182 



POACEAE 



50. ORCUTTIA Vasey, Bull. Torrey Club 13: 219. pi. 60. 1886. 



Spikelets several-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes and between 

 the florets, the upper florets reduced; glumes nearly equal, shorter than the lemmas, 

 broad, irregularly 2-5-toothed, many-nerved, the nerves extending into the teeth ; lemmas 

 similar to the glumes, prominently 13-15-nerved, the broad summit with 5 long teeth or 

 with numerous short teeth; palea broad, 2-nerved, as long as the lemma. Low cespitose 

 annuals with short blades and terminal racemes, the upper spikelets aggregate, the lower 

 more or less remote. [Named for C. R. Orcutt, a botanist of San Diego.] 

 Species 2, California and Lower California. Type species, Orcnttia californica Vasey. 



I emmas toothed- blades pilose on the upper surface; glumes and lemmas sparsely long-pilose and somewhat 

 ,.o.,;ii^=» 1. O. greenei. 



papillose. 

 Lemmas several-awned; blades and spikelets not pilose 



gr 

 2. O. californica. 



1. Orcuttia greenei Vasey. 



Awnless Orcutt Grass. 



Fig. 



414. 



Orcnttia greenei Vasey, Bot. Gaz. 16: 146. 1891. 



Culms 15-20 cm. tall, scabrous or appressed- 

 pilose, especially at the nodes ; sheaths finely 

 papillose, shorter than the internodes. the ligule 

 very short; blades 2-3 cm. long, pilose on the 

 upper surface, inrolled ; raceme 3-7 cm. long, pale; 

 glumes and lemmas sparsely long-pilose and more 

 or less papillose, the glumes 4 mm. long, the lem- 

 mas 6 mm. long, the obtuse or truncate tip several- 

 toothed, the teeth mucronate but not awned. 



Only known from the type collection, "Moist plains of 

 the upper Sacramento, near Chico, California, June, 1890, 

 by Prof. E. L. Greene." 



2. Orcuttia californica Vasey. 

 Orcutt Grass. Fig. 415. 



Orcuttia californica Vasey, Bull. Torrey Club 13: 219. pi. 60. 

 1886. 



Culms 5-10 cm. tall, erect, smooth; sheaths and 

 blades smooth, the latter 1-2 cm. long, mostly basal; 

 raceme 2-6 cm. long, the spikelets distant below, con- 

 tiguous above; spikelets appressed, about 1 cm. 

 long; glumes 4-5 mm. long; lemmas 5 mm. long, 

 strongly nerved, 5-toothed, the teeth acuminate, awn- 

 tipped, rigid. 



Only known from two collections, the type collection from 

 San Quentin Bay, Lower California (Orcntt) and Goose Valley, 

 Shasta County (Eastwood). June-July. 



51. ARUNDO L. Sp. Pi. 81. 1753. 



Spikelets several-flowered, the rachilla glabrous, disarticulating above the glutries and 

 between the florets ; glumes somewhat unequal, membranaceous, 3-nerved, narrow, taper- 

 ing into a slender point, about as long as the spikelet ; lemmas thin, 3-nerved, densely long- 

 pilose, gradually narrowed at the summit, the nerves ending in slender teeth, the middle 

 one longer and extending into a straight awn. Tall perennial reeds with broad blades and 

 large plume-like terminal panicles. [An ancient Latin name.] 



Species about 6 in the warmer parts of the Old World, one introduced in America. Type species, 

 Arundo dona.v L. 



