DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW OR NOTEWORTHY GRASSES FROM THE UNITED 



STATES. 



By GKOJUiK Vaset. 



Stipa basse! ep. nov. Culms very slender and iviry, densely tnftcd, more or less 

 branching below, eret-t, 12 to 15 inches liigh; leavca narrowly linear, thrcad- 

 liko, setaceous, not rigid, 4 to 8 inches long, erect; ligule inconspicuous; upper 

 leaf reaching nearly to the panicle; sheaths narrow, close, striate; i^anicle 2 to 

 3 inches long, narrow, loose, erect, slender ; branches erect, mostly 2 or 3 together, 

 unei^ual, the longer ones an inch or more in length, naked below, the others 

 flowering to the base ; spikelets small ; empty glumes narrowly linear-lanceolate,' 

 acuminate, about 2^ lines long, nearly equal, tlie lower l-nerved, or indistinctly 

 3-nerved below, the upper strongly 3-nerved ; Horal glumes nearly as long as the 

 empty ones, narrow, tapering to the apex, nicmbriinaceous (thinuer than in most 

 species of the genus), with 3 principal nerves, smooth; stipe short, with a few 

 sliort hairs; palet one-lialf as long as its glume, acute; lodicules i to ^line long; 

 awn of the floral gluiue 8 or 9 lints long, bent above the middle, twisted below, 

 nearly smooth ; grain oblong, about 1 line long. 



Dry ridges near Santa Monica, California. Typo specimen collected in 1891 by 

 Dr. H. E. JIasse, for whom it is named. It is nearly related to JSliim cminena 

 variety andersoni Vasey, which is found in the same region. 



Orysopsis hendersoni sp. nov. Culms densely cespitose, 6to 8 inches high; leaves 

 crowded at the base, conduplicate, pungent, scabrous, rigid, one-half as long as the 

 culms, lower sheaths rather loose ; panicle 2 to 3 inches long, narrow, the branclies 

 mostly erect in pairs, the lower L to 2 inches long, naked except the 2 to 4 flowers 

 near the apex; spikelets 2 lines long; empty glumes a little longer than the 

 floral ones, broadly oblong, obtuse and toothed at the apex, the lower 3-nerved,- 

 the upper 5-nerved, both scarions above the middle; floral glume linear-oblong, 

 nearly 2 lines long, stuooth, coriaceous, obscurely 5-nervcd, the apex formed of 2 

 lateral teeth, which appear to be on one side, the caducous, simple, curved awn 

 5 or 6 lines long, arising between the apical teeth ; stamens 3, barbate. 



Type specimen collected in Washington by L. F, Henderson, in 1892 (No. 2249). 

 It is similar in appearance to 0. wehberi (Tliurb.) Vasey and to snuill forms of 0. 

 extf/(/oTliurb., but may be readily distinguished from either by its smooth florets. 

 Muhlenbergia iiliculmis sp. nov. Culms tufted, weakly erect, iUiform, 7 to 10 

 inches high, leail ess except near the base ; radical leaves numerous, setaceous- 

 filiform, 1 to 1| inclies long; sheaths very short, the lower ones loose; ligule con- 

 spicuous, narrow, 1 line long; panicle spike-like, narrow, 1 to 1^ inches long, 

 the upper branches short, alternate, the lower ones inserted singly or in twos, 

 naked near the base, each with 3 to 5 spikelets; spikelets siiiall, 1 line or more 

 long, with an awn about ^ line hmg; emjtty gluuies very thin, lialf as long as 

 the floral glumes, the lower one ovate, acute, the upper broadly ovate, with 3 

 to 5 teeth at the apex; floral gluijies oblong-linear, sparsely pubescent below, 



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