2 



plant from the type of SteudeFs Eragrostis fendleriana. It is a 

 member of the " tenuifolia " group and agrees with the type of Poa 

 secunda Presl, at least so far as the specimens in the National and 

 Gray Herbaria are concerned. Dr. Vasey in " Illustrations of North 

 American Grasses," Vol. 2, took up Steudel's specific name but still 

 confused that species with Munro's Sclerochloa californica and 

 figured a plant which seemingly does not belong to either and which 

 is certainly not typical of Poa fendleriana. 



Fendler's No. 932 seems to have been a mixture. There are two 

 sheets under this name in the Gray Herbarium. The larger speci- 

 men on one of the sheets and a smaller plant in an envelope agree 

 well with the specimen in the National Herbarium and with Steudel's 

 description. A smaller undeveloped plant on this sheet is apparently 

 the same as the larger specimen on the other sheet, which differs 

 from what is here taken to be the type of Poa fendleriana, in having 

 longer, narrower flowering glumes, which are rough-hispid on the back 

 between the nerves, and relatively broader flat leaves. The panicle 

 is also different. The smaller plant on this second sheet has a pani- 

 cle much like that of Poa bi'evipaniculata S. & W., but the leaves 

 and glumes are those of typical Poa fendleriana. A specimen in the 

 Herbarium of Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, to which 

 one of Fendler's labels is attached, is still different, belonging to an 

 entirely different section of the genus. 



The grasses of the fendleriana group are all conspicuous for their 

 tufted habit of growth and are more or less completely dioecious. 

 This latter character can not be satisfactorily studied in herbarium 

 material, and careful field studies are necessary before all the mem- 

 bers of the group can be properly understood. 



SYNOPSIS OF THE SPECIIES. 



1. Ligules usually 5-7 mm. long, acute or acuminate, decurrent, those of the 

 leaves of the sterile shoots conspicuous. P. longilignla. 



1. Ligules much shorter, rounded or truncate at the apex; those of the leaves of 



the sterile shoots reduced to a narrow band or fringe, or obsolete. 2. 



2. Panicle narrow and contracted. P. longipeduncidata. 



2. Panicle open. 3. 



3. Panicle short, subpyramidal ; lower internodes very short, exceeded by the 



sheaths; plants seldom reaching 3 dm. in height. 4. 



3. Panicle longer, usually 8 cm. or more in length; internodes longer, seldom 



exceeded by the sheaths ; plants usually 4-6 dm. in height. 5. 



4. Flowering ghimes oblong, leaves slender, rough. P. scahriuscula . 



4. Flowering glumes broadly ovate, leaves smoother, broader and more rigid. 



P. b re 1 nj mnicu la ta . 



5. Spikelets rather acute,/ ovate, 4-7-flowered ; leaf -blades hispi^-f nib e sceul o n 



the upper surface. -^'' '^^ - "' « ' P. fendleriana. 



5. Spikelets more obtuse, oblong to somewlL^t ovate, .j-!)flowered ; leaf -blades 



rough-hispid above, but not pubescent. -^ --..^^o >«^->-»*,Xw2_ P- eatoni. 



