

■*■: 



ff. 



PIPER NOKTH AMEKICAX SPECIES OF FESTUCA. 35 



25. Festuca shortii K until. ■ 



Festuca shordi Kuntli; Wood, ChisH-book 794. ISGl. No lethality cited under 

 the original very brief description, but a specimen in Sbort*s lierbanuni in tlie 

 riiiladeli)hia Academy of Sciences l)eari^ the legend, ''J^arrens of Meade Countyj 

 Kentucky/' The type of Wood i?4 ]>robahly in his herbarium preserve<l in tlie Xew 

 York Colle<jre of T^harituicv Herbarium. 



Festuca nutans shnrtH J3ealj Gra^PGH X. Am. 2: 589. 1896. Reducen above to pub- 

 ^pecific rank. 



Fei^ftica naiati.^ fitajorV'd^Qy; Beal, 1. c, as synonym. 



DKSCRIl'TloN. 



Culmw 00 to 120 cm. high, erect, gla1)rous, smootli, IJ-jointed; slicaths i^mooth or 

 striate, ^labronSj nnich hfhorter than tlie internode.^; li^ule very abort; l^lades firm, 

 flat, or loosely involute, 10 to 40 cm. long, 3 to 7 mnu broad, smooth or nearly 

 so bcneatli, j^cabrouw abovej auriculate at ba^e; i)anic]e erect, 10 to 20 cm. l(jng, 

 bearing many spikclets; rays in 3 to 5 sets, mostly in twos, af^cending or spread- 

 ing, scabrous on tlie an<:leSj spikolet-bearing above the middle; f=pikolots j^ale green, 

 oblong-lanceolat(^, 5 t*> 7 mm, long, 3 to <)-fiowered; joints of the racliilla, cylin- 

 dric, smooth; glumes firm, scabrous on the nerves above, the lower 1-nerved, 4 

 mm. long, the upj>er 3-ncrved, 5 nun. long; lemma oblong, coriaceous, smooth, 

 obtu^ish, obscurely 5-ncrved, 4 to 4.5 mm. long; palea lirm, smooth, acute, about 

 equaling the lennna. 



This species rangt^s from Illinois and Iowa to Georgia and Texas. 



26. Festuca versuta Beid. 



A 



Fesfum texcwa Vasoy, Bull. Torr. Chib 13: 119. 1880. Tyi>e in the National 

 Herbarium, collected by J. lleverrlion (no. 1C18), '^shades, upper Llano.*' 



Vedaca versuta Beal, Grasses X. Am. 2: 589. ISHO. Proposes a new name on 

 account of the oltlcr 7\ texana Steud. Svn. PL Ghnn. 810, 1855. 



Known onlv from Texas, there collec^ted bv Bucklev and ])v Reverchon. 



DhJSCKirTHiN. 



Stems erect, glabrous or somewhat glaucous, nearly concealed by the sheaths, 

 about 80 cm. high, o-joiuted; sheaths striate, smooth; ligule very short; blades 

 firm, flat, 20 to 25 cm. long, 4 to mm. wide, auriculate at base, nearly smooth 

 beneath, scabrous above; panicle loose, erect, 15 to 18 cjii. long, nearly as broad; 



rays in 3 or 4 sets, slender, pulvillate at base and spreading, scabrous on the angles, 

 bearing a fcM' brant^hlets near the tips; spikelets. oblong-ovate, glaucous, IJ t(.i 5-now- 

 ered, 8 to 11 mm. long; joints of the ra<'Iiilla cylindric, somewhat scabrous; glumes 

 nearly glabrous, snbeqnal, the lower 1-nerved, 5 mm. long, the upper il-nerved, 6 

 mm. long; lemn:a oblong-lanceolate, acute or apparently acuminate, coriaceous, 

 sn:iO(^th or nearly so, glaucous, faintly 5-nerved, 6 to 7 mm, long; palea firm, acute, 

 about equaling the lemma. 



27, Festuca johnsoni (Vasey). 



Fesiaca nutans johnsoni N'asey, Contr. Nat. Herb. 2: 54K. 1894. Type in the National 

 Herbarium, collected at Harrison City, Tex., in 1886, Ijy Mr. Johnson. No other 

 specimens have been seen. 



i>l>CKlJ'T10N\ 



1- 



Culms stout, erect, smooth, nearly conct'aled by the sheaths, about 80 cm. high; 

 sheaths striate, sparsely puberulent; Hgule very sliort; blades flat, rather thick, 

 acMuninate, 20 to 30 cm. long, i] to 10 mm. wide, scabrous on both sides, auricnhite 

 at base; panicle loose, erect, 10 to 25 cm, long; rays in 3 to 5 sets, mostlv in twos, 



