GRASS FAMILY 



191 



6. Melica spectabilis Scribn. 

 Showy Onion-grass. Fig. 435. 



Melica spectabilis Scribn. Proc. Acad. Phila. 1885: 45. 1885. 



Culms 30-100 cm. tall, bulbous at base ; panicle nar- 

 row, the branches appressed ; sheaths pubescent ; spikelets 

 purple-tinged. 10-15 mm. long. 4 or 5-flo\vered. the pedi- 

 cels slender, curved ; glumes broad and papery, shorter 

 than the lower lemma ; lemmas strongly 7-nerved. obtuse, 

 awnless. 



Rock>' or open woods and thickets, in the Arid Transition Zone; 

 Washington to Montana and Colorado, south to northwestern 

 California (Sherwood, Hitchcock). May-July. Type locality: 

 Colorado. 



7. Melica bella Piper. 



Onion-grass. Fig. 



436. 



Melica bella Piper, U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Circ. 27: 10. 

 1900. 



Culms 30-60 cm. tall, bulbous at base; sheaths and 

 blades glabrous or scabrous; panicle narrow, the 

 branches short and appressed; spikelets 10-15 mm. long, 

 papery with age ; glumes broad, the second 8 mm. long ; 

 lemmas obscurely nerved, obtuse or slightly emarginate, 

 awnless. 



Rocky woods and hills. Arid Transition Zone; Washington to 

 central California, east to Montana and Washington. May- 

 Aug. Type locality: "Upper Platte." 



Melica bella intonsa Piper, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 11: 128. 

 1906. Leaves softly pubescent. Washington to central Cali- 

 fornia and Nevada. Type locality: Wenas, Washington. 



8. Melica ftigax Boland 

 Small Onion-grass 



Fig. 437. 



Melica fugax Boland. Proc. Calif. Acad. 4: 104. 1870. 

 Melica fugax madophvlla Piper, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 

 11: 128. 1906. 



Culms 30-60 cm. tall, bulbous at base; sheaths 

 retrorsely scabrous ; blades scabrous, usually pu- 

 bescent beneath (glabrous in var. madophylla) ; 

 panicle narrow, open, the few lower branches 2-5 

 cm. long, stiffly spreading, few-flowered ; spike- 

 let about 6 mm. long, 2- or 3-flowered. usually 

 purple-tinged ; glumes broad, papery, the second 

 nearly as long as the lower lemma ; lemmas ob- 

 scurely nerved, obtuse or emarginate, awnless. 



Dry hills in the Arid Transition Zone; Washington to 

 central California (Lake Tahoe) and east to Nevada. June- 

 Aug. Type locality: Donner Lake, California. 



