GRASS FA^IILY 



241 



3. Agropyron repens (L.) Beauv. 

 Ouack Grass. 



Fig. 569. 



Tr'tticuin rcfcns L. Sp. PI. 86. 1753. 



Agropyron re fens Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 102, 146. 1812. 



Culms 60-120 cm. tall, from a bright yellow-green 

 creeping scaly rhizome ; blades thin, flat, usually 

 sparsely pilose above; spike 5-15 cm. long; spikelets 

 about 5-flowered, 10-14 mm. long ; glumes 8-10 mm. 

 long, acuminate or awn-pointed, strongly nerved; 

 lemmas 10 mm. long, glabrous or scabrous, strongly 

 nerved, pointed or awned. 



A common and troublesome weed in the eastern United 

 States, rare on the Pacific Coast; introduced from Europe; 

 Washington, Oregon (Garibaldi, Hitchcock : Menomonei, Siiks- 

 dorf) , California (San Francisco, Botander). June-Aug. Type 

 locality, European. 



5. Agropyron smithii Rydb. 



4. Agropyron elmeri Scribn. 

 Elmer's Wheat-grass. Fig. 570. 



Agropvron elmeri Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div Agrost. 

 Bull. 11: 54. pi. 12. 1898. 



Culms erect, smooth, 60-120 cm. tall, with 



numerous pale creeping rhizomes ; sheaths smooth ; 



blades flat, becoming involute, smooth beneath, 



scabrous or scabrous-puberulent above, rather 



stiff and firm, 15-30 cm. long, the upper shorter, 



2-8 mm. wide; spike 15-30 cm. long, erect or 



nodding, the spikelets usually not reaching the one 



above on the same side ; spikelets about 7-flowered, 



pale, usually 2-2.5 mm. long, sometimes 2 at a 



node; glumes narrow, firm, acuminate, scabrous 



or puberulent. about 1 cm. long; lemmas 12-15 mm. 



long, villous or puberulent, sometimes only toward 



the base. 



Sandy soil, in the Upper Sonoran Zone; eastern Wash- 

 ington and Oregon. June-July. Type locality: Wawawai, 

 Washington. 



Western Wheat-grass. Fig. 571. 



Agropyron glaiiciim occidentale Scribn. Trans. Kans. 



Acad. 9: 119. 1885. 

 Agropvron smithii Rydb. Mem. N. Y. Bet. Card. 1: 64. 



Feb. 1900. 

 Agropyron occidentale Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. 



Agrost. Circ. 27: 9. Dec. 1900. 



Plant usually glaucous, from gray or tawny 

 creeping scaly rhizomes ; culms 30-150 cm. tall, 

 rigid: blades bluish green, scabrous, firm, 

 striate, becoming involute ; spikelets 7-13- 

 flowered. somewhat distant, glabrous or nearly 

 so, acute, compressed, divergent, sometimes in 

 pairs ; glumes acuminate, half to two-thirds as 

 long as the spikelet, the nerves usually faint ; 

 lemmas mucronate or awn-pointed, hard, faintly 

 nerved. 



Dry, especially alkaline soil, in the Transition and 

 Upper Sonoran Zones; eastern Washington to north- 

 eastern California (Smoke Creek, Griffiths and Hunter), 

 east to Michigan and Kansas. June-Aug. Type lo- 

 cality: "Upper Missouri." 



Agropyron smithii moUe (Scribn. & Smith) Jones, 

 Contr. West. Hot. 14: 18. 1912. 



Agropyron spicatum niolle Scribn. & Smith U. S. 

 Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 4: 33. 1897. 



Agropyron occidentale molle Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Circ. 27: 9. 1900. 



Agropyron molle Rydb. Mem. N. Y. Bot. Card. 1: 65. 1900. Differs from A. smithii chiefly in having 

 pubescent lemmas. Eastern Washington to Alberta, south to Arizona. Type locality: not definitely indicated. 



