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 [Greek: a)/peros],
_unmaimed_; application obscure.)
A. SPICA-VENTI, Beauv. Spikelets 1/2--1'' long.--Sparingly naturalized.
(Nat. from Eu.)
33. CALAMAGROSTIS, 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 [Greek: ka/lamos], _a reed_, and
[Greek: a)gro/stis], _a grass_.)
Sec. 1. DEYEUXIA. _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. Canadensis, Beauv. (BLUE-JOINT GRASS.) (Pl. 8, fig. 1, 2.) Culm
tall (3--5 deg. high); leaves flat when fresh, glaucous; panicle oblong;
_glumes ovate-lanceolate_, acute, 11/4--11/2'' 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. Langsdorffii, Trin. Spikelets larger, 21/2--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. stricta, Trin. Panicle glomerate and lobed, strict, 2--4' long;
glumes 11/2--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. Lapponica, 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. confinis, 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. Nuttalliana, Steud. Culm stout (3--5 deg. 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. Porteri, Gray. Culm slender (2--4 deg. 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--21/2'' 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. Pickeringii, Gray. Culm 1--11/2 deg. high; _leaves short; panicle
pyramidal_, purplish; glumes ovate-oblong, bluntish or bluntly pointed
(11/2--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.
Sec. 2. CALAMOVILFA. _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. brevipilis, 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 deg.
high; leaves nearly flat; spikelets 2'' long.
10. C. longifolia, Hook. Culm (1--4 deg. 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 1/4 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 21/2--3'' long.
34. AMMOPHILA, 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 [Greek: a)/mmos], _sand_,
and [Greek: phile/o], _to love_.)
1. A. arundinacea, Host. (SEA SAND-REED.) Culm stout and rigid (2--3 deg.
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. ARRHENATHERUM, 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 [Greek: a)/r)r(en],
_masculine_, and [Greek: a)the/r], _awn_);--otherwise as in Avena, of
which it is only a peculiar modification.
A. AVENACEUM, Beauv. Root perennial; culm 2--4 deg. 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. HOLCUS, 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 [Greek: o(lko/s],
_attractive_, of obscure application.)
H. LANATUS, 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. AIRA, 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. CARYOPHYLLEA, 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. PRAECOX, 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. DESCHAMPSIA, 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. flexuosa, Trin. (COMMON HAIR-GRASS.) (Pl. 12, fig. 1--3.) Culms
slender, nearly naked (1--3 deg. 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. caespitosa, Beauv. Culm tufted (2--4 deg. high); _leaves flat, linear_;
panicle pyramidal or oblong (6' long); _awn straight, barely equalling
the glume_. (Aira caespitosa, _L._)--Shores of lakes and streams;
N. Eng. to Penn., Mich., and northward. June, July. (Eu.)
[*][*] _Empty glumes longer than the flowers, 2--21/2'' long._
3. D. atropurpurea, 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. TRISETUM, 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. subspicatum, Beauv., var. molle, 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 deg. 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. palustre, 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 deg. high; leases flat, short;
spikelets yellowish-white, tinged with green.
40. AVENA, 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. FATUA, 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. striata, Michx. (Pl. 12, fig. 1, 2.) _Glabrous and smooth_
throughout, slender (1--2 deg. 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. Smithii, Porter. Taller (21/2--41/2 deg. 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}--1/2 the length of the 7-nerved glume.--N. Mich. and Isle
Royale, L. Superior. April, May.
41. DANTHONIA, 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 deg. 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. spicata, 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. sericea, Nutt. Culms taller and not tufted (1--3 deg. 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. compressa, Aust. Culms slender, 2 deg. 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. CYNODON, 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 [Greek: ky/on], _a dog_, and
[Greek: o)doy/s], _a tooth_.)
C. DACTYLON, 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. CTENIUM, 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 [Greek: kteni/on], _a small comb_, from the pectinate
appearance of the spike.)
1. C. Americanum, Spreng. Culm (3--4 deg. 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. GYMNOPOGON, 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 [Greek: gymno/s], _naked_, and [Greek:
po/gon], a _beard_, alluding to the reduction of the abortive flower to
a bare awn.)
1. G. racemosus, Beauv. (Pl. 9, fig. 1, 2.) Culms clustered from a short
rootstock (1 deg. 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. brevifolius, 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. SCHEDONNARDUS, 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 [Greek: schedo/n], _near_, and
_Nardus_, from its resemblance to that genus.)
1. S. Texanus, Steud. Stem (6--20' long) naked and curved above, bearing
3--9 racemosely disposed thread-like and triangular spikes 1--3' long;
spikelets 11/2'' long. (Lepturus paniculatus, _Nutt._)--Open grounds and
salt-licks, Ill. to Mont., Col., and Tex. Aug.
46. BOUTELOUA, Lagasca. MUSKIT-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.)
Sec. 1. CHONDROSIUM. _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. oligostachya, 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. hirsuta_, 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.
Sec. 2. ATHEROPOGON. _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. racemosa, Lag. (Pl. 9, fig. 1, 2.) Culms tufted from perennial
rootstocks (1--3 deg. high); sheaths often hairy; leaves narrow; spikes 1/2'
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. ARISTOSA, 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. ELEUSINE, Gaertn. CRAB-GRASS. YARD-GRASS. (Pl. 9.)