GRASS FAMILY 



165 



3. Aira atropurpurea Wahl. 

 Mountain Hair-yrass. Fig. 371. 



Aira atrofuirurca Wahl. Fl. Lapp. 37. 1812. 

 Aira latifolia Hook. FI. Bor. Am. 2: 243. pi. 227. 1840. 

 Descham/^sia atropurpurea Scheele, Flora 27: 56. 1844. 

 Deschaiupsia atropurpurea latifolia Scribn. in Macoun, Cat. 

 Can. PI. 2: _'U9. 1888. 



Perennial ; culms erect, smooth, purplish at base, 

 40-80 cm. tall ; blades flat, rather soft, ascending or 

 appressed, the apex acute or abruptlj' narrowed, 

 5-10 cm. long. 4-6 mm. wide; panicle loose and 

 open, 5-10 cm. long, the branches few, slender, 

 drooping, naked below ; glumes about 5 mm. long, 

 broad, purplish ; lemmas about 2 mm. long, the awn 

 of the first straight, included, of the second geni- 

 culate, exserted. 



Woods and wet meadows, Hudsonian Zone; Alaska to 

 New England, south in the mountains to Oregon and Colo- 

 rado; also in northern Eurasia. July-Aug. Type locality, 

 European. 



4. Aira holciformis (Presl) Steud. 



California Hair-grass. 



Fig-.- 372. 



Ucschampsia holciformis Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 251. 183 J. 

 A,ra holciformis Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 221. 1854. 



Perennial ; culms cespitose, 60-120 cm. tall, rather 

 stout ; blades tightlj' folded, or involute, firm, mostly 

 basal, smooth or somewhat scabrous, especially to- 

 ward the tip, the cauline blades short; ligule 4-6 mm. 

 long; panicle narrow, rather dense, mostly dark or 

 bronze-color, 15-20 cm. long. 



Marshes, bogs, and moist places near the coast, Oregon 

 to Monterey County, California. May-July. Type locality: 

 Monterey. 



5. Aira caespitosa L. 

 Tufted Hair-grass. Fig. 2>72). 



Aira caespitosa L. Sp. PI. 64. 1753. 



Deschampsia caespitosa Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 91, 160. pi. IS. f. S. 



1812. 

 Deschampsia caespitosa confinis Vasey ; Beal, Grasses N. Am. 



2: 369. 1896. 



Perennial ; culms in dense tufts, erect, 60-120 cm. tall ; 

 sheaths smooth; blades flat or folded, scabrous above; 

 panicle loose, drooping, 10-20 cm. long, the slender 

 scabrous branches spikelet-bearing toward the ends ; 

 spikelets 4 mm. long, the florets distant, the rachilla half 

 the length of the lower sessile floret ; leminas smooth, 

 erose-truncate ; awn from near the base, but little 

 longer than tlie lemma, straight, articulate at the base, 

 deciduous. 



Bogs and wet places. Transition to Hudsonian Zones; of 

 northern America and Eurasia, south in the mountains to south- 

 ern California. July-Sept. Type locality, European. 



