GRASS FAMILY 



129 



1. Stipa speciosa Trin. & Rupr. 

 Deseri Stipa. Fig-. 274. 



Stipa speciosa Trin. & Rupr. Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. VI. 



Sci. Nat. 5': 45. 1842. 

 Stipa clirysoph\Ua Desv. in Gay, FI. Chil. 6: 278. pi. 76. 



f. 2. 1853." 



Culms numerous, cespitose, 30-60 cm. tall ; 

 sheaths smooth, or lower pubescent or even felty 

 at the very base, the throat densely short-villous ; 

 ligule short; blades elongate, involute-tiliform, 

 mostly basal, more or less deciduous from the 

 outer and older persistent sheaths ; panicle nar- 

 row, dense, 10-15 cm. long, not much exceeding 

 the leaves, white or tawny, feathery from the 

 plumose awns ; glumes smooth, 14-16 mm. long, 3- 

 nerved, long-acuminate, papery ; lemma 7-9 mm. 

 long, narrow, densely short-pubescent, the callus 

 sharp and smooth below ; awn with one sharp 

 bend, the first section 1.5-2 cm. long, densely 

 long-pilose on the lower half or two-thirds, the 

 hairs 6-8 mm. long, the remaining portion of the 

 awn scabrous, the second section about 2.5 cm. long. 



Deserts and arid hills of southern California, as far 

 north as Mono Lake and San Luis Obispo; especially 

 characteristic of the Colorado and Mojave Deserts; east 

 to Colorado and south into Lower California; also in 

 Chile. May-June. Type locality: Chile. 



2, Stipa thurberiana Piper. 

 Thurber's Stipa. Fig. 275. 



5'/i7'a thurhcriana Piper, l". S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Circ. 

 27: 10. 1900. 



Culms 15-50 cm. tall; sheaths smooth or some- 

 what scabrous, mostly basal ; ligule, about 3-4 mm. 

 long, acute; blades involute, scabrous; panicle 5-10 

 cm. long, often subtended by an enlarged sheath ; 

 glumes about 12 mm. long, acuminate, 3-nerved ; 

 lemma 7 mm. long, appressed-pilose. the callus 

 acute ; awn about 3 inm. long, indistinctly twice- 

 geniculate, short-pilose to the second bend. 



Open dry woods, Canadian Zone; central California to 

 eastern Washington. June-Jvily. Type locality: Washington. 



3. Stipa elmeri Piper & Brodie. 

 Elmer's Stipa. Fig. 276. 



Stipa viridula pitbescens Vasey, Contr. LI. S. Nat. Herb. 

 ^ 3: SO. 1892. 



Stipa elmeri Piper & Brodie, L'. S. Dept. Agr. Div. 

 Agrost. Bull. 11: 46. 1898. 



Culms 60-100 cm. tall, more or less pubcrulont, 

 especially at the nodes ; sheaths pubescent ; ligule 

 very short ; blades flat or becoming involute, pu- 

 bescent on the upper surface, or those of the in- 

 novations also on the lower surface ; panicle 

 narrow, 15-35 cm. long, rather loose; glumes 

 3-nerved, gradually acuminate, thin, papery, 12-14 

 mm. long, the first a little the longer ; lemma 

 about 7 mm. long, appressed-pul)escent, the callus 

 1 nun. long, glabrous at the point: awn distinctly 

 twice-geniculatc, first section 8-10 mm. long, the 

 second section somewhat shorter, both plumose, 

 third section about 1.5-2 cm. long, scabrous. 



Open ground in the mountains, Canadian Zone; 

 Washington to southern California and Nevada. Tune- 

 July. Type locality: Empire City, Nevada. 



