46 POACEAE. 



Danthonia pinetorum Piper. Densely tufted ; leaves pale, narrow, involute, 

 often curled; spikelets nearly sessile, pale; lemma loosely hairy, the apex bifid 

 into 2 slender subulate teeth; awn 7 mm. long. 



In pine woods, Mason County, Washington, Piper; Nanaimo and Sproat 

 Lake, Vancouver Island, Macoun. Very near the eastern D. spicata (L.) 

 Beauv. 



Danthonia intermedia Vasey. Stems 30-60 cm. high; leaves bright green, 

 soft, flat or involute; sheaths glabrous or sparsely hairy; spikelets 312, usually 

 purple, nearly sessile; lemma broadly lanceolate, 2-toothed. 



In alpine meadows, British Columbia to Quebec, south to California and 

 New Mexico. 



Danthonia californica Boland. Erect, 50-100 cm. tall; leaf blades flat, 

 scabrous; sheaths loose, shortly retrorse-pubescent, and with a tuft of hairs 

 at the throat; spikelets 1-2 cm. long, 3-5 in a raceme, rarely more numerous 

 or even solitary, usually long-pedicelled; lemma abruptly acuminate, long- 

 ciliate below the middle, 2-cleft at apex, bearing an awn of about equal length. 



In meadows, not common in our limits. 



Danthonia americana Scribn. Much like D. californica but not so tall; 

 spikelets usually 2 or 3; sheaths hairy; lemmas attenuate-acuminate. 

 In meadows, British Columbia to California. 



69. AVENA. OAT. 



Annuals with large spikelets; inflorescence a panicle; spike- 

 lets 2 -many-flowered ; lower flow r ers perfect, the upper often 

 staminate; glumes somewhat unequal, membranous, persistent; 

 lemmas deciduous, rounded on the back, acute, generally bearing 

 a dorsal awn; apex often 2-toothed; palea narrow, 2-toothed; 

 grain oblong, deeply furrowed, enclosed in the lemma and palea, 

 free or sometimes adherent to the latter. 



Avena fatua glabrata Peterm. Smooth Wild Oat. Stems stout, pale, 

 smooth, 50-100 cm. tall, erect; leaf blades broad and flat, the sheaths about 

 equalling the internodes; panicle loose 15-30 cm. long; spikelets, including 

 awns, 3.5-4 cm. long, erect or drooping, on slender branches; lemma smooth, 

 except the scabrous apex and the ring of stiff white hairs at the base, bearing 

 on the back a geniculate, stout, twisted awn below the 2-cleft apex. 



Sparingly introduced. The common wild oat, A. fatua L., has bristly red 

 hairs on the lemma. It may also be expected in our limits. 



70. DESCHAMPSIA. 



Annuals or perennials; inflorescence a contracted or open 

 panicle; spikelets 2-flowered, both flowers perfect, the hairy 

 rachilla extending beyond the flowers as a bristle or rarely termin- 

 ated by a staminate floret; glumes keeled, acute, membranous, 

 shining, persistent; lemmas of about the same texture, deciduous, 

 each bearing a dorsal awn, the apex erose-truncate ; palea 

 narrow; grain oblong, free, enclosed in the lemma. 



Lower glume 1-nerved. 



Glumes not longer than the florets. D. caespitosa. 



Glumes longer than the florets. D. atropurpurea. 



