GRASS FAMILY 131 



7. Stipa parishii \'asey. 

 Parish's Stipa. Fig. 280. 



Stipa parishii Vasey, Bot. Gaz. 7: 33. 1882. 



Culms Stout, 30-60 cm. tall ; sheaths smooth, vil- 

 lous at the throat ; ligule short, ciliate ; blades firm, 

 flat, with a slender involute point, very scabrous 

 above, about 4 mm. W\At; panicle 15-20 cm. long, 

 narrow^ dense, purple-tinged; glumes smooth, 3- 

 nerved, long-acuminate, unequal, the first 1.5 cm. 

 long, the second shorter ; lemma 7 mm. long, densely 

 long-villous, especially above ; awn about 2.5 cm. 

 long, once-geniculate, twisted below, straight above, 

 nearly smooth. 



Open ground. Arid Transition Zone; southern California 

 and western Nevada. May-Aug. Type locality: San Ber- 

 nardino Mountains. 



8. Stipa comata Trin. & Rnpr. 

 Needle and Thread Grass. Fig. 281. 



stipa comata Trin. & Rupr. Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. VI. 



Sci. Nat. .5': 75. 1842. 



Culms 60-120 cm. tall, smooth ; sheaths smooth ; 

 ligule 4-6 mm. long; blades becomjng involute, 

 elongate; panicle loose, open. 15-25 cm. long; 

 branches slender, ascending, or. in anthesis, spread- 

 ing, the lower 8-10 cm. long, bearing usually 2 spike- 

 lets toward the extremities; glumes nearly 2.5 cm. 

 long, gradually narrowed into an awn, smooth. 5- 

 nerved, thin, papery; lemma 10-12 mm. long, rather 

 sparsely appressed-villous ; callus 3 mm. long: awn 

 very long, the tirst section 2-4 cm. long, closely 

 twisted, appressed-villous but becoming nearly 

 smooth, the second like the hrst but shorter, the 

 third section as long or longer than the other two, 

 more or less flexuous but not twisted, scabrous, very 



slender. 



Dry open ground, Upper Sonoran Zone; Washington to 

 eastern California, east to the Great Plains. June-July. 

 Type locality: Saskatchewan. 

 Stipa comata intermedia Scribn. Bot. Gaz. 11: 171. 1886. Stipa tivecdyi Scribn U S. Dept. Agr. Div. 

 Agrost Bull 11-47 1898. Differs from the tvpical form in the shorter straight third section of the awn. 

 California (Fallen Leaf Lake, Eastwood; Campito Mountain, Jepson), and eastward to Wyoming. Type 

 locality: Yellowstone Park. „„, ,^.^ ^ , . ■ i r 



Stipa comata intonsa Piper, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 11: 109. 1906. Differs from the typical form m 

 having pubescent leaves. Near Rockland, Washington, the type locality. 



9. Stipa pCilchra Hitchc 

 Nodding Stipa 



Fig. 282. 



Stipa pulchra Hitchc. Am. Journ. Bot. 2: 301. 1915. 

 Stipa setigera of Californian botanies, not Presl. 



Culms 60-100 cm. tall; blades long and narrow, 

 flat or involute; ligule about 1 mm. long; panicle 

 about 15 cm. long, loose, the branches spreading, 

 slender, some of the lower 2.5-5 cm. long; glumes 

 narrow, long-acuminate, purplish, 3-nerved, unequal, 

 the first about 2 cm. long, the second 2-4 mm. 

 shorter; lemma 8 mm. long, sparingly pilose, the 

 callus sharp ; awn 4-6 mm. long, short-pubescent to 

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

 second shorter, the third slender and flexuous. 



Open ground, Arid Transition Zone; mostly in the Coast 

 Ranges of central California, south into Lower California. 

 Mar.-May. Type locality: Sonoma County, California. 



