The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Part 205

Flowers all perfect; flowering glume bifid, short-awned between the teeth. Otherwise as Phragmites. (The Latin name of the species.)

A. DNAX, 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. MuNROA, 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. squarrsa, Torr. Glaucous, somewhat p.u.b.escent 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. KLeRIA, 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 Gra.s.ses.)

1. K. cristata, 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.

GRaCILIS, 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. EATNIA, 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 gra.s.ses, with simple tufted culms, and often spa.r.s.ely 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. obtusata, 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. Pennsylvanica, 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. MaJOR, _Torr._); and, rarely, with the lower palet minutely mucronate-pointed!--Moist woods and meadows; common.

3. E. Dudleyi, 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. ERAGRoSTIS, 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 ??, _spring_, and ????st??, _a gra.s.s_.)

[*] _Prostrate and creeping, much branched; root annual; spikelets flat, imperfectly dicious, cl.u.s.tered, almost sessile, in the more fertile plant almost capitate._

1. E. reptans, 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. MNOR, 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. poaeoides, _Beauv._)--Sandy waste places, eastward; rare. (Nat. from Eu.)

E. MaJOR, 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. poaeoides, 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 dec.u.mbent 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. PILSA, 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. Frankii, Meyer. Much branched and diffuse (3--8' high); panicle ovate-oblong, rather dense, spreading; _spikelets 2--5-flowered_ (1--1" 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. Purshii, Schrader. Sparingly branched at the dec.u.mbent base, then erect (--2 high); panicle elongated, the branches widely spreading, very loose; _spikelets 5--18-flowered_, oblong-lanceolate, at length linear (2--4" 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. tenuis, Gray. _Panicle virgately elongated_ (1--2 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_ (1--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, 1--2 long, glabrous or sparingly hairy; the sheaths hairy or glabrous; the throat strongly bearded; flowers much larger than in the next, fully 1" long.

5. E. capillaris, 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. pectinacea, 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. SPECTaBILIS, 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.

Ma.s.s. near the coast, and from Ohio and Ill., southward. Aug.--Oct.

7. E. campestris, 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 ac.u.minate_, 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. MeLICA, L. MELIC-GRa.s.s. (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. mutica, 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.

2. M. diffusa, Pursh. Taller, 2--4 high, with mostly broader leaves and a more usually compound and many-flowered panicle; lower glumes more unequal, the outer very broad; fertile flowers usually 3; flowering glumes somewhat scabrous and more acute. (M. mutica, var. diffusa, _Gray_.)--Penn. to Ill., and southward.

(Addendum) 3. M. Porteri, Scribn. Tall and slender; panicle very narrow, the slender branches erect or the lower slightly divergent; pedicels flexuous or recurved, p.u.b.escent; glumes very unequal and shorter than the spikelet; fertile flowers 3--5, the glumes scabrous.--Mountains of Col. and southward; reported from Ca.s.s Co., Neb. (_J. G. Smith_).

59. DIARRHeNA, Raf. (Pl. 10.)

Spikelets several-flowered, smooth and shining, one or two of the uppermost flowers sterile. Empty glumes ovate, much shorter than the flowers, coriaceous; the lower much smaller; flowering glume ovate, convex on the back, rigidly coriaceous, its 3 nerves terminating in a strong and abrupt cuspidate or awl-shaped tip. Squamulae ovate, ciliate.

Stamens 2. Grain very large, obliquely ovoid, obtusely pointed, rather longer than the glume, the cartilaginous shining pericarp not adherent to the seed.--A nearly smooth perennial, with running rootstocks, producing simple culms (2--3 high) with long linear-lanceolate flat leaves toward the base, naked above, bearing a few short-pedicelled spikelets (2--3" long) in a very simple panicle. (Name composed of d??, _two_, and ?????, _man_, from the two stamens.)

1. D. Americana, Beauv. Shaded river-banks and woods, Ohio to Ill., and southward. Aug.