MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 337 



flexuous, scabrous; spikelets pale, clustered toward the ends of the 

 branches; glumes acuminate, rather narrow and firm, somewhat 

 scabrous on the keel, the first about 3.5 mm long, the second a little 

 shorter; lemma acute, 2.5 mm long, 4-toothed, bearing from near the 

 base an exserted bent awn about 6 mm long; palea wanting. % — 

 Known only from Oregon (Multnomah and Hood River Counties). 

 25. Agrostis hiemalis (Walt.) B.S.P. Ticklegrass. (Fig. 686.) 

 Culms slender, usually tufted, 20 to 80 cm tall, leaves usually mostly 

 basal, the blades narrow or almost setaceous; panicle very diffuse, 

 as much as 30 cm long, the branches few, scabrous, long, stiff, and 

 capillary, bearing spikelets near the ends; glumes 1.5 to 2 mm long, 

 acute or acuminate; lemma two-thirds to three-fourths as long as 

 glumes, awnless or rarely awned; palea wanting. % (A. scabra 



Figure 685.— Agrostis howellii. Panicle, X 1; glumes and floret, X 5. (Type.) 



Willd.)— Meadows and moist open ground at low and medium alti- 

 tudes, in reduced forms extending into alpine regions, Newfoundland 

 to Alaska, south to Florida, California, and Mexico. At maturity the 

 panicle branches spread widely and the whole panicle breaks away and 

 rolls before the wind. Agrostis hiemalis var. geminata (Trim) 

 Hitchc. Branches of panicle short and divaricate; lemma awned or 

 awnless. The type specimen, from Alaska, is awned; a large number 

 of specimens over a wide range agree in other respects but are awn- 

 less. 91 — At high latitudes and altitudes, Newfoundland to 

 Alaska, south to New Hampshire, North Dakota, Colorado, and 

 California. 



26. Agrostis idahoensis Nash. Idaho redtop. (Fig. 687.) Culms 

 slender, tufted, 10 to 30 cm tall; leaves mostly basal, the blades nar- 

 row; panicle loosely spreading, 5 to 10 cm long, the branches capillary, 

 flexuous, minutely scabrous; spikelets 1.5 to 2 mm long; lemma about 

 1.3 mm long, awnless; palea minute. 01 —Mountain meadows, at 

 medium and high altitudes, western Montana to Washington, south 

 to New Mexico and the high mountains of California; Fairbanks, 

 Alaska (fig. 688). Differs from A. hiemalis in the narrower panicle 

 with shorter branches and smaller spikelets, 



