61 
§ 2. Panicle contracted, culms much branched, decumbent and often rooting below. 
10. S. depauperatus Vasey (Gray’s Manual, 6th ed., p. 646.) (Vilfa depauperata 
Torr. ; Vilfa utilis Torr.) Culms perennial, tufted, slender, 3 inches to 2 feet long, 
decumbent and geniculate, many jointed, often much branched ‘leaves commonly 1 to 
3 inches long, often involute, ligule conspicuous, acutish ; sheaths rather shorter than 
the internodes ; panicle 4 to 3 inches long, very narrow, branches solitary, appressed, 
the lower sometimes $ to1 inch long, flowering to the base; spikelets about 1 line long, 
on short pedicels; empty glumes nearly equal, ovate, obtuse, one-third to one-half 
shorter than the flowering glume, the later obscurely 3-nerved, smooth, often black- 
ish, and pointed with a minute mucro; palet about equal to its glume.—Throughout 
the Rocky Mountain region from Mexico to Montana and British Columbia. 
A very variable species, with several distinct forms, one of which with tangled 
matted culms, used by the Mexicans for stuffing pack saddles, was called by Dr. Tor- 
rey Vilfa utilis. 
11. S. repens. Pres]. Rel. Heenkeane 1. p. 241. Culm decumbent from creeping 
rhizomas 6 to 12 inches long, much branched, nodes many, often geniculate, lateral 
branches flower-bearing ; leaves 1 to 14 inches long, very narrow; ligule rather long, 
panicle narrow, the terminal 1 to 14 inches long, the laterai shorter, few-flowered ; 
spikelets grayish, 1} lineslong; empty glumes nearly equal, one-half as long as spike- 
let, acutish ; flowering glume cuspidate, palet nearly as long, acute.—Texas to 
Arizona. Much like S. depauperatus, of which it is perhaps a form. ° 
12. S. Sacatilla Griseb. (Gram. Mexicanum Fourn. p. 101.) Differs from the pre- 
ceding in the longer culms, more involute and recurved leaves, with shorter ligules, 
panicles rather more exserted, spikelets shorter (about 1 line long), glumes shorter 
(hardly 4 line long), flowering glume shorter and acute.—Texas (Nealley and No. 
746 Wright). 
§ 3. Panicle mostly open and spreading ; culms erect. 
13. S. interruptus Vasey. Bull. Torr, Club, xv. p. 8. Culms 1} to 2 feet high, 
rather stout, with few leaves, erect, from a strong creeping rhizoma; leaves mostly 
at the base, flat, rather rigid, 3 to 6 inches long, 1 to 2 lines wide, the lower sheaths 
and leaves more or less soft—hairy, ligule almost obselete, upper sheaths very long, 
smooth; panicle 4 to 6 inches long, narrow and close, with the branches short and 
interrupted, or panicle loose, with branches alternate, the lower 2 inches long, dis- 
tant, and the lower third naked; spikelets large (24 lines long), the pedicels mostly 
short; empty glumes unequal, lanceolate, acute, the lower one-third shorter, the 
upper 3-nerved and equaling the spikelet; flowering glume thicker in texture, 
l-nerved, acute, smooth; palet nearly equal, 2-nerved; stamens 3, very long.— 
Arizona, 
14. S. Nealleyi Vasey. Bot, Gaz. xvi. p. 48. Small; culms from strong rhizoma, 
erect, slender, about 6 inches high, naked above; leaves few, about 1 inch long, 
rigid, divaricate, involute, pungently pointed; ligule villous; panicle 1 to 2 inches 
long, of few (6 or more) short, erect-spreading, few-flowered branches; spikelets less 
than 1 line long, the lower one-half as long as the second, which equals the palet.— 
Texas (G. C. Nealley). 
15. S. argutus Kth. Enum. Plant. 1. p. 215. (8. Arkansana Nutt.; S. Sabeanus 
Buck.) Culms tufted, 6 to 12 inches high, leafy below, leaves 2 to 6 inches long, 
sheaths ciliate above and at the throat, blade flat, tapering to a fine point, upper 
sheath long, reaching to or at first inclosing the panicle, 14 to 4 inches long, narrow 
at first or becoming pyramidal, spreading, the lower branches in fives, 1 inch long, 
linear, naked near the base; spikelets less than 1 line long; the longer empty glume 
one-fourth to one-third as long, the upper as long as the spikelet, acutish.— Mexico to 
Texas and Colorado. 
16. S. Domingensis Kth. (Chapm. Fl. 8. States Suppl., p. 661.) Culms erect, 10 to 
20 inches high, compressed at base; leaves linear-acuminate, flat or convolute rigid; 
