I 



4. POA CURTIFOLIA Scribn., sp. nov. 



A sleuder, densely ciespitose, uprig-ht perennial 1-H dm. high, with short, but 

 strong, creeping root-stocks, flat leaves and narrow panicles 4-8 cm. long. 

 Sheaths rather loose, glabrous; ligule 8-5 mm. long, lanceolate, hyaline, 

 acute: leaf blades 1-4 cm. long, those of the culm usually 1-2 cm. long, 2-3 

 mm. wide, scabrous on both sides and along the margins, especially near 

 the involute and somewhat hooded apex, uppermost leaf often very short or 

 nearly wanting. Spikelets about H mm. long, 8-")-flowered. usually :$-flower- 

 ed; empty glumes broadly lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved nearly eciual, the first 

 .")-() mm. long: florets rather remote on a slender, naked rachilla; first flow- 

 ering glume, about mm. long, broadly lanceolate or oblong, acute, 5-nerved, 

 glabrous. Palea a little shorter than its glume, ciliate-scabrous along the 

 keels excepting near the base. Mount Stuart, Kittitas County, "Washington, 

 August, 1S98, Nos. 1148 and 1150 A. D. E. Elmer. 



This species is remarkable for its short, blunt leaves resembling those of the Poa 

 alpina, from which, however, it is at once distinguished by the characters 

 presented by its spikelets. 



5. DACTYLOCTENIUM AUSTRALIENSE Scribn.. sp. nov. (Fig. 2.) 



A ca?spito.se, difliusely spreading, more or less branching annual, 1.5-2 dm. high, 

 with short, loose sheaths, flat leaves, and short spikes at the apex of the culm 

 or its branches. Culm and sheaths glabrous. Ligule short, ciliate- fringed; 

 leaf -blade 5-10 cm. long, flat, acute, ciliate on the margins near the base, 

 with a few scattering hairs on both surfaces springing from white papillae. 

 Spikes 3-6, 0.5-1 cm. long, densely crowded so that the inflorescence appears 

 capitate. Axis of the spikelets projecting a little beyond them, strongly 

 ciliate-scabrous on the keel and margins, which are white— the intermediate 

 space on either side being green. Spikelets 2-3-flowered, about 4 mm. long. 

 Second empty glume oblong, broadly obtuse, with a scabrous awn about 

 1 mm. long. First flowering glume about 3 mm. long, 3-nerved, strongly 

 keeled scabrous toward the apex, which is shortly acuminate-pointed. 



Cultivated from seed collected in Ooduodatta, South Australia, received from 

 A. Molineaux. 



Chiefly distinguished from Dactyloctenium cpgyptiacum by its more caespitose 

 and more depressed habit of growth, and especially by its much shorter 

 spikes, which are crowded into nearly globular heads at the apex of the 

 culms. The whole plant is also more slender and the axes of the spikes are 

 distinctly winged-margined. 



6. PANICUM OVINUM Scribn. and Smith, sp. nov. 



A slender, erect or ascending, csespitose perennial, 3-4 dm. high. Nodes 4 or 5, 

 glabrous, sheaths closely enveloping and shorter than the internodes, ciliate 

 on the overlapping margins above, otherwise smooth. Ligule a line of white 

 hairs about 1 mm. long. Culm leaves rather rigid, linear-acuminate, 7-9 cm. 

 long, 2-4 mm. wide, ascending, glabroLis beneath, scabrous on the margins 

 toward the apex, closely striate, but without prominent lateral nerves or 

 midrib except at the base below, basal leaves lanceolate, acute, 4-5 cm. 

 long, 6-8 mm. wide. Panicles terminal, 5-8 cm. long, shortly ex.serted, few- 

 flowered ; branches flexuous, single or in pairs, ascending ; pedicels widely 

 varying in length. Spikelets about 2 mm. long, elliptical-obovate, obtuse; 

 first empty glume less than one fourth the length of the spikelet, broadly 

 ovate, obtuse, glabrous; second and third glumes obovate, obtuse, promi- 

 nently 7-nerved and minutely pubescent between the nerves. Flowering 

 glumes nearly 2 mm. long, elliptical, ovate, obtuse, with a conspicuous 

 depression near the base. 



