GRASS FAMILY 



189 



57. MELICA L. Sp. PI. 66. 1753. 



Spikclets 2 to several-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above tlic glumes and pro- 

 longed beyond the perfect florets and bearing at the apex 2 or 3 gradually smaller empty 

 lemmas, convolute together or the upper inclosed in the lower; glumes somewhat unequal, 

 thin, often papery, scarious-margined, obtuse or acute, 3-5-nerved, sometimes nearly as 

 long as the lower floret ; lemmas convex, several-nerved, membranaceous or rather firm, 

 sccirious-margined, sometimes conspicuously so, awnless or sometimes awned from between 

 the teeth of the bifid apex. Moderately tall perennials, with the base of the culm often 

 swollen into a corm, closed sheaths, usually flat blades, narrow or sometimes open, usually 

 simple panicles. [An Italian name for sorghum, from the Greek, ntel, honey. J 

 Species about 60 in the cooler parts of the world. Type species, Melica nutans L. 



Spikelets narrow; glumes usually narrow, scarious-margined; sterile lemmas similar to the fertile, the latter 

 acute or awned. cSection Bromelica.) 

 Lemmas long-awned from a bifid apex. 



Branches of panicle few, distant, spreading, naked on the lower half. 1. M. smithii. 



Branches of panicle short, appressed, spikelet-bearing from near the liase. 2. M. aristata. 



Lemmas awnless or nearly so. 



Culms not bulbous at base; lemmas mucronate. 3. M. harfordii. 



Culms bulbous at base; lemmas acute or acuminate. 



Lemmas acuminate, usually pilose; panicle narrow, the branches short, usually appressed, some- 

 times spreading. 4. M. subiilata. 

 Lemmas narrowed to an obtuse or obscurely bifid apex, not pilose; panicle broad, the branches 

 long and spreading. 5. M. geyeri. 

 Spikelets broad; glumes broad and papery; st'.rile lemmas small and convolute, more or less hidden in the 

 upper fertile lemmas. 

 Culms bulbous at base. 



Pedicels capillary, flexuous or recurved. 6. M. spectabilis. 



Pedicels stouter, appressed. 



Panicle narrow; branches short, erect. 7. M. bella. 



Panicle open; branches spreading. 



First glume about 3 mm. long. 8. M. fugax. 



First glume about 8 mm. long. 9. M. inftata. 



C-^lms not distinctly bulbous at base (somewhat bulbous in M. bulbosa) . 



Spikelets large, 'reflexed. 10. M, stricta. 



Spikelets smaller, not reflexed. 



Fertile florets 3 or 4 in each spikelet; spikelets 10-12 mm. long. 



Spikelets silvery white; glumes about as long as spikelet; plant tall and somewhat woody. 



11. M. frutesccns. 

 Spikelets tawny or purplish; glumes shorter than spikelet; plant lower, herbaceous. 



12. M. bulbosa. 

 Fertile florets 1 or 2 in each spikelet; spikelets 4-6 mm. long. 



Fertile lemmas pubescent. 

 Fertile lemmas glabrous. 



1. Melica smithii (Porter) Vasey. 

 Smith's Alelica. Fig. 430. 



Aveiia smithii Porter; A. Gray, Man. ed. 5. 640. 1867. 

 P^elica smithii Vasey, Bull. Torrey Club 15: 294. 1888. 

 Melica retrofracta Suksdorf, Deutsch. Bot. Monatschr. 19: 92. 



1901. 

 Bromelica smithii Farw. Rhodora 21: 77. 1919. 



Culms slender, 60-120 cm. tall ; sheaths retrorsely 

 scabrous: blades flat, lax, scabrous. 10-20 cm. long, 

 6-12 mm. wide : panicle 12-25 cm. long, the branches 

 solitary, distant, spreading, naked below ; spikelets 3-6- 

 flowered. 18-20 mm. long, sometimes purplish ; gkunes 

 acute ; lemmas glabrous, about 10 mm. long, awned, the 

 awn 3-5 mm. long. 



Moist woodlands, Washington and Oregon to northern Mich- 

 igan. July. Type locality: Lake Superior region. 



13. M. torreyana. 



14. M. imperfecta. 



2. Melica aristata Thurb. 

 Awned Melica. Fig. 431. 



Melica aristata Thurb.; Boland. Proc. Calif. Acad. 4: 103. 



1870. 

 Bromelica aristata Farw. Rhodora 21: 77. 1919. 



Culms erect or decumbent below, not bulljous at 

 at base, smooth, 60-100 cm. tall ; sheaths scabrous 

 or pubescent; blades flat, more or less pubescent; 

 panicle narrow, the branches short and appressed ; 

 glumes narrow, 5-nerved, 10-12 mm. long; lemmas 

 5-nerved, scabrous, bifid at apex, awned, the awn 

 6-10 mm. long. 



Dry woods, slopes, and meadows, Washington, and south- 

 ward in the Sierra Nevada to Fresno County. June-Aug. 

 Type locality: Clark's (now Wawona), California. 



