, bearing a bent or flexuous (rarely twisted) awn at or below the sharply 2-toothed or 2-pointed apex (whence the name, from tris, three, and seta, a bristle); otherwise nearly as in Avena. Ours are perennials.
1. T. subspicàtum, Beauv., var. mólle, Gray. (Pl. 12, fig. 1, 2.) Minutely soft-downy; panicle dense, much contracted, oblong or linear (2–3´ long); glumes about the length of the 2–3 smooth flowers; awn dorsal, diverging, much exserted.—Mountains and rocky river-banks, N. New Eng. to L. Superior, and northward. July.—About 1° high; leaves flat, short. (Eu.) (Addendum)—Trisetum subspicatum, var. molle, is reported from Roan Mt., N. C. (Scribner), and probably occurs on the higher Alleghanies northward.
2. T. palústre, Torr. Smooth; panicle rather long and narrow (5´ long), loose, the branches capillary; spikelets flat (3´´ long); lower glumes shorter than the two smooth lanceolate flowers; the upper flower on a slightly hairy joint of the rhachis, with a slender spreading or bent awn next the short 2-pointed tip, the lower commonly awnless or only mucronate-pointed.—Low grounds, southern N. Y. to Ill., and southward. June.—Culm slender, 2–3° high; leases flat, short; spikelets yellowish-white, tinged with green.
40. AVÈNA, Tourn. Oat. (Pl. 12.)
Spikelets 2–many-flowered, panicled; the flowers herbaceo-chartaceous, or becoming harder, of firmer texture than the large and mostly unequal empty glumes; the uppermost flower imperfect; rhachis and base of the flower often bearded. Flowering glume rounded on the back, mostly 5–11-nerved, bearing a long usually bent or twisted awn on the back or between the two acute teeth at the apex, proceeding from the mid-nerve only. Stamens 3. Grain oblong-linear, grooved on one side, usually hairy at least at the top, free, but invested by the palet. (The classical Latin name.)
[*] Spikelets large (1´ long); annual.
A. Fátua, L. Resembling the common oat (A. sativa), the few spikelets in a loose panicle, mostly pendulous; flowering glumes covered with long brownish hairs and bearing a bent awn 1–2´ long.—Wisc., Minn. (Nat. from Eu.)
[*][*] Smaller-flowered perennials.
1. A. striàta, Michx. (Pl. 12, fig. 1, 2.) Glabrous and smooth throughout, slender (1–2° high); leaves narrow; ligule short, truncate; panicle simple, loose; spikelets (6´´ long) on capillary pedicels, 3–6-flowered, much exceeding the scarious-margined purple acute empty glumes; lower glume 1-, upper 3-nerved; rhachis smooth; flowers short-bearded at base; flowering glume 7-nerved, much longer than the ciliate-fringed palet (4´´ long), mostly shorter than its soon bent or divergent awn, which rises just below the tapering very sharply cuspidate 2-cleft tip.—Rocky, shaded hills, N. New Eng., N. Y., and northwestward. June.
2. A. Smíthii, Porter. Taller (2½–4½° high), rather stout; leaves broadly linear (3–6´´ wide) and taper-pointed, flat, and with the sheaths and culm retrorsely scabrous; ligule elongated, acute; panicle larger (6–12´ long), the few branches at length spreading; empty glumes slightly purplish, the lower 3-nerved, the upper 5-nerved, scabrous on the nerves; rhachis minutely hispid; flowers (3–5) naked at base; awn straight, {1/3}–½ the length of the 7-nerved glume.—N. Mich. and Isle Royale, L. Superior. April, May.
41. DANTHÒNIA, DC. Wild Oat-Grass. (Pl. 12.)
Flowering glume (oblong or ovate, rounded-cylindraceous, 7–9-nerved) bearing between the sharp-pointed or awn-like teeth of the tip an awn usually composed of the 3 middle nerves, which is flattish and spirally twisting at base; otherwise nearly as in Avena. Empty glumes longer than the imbricated flowers. Ours perennials, 1–2° high, with narrow and soon involute leaves, hairy sheaths bearded at the throat, and a small simple panicle or raceme of about 7-flowered spikelets. (Named for Danthoine, a French botanist.)
1. D. spicàta, Beauv. (Pl. 12, fig. 1–3.) Culms tufted, low; leaves short, very narrow; spikelets few, 3–5´´ long, subspicate; flowering glume loosely hairy, its teeth short and pointless.—Dry and sterile or rocky soil.
2. D. serícea, Nutt. Culms taller and not tufted (1–3° high), terete; leaves larger, at least the sheaths silky-villous; spikelets more numerous and panicled, 6–9´´ long; flowering glume very silky-villous, tipped with slender awn-pointed teeth.—Dry or moist sandy soil, southern Mass., N. J., and southward; rare. June.
3. D. compréssa, Aust. Culms slender, 2° high, somewhat compressed, paler and subcaniculate on the narrower side; leaves elongated, very narrow, villous only at the summit of the sheath; spikelets 6–12, loosely panicled, 5´´ long; flowering glume loosely hairy or pubescent, the teeth very long-awned.—Dry banks; Vt. (Pringle); E. Mass., N. Y., Penn., and mountains of N. C.
42. CÝNODON, Richard. Bermuda or Scutch-Grass. (Pl. 9.)
Spikelets 1-flowered, with a mere naked short-pedicelled rudiment of a second flower, imbricate-spiked on one side of a flattish rhachis; the spikes usually digitate at the naked summit of the flowering culms. Empty glumes keeled, pointless, rather unequal; flowering glume and palet pointless and awnless, the glume larger, boat-shaped. Stamens 3.—Low diffusely branched and extensively creeping perennials, with short flattish leaves. (Name composed of κύων, a dog, and ὀδούς, a tooth.)
C. Dáctylon, Pers. Spikes 3–5; flowering glume smooth, longer than the blunt rudiment.—Penn., and southward, where it is cultivated for pasturage. (Nat. from Eu.)
43. CTÉNIUM, Panzer. Toothache-Grass. (Pl. 9.)
Spikelets densely imbricated in two rows on one side of the flat curved rhachis of the solitary terminal spike. Glumes persistent; the lower (interior) much smaller; the other concave below, bearing a stout recurved awn, like a horn, on the middle of the back. Flowers 4–6, all but one neutral; the one or two lower consisting of empty awned glumes, and the one or two uppermost of empty awnless glumes; the perfect flower intermediate, its glume membranaceous, awned or mucronate below the apex and densely ciliate toward the base, 3-nerved. Stamens 3. Stigmas plumose. (Name κτενίον, a small comb, from the pectinate appearance of the spike.)
1. C. Americànum, Spreng. Culm (3–4° high from a perennial root) simple, pubescent or roughish; larger glume warty-glandular outside, conspicuously awned.—Wet pine-barrens, S. Va. and southward.—Taste very pungent.
44. GYMNOPÒGON, Beauv. (Pl. 9.)
Spikelets of one perfect flower, and the rudiment of a second (consisting of an awn-like pedicel mostly bearing a naked bristle), sessile and remotely alternate on long filiform rays or spikes, which form a crowded naked raceme. Glumes lance-awl-shaped, keeled, almost equal, rather longer than the membranaceous flowering glume, which is cylindrical-involute, with the midrib produced from just below the 2-cleft apex into a straight and slender bristle-like awn; palet nearly as long, with the abortive rudiment at its base. Stamens 3. Stigmas pencil-form, purple.—Root perennial. Leaves short and flat, thickish, 1–3´ long. (Name composed of γυμνός, naked, and πώγων, a beard, alluding to the reduction of the abortive flower to a bare awn.)
1. G. racemòsus, Beauv. (Pl. 9, fig. 1, 2.) Culms clustered from a short rootstock (1° high), wiry, leafy; leaves oblong-lanceolate; spikes flower-bearing to the base (5–8´ long), soon divergent; awn of the abortive flower shorter than its stalk, equalling the pointed glumes, not more than half the length of the awn of the fertile flower.—Sandy pine-barrens, N. J. to Va., and southward. Aug., Sept.
2. G. brevifòlius, Trin. Filiform spikes long-peduncled, i.e. flower-bearing only above the middle; flowering glume ciliate near the base, short-awned; awn of the abortive flower obsolete or minute; glumes acute.—Sussex Co., Del., and southward.
45. SCHEDONNÁRDUS, Steud. (Pl. 11.)
Spikelets small, acuminate, 1-flowered, appressed-sessile and scattered along one side of the slender rhachis of the distant sessile and divaricately spreading spikes. Empty glumes persistent, narrow, acuminate, more or less unequal, the longer usually a little shorter than the rather rigid acuminate flowering one. Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Grain linear.—A low slender annual, branching from the base, with short narrow leaves. (Name from σχεδόν, near, and Nardus, from its resemblance to that genus.)
1. S. Texànus, Steud. Stem (6–20´ long) naked and curved above, bearing 3–9 racemosely disposed thread-like and triangular spikes 1–3´ long; spikelets 1½´´ long. (Lepturus paniculatus, Nutt.)—Open grounds and salt-licks, Ill. to Mont., Col., and Tex. Aug.
46. BOUTELOÙA, Lagasca. Muskít-Grass. (Pl. 9.)
Spikelets crowded and closely sessile in 2 rows on one side of a flattened rhachis, comprising one perfect flower below and one or more sterile (mostly neutral) or rudimentary flowers. Glumes convex-keeled, the lower one shorter. Perfect flower with the 3-nerved glume 3-toothed or cleft at the apex, the 2-nerved palet 2-toothed; the teeth, at least of the former, pointed or subulate-awned. Stamens 3; anthers orange-colored or red.—Rudimentary flowers mostly 1–3-awned. Spikes solitary, racemed or spiked; the rhachis somewhat extended beyond the spikelets. (Named for Claudius Boutelou, a Spanish writer upon floriculture and agriculture.)
§ 1. CHONDRÒSIUM. Spikes pectinate, of very many spikelets, oblong or linear, very dense, solitary and terminal or few in a raceme; sterile flowers 1–3 on a short pedicel, neutral, consisting of 1–3 scales and awns.
1. B. oligostàchya, Torr. Glabrous, perennial (6–12´ high); leaves very narrow; spikes 1–5, the rhachis glabrous; glumes all sparingly soft-hairy, the lobes awl-pointed; sterile flower copiously villous-tufted at the summit of the naked pedicel, its 3 awns equalling the larger glume.—N. W. Wisc. to Dak., and south to Tex. and Mex.—Glumes obscurely if at all papillose along the keel, the middle lobe of the flowering one 2-cleft at the tip. Sterile flowers often 2, the second mostly a large awnless scale, becoming hood-like and coriaceous.
2. B. hirsùta, Lag. Tufted (8–20´ high), perennial; leaves flat, lance-linear, papillose-hairy or glabrous; spikes 1–4; upper empty glume hispid with strong bristles from dark warty glands; flowering glume pubescent, 3-cleft into awl-pointed lobes; sterile flower and its pedicel glabrous, the 3 awns longer than the glumes and fertile flower.—Sandy plains, Ill., Wisc., Minn., and southwestward to Mex.
§ 2. ATHEROPÒGON. Spikes short, numerous in a long and virgate one-sided spike or raceme, spreading or reflexed, each of few (4–12) spikelets; sterile flowers neutral, rudimentary.
3. B. racemòsa, Lag. (Pl. 9, fig. 1, 2.) Culms tufted from perennial rootstocks (1–3° high); sheaths often hairy; leaves narrow; spikes ½´ or less in length, nearly sessile, 20–60 in number in a loose general spike (8–15´ long); flowers scabrous; glume of the fertile with 3 short awl pointed teeth; sterile flower reduced to a single small awn, or mostly to 3 awns shorter than the fertile flower, and 1 or 2 small or minute scales. (B. curtipendula, Gray.)—Dry hills and plains, southern N. Y. to Minn., and south to Tex. and Mex. July–Sept.—Passes by transitions into var. aristòsa, with spikes shorter; sterile flower of a large saccate glume, awned at the 2-cleft tip and from the lateral nerves, the middle awn exserted, and with a rudiment of a palet.—Ill. (Geyer), and southward.
47. ELEUSÌNE, Gaertn. Crab-Grass. Yard-Grass. (Pl. 9.)
Spikelets 2–6-flowered, with a terminal imperfect flower or naked rudiment, closely imbricate-spiked on one side of a flattish rhachis; the spikes digitate. Glumes membranaceous, shorter than the flowers; flowering glume and palet awnless, the glume ovate, keeled, larger than the palet. Stamens 3. Pericarp (utricle) containing a loose wrinkled seed.—Low annuals, with flat leaves, and flowers much as in Poa. (Name from Ἐλευσίν, the town where Ceres, the goddess of harvests, was worshipped.)
E. Índica, Gaertn. (Dog's-tail or Wire Grass.) (Pl. 9, fig. 1–6.) Culms ascending, flattened; spikes 2–5 (about 2´ long, greenish); glumes pointless; terminal flower a mere rudiment.—Yards, etc., chiefly southward. (Nat. from Ind.?)
E. Ægyptìaca, Pers. (Pl. 9, fig. 1–4, as Dactyloctenium.) Culms often creeping at base; leaves ciliate at base; spikes 4–5; lower glume awned and the flowering one pointed. (Dactyloctenium Ægyptiacum, Willd.)—Cultivated fields and yards, Va., Ill., and southward. (Adv. from Afr.?)
48. LEPTÓCHLOA, Beauv. (Pl. 16.)
Spikelets 3–many-flowered (the uppermost flower imperfect), loosely spiked on one side of a long filiform rhachis; the spikes racemed. Glumes menbranaceous, keeled, rarely awned, nearly equal; flowering glume 3-nerved, sometimes simply awned, larger than the palet. Stamens 2 or 3. Seed closely enclosed.—Ours annuals. Leaves flat. (Name composed of λεπτός, slender, and χλόα, grass, from the long attenuated spikes.)
1. L. mucronàta, Kunth. Sheaths hairy; spikes numerous (20–40, 2–4´ in length), in a long panicle-like raceme; spikelets small; glumes more or less mucronate, nearly equalling or exceeding the 3–4 awnless flowers.—Fields, Va. to Ill., Mo., and southward. Aug.
49. BÙCHLOË, Engelm. Buffalo Grass. (Pl. 16.)
Spikelets diœcious (rarely monœcious), very unlike; the staminate 2–3-flowered, sessile in 2 rows in short 1-sided spikes, the empty glumes blunt, 1-nerved, very unequal, the flowering larger, 3-nerved, a little exceeding the 2-nerved palet; fertile spikelets 1-flowered, in a contracted, capitate, 1-sided spike, the large outer glumes indurated, 3-fid at the apex, united at base and resembling an involucre, the inner (lower) much smaller and membranaceous, or in the lowest spikelet resembling the outer; flowering glume narrow, hyaline, bifid or nearly entire, enclosing the 2-nerved palet. Styles distinct. Grain ovate, free.—A perennial, creeping or stoloniferous, with narrow flat leaves; staminate spikes (2–3) in a pedunculate spike, the pistillate pair sessile in the broad sheaths of the upper leaves. (Name a contraction of Bubalochloë, from βούβαλος, buffalo, and χλόη, grass.)
1. B. dactyloìdes, Engelm. Low (3–8´ high) and broadly tufted; sterile spikes 3–6´´ long, the fertile heads 3´´ long.—Plains of the Sask. to Minn., Kan., and Tex. One of the most valuable grasses of the plains.
50. TRIÒDIA, R. Br. (Pl. 10.)
Spikelets 3–12-flowered, somewhat terete, the rhachis with bearded joints; terminal flower abortive. Empty glumes unequal; flowering glumes membranaceous or somewhat chartaceous, much larger than the 2-toothed palet, convex, 2–3-toothed or cleft at the apex, conspicuously hairy-bearded or villous on the 3 strong nerves, of which the lateral are marginal or nearly so and usually excurrent, as is the mid-nerve especially, into a short cusp or awn. Stamens 3. Stigmas dark purple, plumose. Grain oblong, nearly gibbous.—Leaves taper-pointed; sheaths bearded at the throat. Panicle simple or compound; the spikelets often racemose, purplish. (Name from τρι-, three, and ὀδούς, a tooth, alluding to the flowering glume.)
§ 1. TRIODIA proper. Glumes shorter than the crowded flowers, the flowering one 3-cuspidate by the projection of the nerves, and usually with intermediate membranaceous teeth; palet naked.
1. T. cùprea, Jacq. (Tall Red-top.) Perennial; culm upright (3–5° high), very smooth, as are the flat leaves; panicle large and compound, the rigid capillary branches spreading, naked below; spikelets very numerous, 5–7-flowered, shining, purple (4´´ long); the flowering glumes hairy toward the base, their points almost equal, scarcely exceeding the intermediate teeth, thus appearing 5-toothed. (Tricuspis seslerioides, Torr.)—Dry or sandy fields, southern N. Y. to Mo., and southward. Aug.—A showy grass, with the spreading panicle sometimes 1° wide.
§ 2. TRIPLÀSIS. Glumes much shorter than the somewhat remote flowers; flowering glume and palet strongly fringe-bearded, the glume 2-cleft at the summit, its mid-nerve produced into an awn between the truncate or awn-pointed divisions.
2. T. purpùrea, Hack. (Sand-Grass.) Culms many in a tuft from the same annual root, ascending (6–12´ high), with numerous bearded joints; leaves involute-awl-shaped, mostly short; panicles very simple, bearing few 2–5-flowered spikelets, the terminal one usually exserted, the axillary ones included in the commonly hairy sheaths; awn much shorter than the glume, seldom exceeding its eroded-truncate or obtuse lateral lobes. (Tricuspis purpurea, Gray.)—In sand, Mass. to Va. along the coast, and southward; also L. Erie, near Buffalo, and Ill. Aug., Sept.—Plant acid to the taste.
51. DIPLÁCHNE, Beauv. (Pl. 9.)
Spikelets several-flowered, narrow, erect and scattered along the slender rhachis of the long spicate spikes; flowers all perfect or the uppermost staminate. Empty glumes membranaceous, carinate, acute, unequal; flowering glume slightly longer, 1–3-nerved, 2-toothed, and mucronate or shortly awned between the teeth. Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Grain free.—Coarse grasses, with narrow flat leaves, and several or many slender spikes sessile upon an elongated peduncle. (Name from διπλόος, double, and ἄχνη, in the sense of chaff, with reference to the 2-lobed glume.)
1. D. fasciculàris, Beauv. Smooth; leaves longer than the geniculate-decumbent and branching culms, the upper sheathing the base of the panicle-like spike, which is composed of many strict spikes (3–5´ long); spikelets slightly pedicelled, 7–11-flowered, much longer than the lanceolate glumes; flowers hairy-margined toward the base, the glume with 2 small lateral teeth and a short awn in the cleft of the apex. (Leptochloa fascicularis, Gray.)— Brackish meadows, from R. I. southward along the coast, and from Ill. southward on the Mississippi. Aug.–Sept.
52. PHRAGMÌTES, Trin. Reed. (Pl. 11.)
Spikelets 3–7-flowered; the flowers rather distant, silky-villous at base, and with a conspicuous silky-bearded rhachis, all perfect and 3-androus, except the lowest, which is either neutral or with 1–3 stamens, and naked. Glumes membranaceous, shorter than the flowers, lanceolate, keeled, sharp-pointed, very unequal; flowering glume and palet membranaceous, slender, the glume narrowly awl-shaped, thrice the length of the palet. Squamulæ 2, large. Styles long. Grain free.—Tall and stout perennials, with long running root-stocks, numerous broad leaves, and a large terminal panicle. (Φραγμίτες, growing in hedges, which this aquatic grass does not.)
1. P. commùnis, Trin. Panicle loose, nodding; spikelets 3–5-flowered; flowers equalling the beard.—Edges of ponds. Sept.—Looks like Broom-Corn at a distance, 5–12° high; leaves 2´ wide. (Eu.)
53. ARÚNDO, L.
Flowers all perfect; flowering glume bifid, short-awned between the teeth. Otherwise as Phragmites. (The Latin name of the species.)
A. Dònax, L. Very tall (10–18°); spikelets 3–4-flowered.—Closely resembling Phragmites communis. Cultivated for ornament, and naturalized in Bedford Co., Va. (A. H. Curtiss.) (Nat. from Eu.)
54. MÚNROA, Torr. (Pl. 16.)
Spikelets usually 3-flowered, few (2–4) and nearly sessile in the axils of floral leaves; flowers perfect, or the uppermost abortive. Empty glumes lanceolate, acute, hyaline and 1-nerved; flowering glumes larger, 3-nerved, rather rigid, the mid-nerve stout, excurrent, the lateral ones scarcely so.—Low or prostrate many-stemmed annuals, fasciculately branched, with crowded short flat rigid or pungent leaves, the short sheaths strongly striate. (Named for the English agrostologist, Maj.-Gen. William Munro.)
1. M. squarròsa, Torr. Glaucous, somewhat pubescent and villous at the nodes or glabrous; leaves 3–12´´ long.—Dry plains, central Kan. to Dak., west to Mont., Utah, and New Mex.
55. KŒLÈRIA, Pers. (Pl. 10.)
Spikelets 3–7-flowered, crowded in a dense and narrow spike-like panicle. Glumes membranaceous, compressed-keeled, obscurely 3-nerved, barely acute, or the flowering glume often mucronate or bristle-pointed; the empty ones moderately unequal, nearly as long as the spikelet. Stamens 3. Grain free.—Tufted with simple upright culms, the sheaths often downy; allied to Dactylis and Poa. (Named for Prof. G. L. Koeler, an early writer on Grasses.)
1. K. cristàta, Pers. Culms 1–2° high; leaves flat, the lower sparingly hairy or ciliate; panicle narrowly spiked, interrupted or lobed at base; spikelets 2–4-flowered; flowering glume acute or mucronate.—Var. grácilis, Gray, with a long and narrow spike, the flowers usually barely acute.—Dry hills, Penn. to Ill. and Kan., thence north and westward. (Eu.)
56. EATÒNIA, Raf. (Pl. 10.)
Spikelets usually 2-flowered, with an abortive rudiment or pedicel, numerous, in a contracted or slender panicle, very smooth. Empty glumes somewhat equal in length, but very dissimilar, a little shorter than the flowers; the lower narrowly linear, keeled, 1-nerved; the upper broadly obovate, folded round the flowers, 3-nerved on the back, not keeled, scarious-margined. Flowering glume oblong, obtuse, compressed-boat-shaped, naked, chartaceous; the palet very thin and hyaline. Stamens 3. Grain linear-oblong, not grooved.—Perennial, tall and slender grasses, with simple tufted culms, and often sparsely downy sheaths, flat lower leaves, and small greenish (rarely purplish) spikelets. (Named for Prof. Amos Eaton, author of a popular Manual of the Botany of the United States, which was for a long time the only general work available for students in this country, and of other popular treatises.)
[*] Upper empty glume rounded-obovate and very obtuse; panicle usually dense.
1. E. obtusàta, Gray. (Pl. 10.) Panicle dense and contracted, somewhat interrupted, rarely slender; the spikelets crowded on the short erect branches; upper glume rough on the back; flowers lance-oblong.—Dry soil, N. Penn. to Fla., Mich., and far westward. June, July.
[*][*] Glume narrower, sometimes acutish; panicle more loose and slender.
2. E. Pennsylvánica, Gray. Leaves mostly 3–6´ long; panicle long and slender, loose, the racemose branches lax and somewhat elongated; glumes thin and broadly scarious, the lowest half the length of the flower, very narrow, the upper obtuse or bluntly somewhat pointed; the 2 (rarely 3) flowers lanceolate, with pointed glumes.—Varies, with a fuller panicle, 6–8´ long, with the aspect of Cinna (var. màjor, Torr.); and, rarely, with the lower palet minutely mucronate-pointed!—Moist woods and meadows; common.
3. E. Dudlèyi, Vasey. Culms very slender; leaves shorter, 1–2´ long; panicle very slender, the branches few, short and mostly appressed; empty glumes nearly equal, the lower oblong, the upper broadly elliptical, apiculate; flowering glumes shorter than in n. 2, acutish.—Long Island to central N. Y., south to S. C.
57. ERAGRÓSTIS, Beauv. (Pl. 10.)
Spikelets 2–70-flowered, nearly as in Poa, except that the flowering glume is but 3- (rarely 1-) nerved, not webby-haired at the base, and is deciduous; palet persistent on the rhachis after the rest of the flower has fallen.—Culms often branching. Leaves linear, frequently involute, and the ligule or throat of the sheath bearded with long villous hairs. Panicle various. (Name from ἦρ, spring, and ἄγροστις, a grass.)
[*] Prostrate and creeping, much branched; root annual; spikelets flat, imperfectly diœcious, clustered, almost sessile, in the more fertile plant almost capitate.
1. E. réptans, Nees. Spikelets linear-lanceolate, 10–30-flowered; flowers lance-ovate, acute; leaves short, almost awl-shaped.—Gravelly river-borders; common. Aug.—Flowering branches 2–5´ high.
[*][*] Diffusely spreading, or the flowering culms ascending, low (6–15´ high), annual; spikelets often large, flat, forming a narrow crowded panicle.
E. mìnor, Host. Sheaths often hairy; leaves flat, smooth; spikelets short-pedicelled, lance- or oblong-linear, 8–20-flowered, lead-colored (2–5´´ long); flowers ovate, obtuse, the lateral nerves becoming evident, and keel smooth. (E. poæoides, Beauv.)—Sandy waste places, eastward; rare. (Nat. from Eu.)
E. màjor, Host. Sheaths mostly glabrous; spikelets larger (3–10´´ long), becoming linear, whitish when old, 10–50-flowered; flowers more spreading, their glumes larger, with very strong lateral nerves and rough on the keel. (E. poæoides, var. megastachya, Gray.)—Similar situations, and more common. Aug.—Emits a sharp, unpleasant odor. (Nat. from Eu.)
[*][*][*] Erect, or in group [+] diffusely spreading and ascending; panicle open, its branches capillary; spikelets proportionally small, sometimes minute. (Number of flowers in the spikelet very variable, according to age, etc.)
[+] Annual; culms slender, branching and decumbent or spreading at base; leaves narrow, flat, soft; branches of the narrow panicle rather short and thickly-flowered, not bearded in the axils, or sometimes the lowest sparingly.
E. pilòsa, Beauv. (Pl. 10, fig. 1–4.) Panicle elongated-oblong, with rather erect branches (except at flowering-time); spikelets 5–12-flowered (2–4´´ long, purplish-lead-color), becoming linear, about equalling their pedicels; empty glumes (small) and flowering ones obtuse, the latter broadly ovate, 1-nerved (lateral nerves obsolete).—Sandy or gravelly waste places, S. New Eng. to Ill., and southward. Aug.—Plant 6–12´ high. (Nat. from Eu.)
2. E. Fránkii, Meyer. Much branched and diffuse (3–8´ high); panicle ovate-oblong, rather dense, spreading; spikelets 2–5-flowered (1–1½´´ long), on slender pedicels; glumes very acute; the flowering one ovate, acute, rather obscurely 3-nerved.—Low or sandy ground, S. Penn. to Kan., and southwestward. Aug.
3. E. Púrshii, Schrader. Sparingly branched at the decumbent base, then erect (½–2° high); panicle elongated, the branches widely spreading, very loose; spikelets 5–18-flowered, oblong-lanceolate, at length linear (2–4½´´ long), mostly much shorter than their capillary pedicels; glumes all ovate and acute, or the flowering ones acutish, 3-nerved.—Sandy or sterile open grounds, Penn. to Mo., and southwestward; also introduced northward.
[++] Culms simple, or branching only at the very base, firm, erect, mostly forming thick tufts; leaves very long; panicle very large, compound, often longer than the culm, with elongated loosely-flowered branches, their axils often bearded. (Doubtful perennials, or n. 5 annual.)
4. E. ténuis, Gray. Panicle virgately elongated (1–2½° long), very loose, the spreading branches bearded in some of the lower axils, their remote divisions and long diverging pedicels capillary; spikelets 2–6- (sometimes 7–12-) flowered, pale or greenish; lower glumes lanceolate or awl-shaped, very acute (1½–2´´ long), membranaceous, as are the oblong-lanceolate acute flowers; flowering glume distinctly 3-nerved; the upper ciliate-scabrous.—Sandy soil, Ohio to Ill., Kan., and southward. Aug.–Oct.—Leaves rather rigid, 1½–2° long, glabrous or sparingly hairy; the sheaths hairy or glabrous; the throat strongly bearded; flowers much larger than in the next, fully 1½´´ long.
5. E. capillàris, Nees. Panicle widely expanding, usually much longer than the culm, its spreading branches (mostly naked in the axils) and long diverging pedicels capillary; spikelets rather terete, very small, 2–4-flowered, greenish or purplish; glumes and flowers ovate, acute (less than 1´´ long); flowering glume obscurely 3-nerved, scarcely keeled; the palet rough-ciliate.—Sandy dry soil and fields; common, especially southward. Aug., Sept.—Leaves and sheaths very hairy, or nearly glabrous; the former about 1° long, not rigid; panicle 1–2° long, soon diffuse.
6. E. pectinàcea, Gray. Panicle widely diffuse, its rigid divergent main branches bearded in the axils; the capillary pedicels more or less appressed on the secondary branches; spikelets flat, 5–15-flowered, becoming linear, purple or purplish; glumes and flowers ovate or oblong-ovate, acutish; flowering glume strongly 3-nerved; palet hirsute-ciliate.—Leaves long, rigid, mostly hairy, the sheaths especially so; plant 1–3° high; spikelets 2–3´´ long, 1´´ wide, closely flowered.—Var. spectábilis, Gray. Leaves and sheaths mostly glabrous; branches of the panicle (the lower reflexed with age) and pedicels shorter; spikelets rather larger.—Sandy dry ground, from E. Mass. near the coast, and from Ohio and Ill., southward. Aug.–Oct.
7. E. campéstris, Trin. Glabrous or the sheaths villous at the throat; culm short, bearing an elongated and very open panicle with divaricate branches bearded at base; spikelets linear, flat, 8–12-flowered, sessile or nearly so along the branchlets; glumes very acute or acuminate, 3-nerved, roughish on the keel; palet minutely ciliate. (E. pectinacea, var. refracta, Chapm. Poa refracta, Ell.)—Del. and Md. to Fla. and Ala.
58. MÉLICA, L. Melic-Grass. (Pl. 10.)
Spikelets 2–8-flowered; the 1–3 upper flowers imperfect and dissimilar, convolute around each other, and enwrapped by the upper fertile flower. Empty glumes usually large, scarious-margined, convex, obtuse; the upper 7–9-nerved. Flowering glume papery-membranaceous, dry and sometimes indurating with age, rounded or flattish on the back, 5–many-nerved, scarious at the entire blunt summit. Stamens 3.—Perennials with soft flat leaves. Panicle simple or sparingly branched; the rather large spikelets racemose-one-sided. (An old Italian name for Sorghum, from mel, honey.)
1. M. mùtica, Walt. (Pl. 10.) Slender, with usually narrow leaves, the panicle often reduced to a simple raceme; lower glumes nearly equal and almost equalling the spikelet; fertile flowers usually 2; flowering glumes broad, smooth, obtuse.—Rich soil, Penn. to Fla., west to Wisc., Iowa, and Tex.