54 
rays short, :n pairs, few-flowered; lower glume about 5 lines long, the upper 4 lines, 
acuminate, 3-nerved, purplish; floret a little more than half the length of the lower 
glume; callus a little less than one-half line long; corona short, but distinct ; lower 
palet hairy throughout, the upper about one-third as long and hyaline; awn about 1 
inch long, very slender, bent uear the middle, minutely and evenly scabrous, readily 
falling away; stamen 1, small, oval.”—California. 
Var. ANDERSONIT. Culmsand leaves moreslender, panicle thinner, empty glumes3 to 
4 lines long, 3-nerved, flowering glume 2 lines long, nearly cylindrical, tapering 
slightly above, sparsely hairy, corona very short; awn 10 to 12 lines long.—Lower 
California (Dr. Anderson, Dr, Hasse, Allen, and others). 
17. S. avenacea Linn. (BLACK OaTGRass), (Gray’s Manual, 6thed., p. 641.) Culms 
slender, 14 to 3 feet high, about 3 nodes; radical leaves L to 14 feet long. filiform, those 
of culm short, ligule 14 lines long, acute; panicle 3 to 5 inches long, narrow, branches 
mostly single or the lower in twos, 1 to 2 inches long, erect-spreading, few-flowered ; 
empty glumes about 5 lines long, the lower 3-nerved, upper 5-nerved, acute ; flowering 
glume 4 lines long, including the sharp, brown hairy stipe, the body brown, smooth 
below, punctate, scabrous above, much constricted at apex, the crown with a few 
short hairs, awn about 2 inches long, bent above, twisted below; palet alittle exceed- 
ing its glume.—New England to Florida, west to Wisconsin and Texas. 
18. S. flexuosa Vasey. Torr. Bull. xv. p. 49. Culms slender, 2 to 24 feet high; 
radical leaves 1 to 14 feet long, narrow; panicle 5 to8 inches long, slender and flexu- 
ous; branches distant, the lower in fives, upper in twos, capillary, 2 to 24 inches 
long, rather few-flowered, naked below; empty glumes unequal, linear, acute, the 
lower 5 lines long, faintly 3-nerved below, the upper about 4 lines long, distinetly 3- 
nerved ; flowering glume 3 to 34 lines long, including the acute stipe, tapering above, 
sparsely pubescent; awn slender, sparsely pubescent below, about 2 inches long. 
Distinguished from 8, avenacea by its long panicle, longer and more capillary 
branches, and small spikelets.—Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. 
19. S. Bloomeri Boland. (8. Sibirica Thurb., non Lam., Bot. Cal. mm. p. 287.) 
“Culms 14 to 3 feet high, clothed at the base by the remains of old sheaths; 
leaves very narrow and involute, smooth or slightly roughened, the radical about half 
equaling the eulm; ligule short; sheaths shorter than the internodes, the upper some- 
what inflated, its blade about half as long as the panicle, pale-green throughout; pan- 
icle 6 to 12 inches long, erect, narrow; rays distant, the lower in threes or fives, the 
upper in pairs, branching and few-flowered; spikelets 4 lines long; glumes nearly 
equal, acuminate in a slender point, 3-nerved, minutely scabrous and one-fourth longer 
than the fusiform short-callused floret ; lower palet about 24 lines long, minutely 2- 
toothed at the apex, brownish at maturity, with long, rather coarse hairs; upper palet 
nearly equal; awn 6 to 9 lines long, flexuously geniculate near the middle, below 
which it is strongly pubescent (almost plumose), scabrous above; anthers conspicu- 
ously bearded.”—California ( Lolander), 
20. S. caduca Scribn. (Oryzopsis caduca Beal.) Culms tufted, about 2 feet high; 
leaves narrow, becoming involute, the lower 10 to 12 inches long. the uppermost one 
setaceous, equaling or exceeding the panicle; panicle 6 to7 inches long, loose, the 
lower rays in pairs, unequal, erect-spreading, the longer 2 to 8 inches long, sub- 
divided and flowering above the middle; spikelets mostly on pedicels as long as 
themselves; empty glumes 34 to 4 lines long, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 3-nerved ; 
floral glume oblong tapering at each end, 24 lines long, covered with long, white 
hairs, not constricted at the neck, stipe short, acute; palet about half as long as its 
glume, obtuse; awn 9 to 10 lines long, smooth, nearly straight, very deciduous.— 
Montana (Scribner), ; 
21. S.Pringlei Scribn, Culms stout,3 feet high; radical leaves narrow, 1} to 2 
feet long, scabrous; cauline ones shorter, rigid, ligule short; panicle 8 to 10 inches 
long, narrow, the branches long and slender, in twos to fives, naked below, few- 
flowered above; empty glumes 5 lines long, abruptly acuminate, 5- to 7-nerved; 
