104 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA 



species having tuberous roots (M. poceoides var. iuflata Bol. ; M. fugax ; M. 

 Geyeri), occur iu rather loose soils. 



6. M e 1 i c a acuminata Bnl. 



Number 4,698 of Catalogue, 1867, enumerated as M. po^oides var. acumi- 

 nata Bol. 



Boot perennial, tuberous ; fibres tomentose. Culms generally single, 2 to 3% 

 feet high, terete, smooth. Sheaths scabrous. Ligules very small, lacerated. 

 Panicle rather compact and close, claviform, erect 5 to 8 inches long. Branchlets 

 2 to 5, short, unequal, appressed, few-flowered, the shortest single- flowered. Ra- 

 chis and branchlets angular and scabrous. 



Spikelets lanceolate, very loosely imbricated, 4 to 6-flowered, uppermost abor- 

 tive, ^4 of an inch long. Plumes unequal, acuminate, hyafine, tinged with 

 purple; lower 1-, upper 3-nerved [^ of inch long), slightly scabrous on the 

 nerves. 



Palets very unequal ; lower lanceolate, acuminate {}{ inch long) distinctly 

 7 nerved, pubescent, hyaline margins exceedingly narrow ; upper obtuse or 

 refeuse, much shorter than the lower, ciliate. 



Anthers three 0.06 of inch long. 



Redwoods near the seacoast in Mendocino County, May, 1866. 



7. Melica stricta Bol. 



Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Vol. Ill, p. 4. This 

 species forms large tufts on the shaded debris in Yosemite Valley (1 to 2 feet 

 high). It differs from the eastern species M. mutica in being much smaller, in 

 having a simple erect panicle and larger acuminate flowers. 



8. Melica fugax Bol. 



Root tuberous ; fibres smooth. Culms csespitose or single, 18 inches to 2 feet 

 high, slender, pubescent, about three-leaved. Sheaths pubescent, the lower one 

 longer than its internode. Ligules short and lacerated. Leaves 3 to 5 inches 

 long, and about }{ of an inch wide, lanceolate, pubescent and scabrous on the 

 margins. 



Panicle 3 to 6 inches long, erect, very simple and open, lower series of branch- 

 lets in threes, upper in twos, very unequal, divergent or reflexed, single or few- 

 flowered, the central one reduced to a mere pedicel, bearing a single spikelet. 

 Rachis and branchlets angular and scabrous. 



Spikelets }4 to )4 of an inch long, 3 to 5-flowered, uppermost abortive, flow- 

 ers loosely imbricated and articulated, breaking away very easily, even while 

 flowering. Glumes unequal (the lower about }^ shorter), obtiise; the lower 

 distinctly 3-, the upper 5-nerved. Palets nearly equal ; lower 7-nerved, scab- 

 rous ; upper (sub lente) ciliate margined. 



Apparently common on dry, sandy soil among "sage brush" (Artemisia), 

 near Donner Lake ; also, on dry hillsides on the road to Lake Tahoe. June, 1869. 



This species has very niuch the aspect of a Poa. 



