Part 84

117. C. exilis, Dewey. Very stiff, slender, 1--2 deg. 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. HYPARRHENAE.--[+] 1. _Elongatae_.

[++] _Perigynium very sharp-margined, firm, often thickened at base, spreading in open and at maturity stellate spikes._

118. C. echinata, Murray, var. cephalantha, Bailey. Rather stiff but slender, 1--2 deg. 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. CONFERTA, 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. MICROSTACHYS, 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. ANGUSTATA, 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. canescens, L. Stiff and rather stout, 1--21/2 deg. 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. vulgaris, 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. alpicola, Wahl. Low and stiff, or at lower altitudes becoming somewhat slender, seldom much over 1 deg. 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. polystachya, Boott. Erect and mostly strict, not glaucous, 11/2--21/2 deg. 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. Norvegica, Willd. Low and stiff, but rather slender, 1 deg. 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. tenuiflora, Wahl. Very slender and diffuse, 1--11/2 deg. 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. trisperma, Dewey. (Pl. 6, fig. 1--5.) Exceedingly slender, in small and loose tufts, the weak reclining culms 1--2 deg. 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. Deweyana, Schwein. Weak, 1--11/2 deg. 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. bromoides, Schkuhr. Lax, 1--2 deg. 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 dioecious; 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. _Ovales._

[++] _Perigynium ovate-lanceolate, with winged margins._

125. C. siccata, Dewey. Extensively creeping, 1--2 deg. 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. Muskingumensis, Schwein. Robust, erect, 2--3 deg. 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. tribuloides, Wahl. Stout and erect, 2--3 deg. 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. TURBATA, 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 (1/4 to rarely 1/2' long), contracted below; perigynium ascending and more appressed, the points therefore not conspicuous. Woods, throughout; rare.--Var. REDUCTA, Bailey. Very slender, 1--2 deg. 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. Bebbii, Bailey. Stiff or rather slender, erect, 1--21/2 deg. high; head dense, ovoid or oblong (1/4--3/4' 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. cristata, Bailey. Stout and stiff, 11/2--3 deg. 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. scoparia, Schkuhr. Rather slender but erect, 1--21/2 deg. 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. minor, 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. adusta, Boott. Very stiff and stout, 11/2--21/2 deg. 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. foenea, Willd. Slender, erect or the top of the culm flexuose, 1--2 deg. 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. PERPLEXA, 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. silicea, Olney. Stiff, 1--2 deg. 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. foenea, 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. foenea _of n. 132)._

132. C. straminea, Willd. Very slender, erect, but the top of the culm often flexuose, 1--3 deg. 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. mirabilis, Tuckerm. Culm long and mostly weak, often 4 deg. 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. brevior, Dewey. (Pl. 6, fig. 6--10.) Culm always stiff, 11/2--21/2 deg. 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. aperta, Boott. Culm slender but strict below the head, 1--2 deg. 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. invisa, 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. alata, Bailey. Culm very stiff, 11/2--3 deg. 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. cumulata, Bailey. Culm very stiff, 2--3 deg. 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. foenea, Torr. Culm very stiff, longer than the leaves, 1--2 deg. 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. foenea, last ed., excl. vars.; not _Willd._)--Near the sea-coast; frequent.

C. LEPORINA, 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. _Cyperoideae_.

133. C. sychnocephala, Carey. Erect, 3--18' high, leafy; head 1/2--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. GRAMINEAE. (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. PANICEAE. 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 (Sec. 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. ORYZEAE. 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. MAYDEAE. 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 monoecious, the staminate above in the spike.

12. Rottboellia. One spikelet of each pair sterile and shortly pedicelled, the other fertile, sessile and sunk in the rhachis.

Tribe IV. ANDROPOGONEAE. 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. PHALARIDEAE. 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. AGROSTIDEAE. 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).--STIPEAE.

[+] 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.--PHLEOIDEAE.

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.--AGROSTEAE.

[+] 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