28 



12. BROMTJS RUBENS L. Cent. PI. 1: 5. 1755. Festucn ruheux 'PtTi'. Syn. PI. 1: 



94. 1805. (Fig. 12.) 

 A rather slender, tufted annual. Culm about 2-5 dm. high, erect or slightly genic- 

 ulate at the base, puberulent toward the top. Sheaths pubescent, ligule 1-2 

 mm. long, laciniate-dentate; blades 3-15 cm. long, linear-lanceolate, pubescent 

 both sides. Panicle erect, compact, ovoid, usually purplish, about 4-7 cm. long. 

 Spikelets mostly 7-11-flowered, 2-2.5 cm. long; empty glumes acuminate, smooth 

 to scabrous, pubescent, the lowei- narrow, 1-nerved, 7-9 mm. long, the upper 

 broader, 3-nerved, 10-12 mm. long; flowering glume 13-16 mm. long, lanceolate 

 acute, 5-nerved, scabrous to appressed, scabrous-pubescent, somewhat bent out- 

 ward when mature, apex deeply cleft into two long-acuminate hyaline teeth 4-5 mm. 



long; axon straight, 18-21 mm. long; 

 palea reaching about to the point 

 of insertion of the awn, longciliate- 

 pectinate on the keels. 

 A species from the Mediterranean re- 

 gion of Europe introduced on the 

 Pacific coast and reported by Beal 

 as being found in Kansas. A sin- 

 gle specimen has been seen from 

 the Atlantic coast on wool waste 

 near Boston, Mass. 

 Specimens examined. — California, : Vol- 

 cano, Amador County (George 

 Hansen 2078 ) ; near Santa Ana ( A. 

 Davidson 1973) ; Santa Catalina 

 Island (Blanche Trask 12; T. A. 

 Brandegee); Berkeley (J. AV. 

 Blankiuship 36); Capay (J. W. 

 Blankinship 37) . Oregon: Gilliam 

 County (J. B. Leiberg 163) . Massa- 

 chusetts: N. Billerica(C. W. Swan). 

 This species is closely related to B. 

 madritensis, but is smaller through- 

 out and has a more compact panicle. 



13. BROMUS STERILIS L. Sp. PL 



1: 77. 1753. Scliedonorus sterilis 



Fr. Summ. Veg. Scand. 1: 76. 



1846-49. (Fig. 13.) 



An annual or biennial with rather 



stout, smooth, erect or ascending 



culms, 5-10 dm. high, more or less 



geniculate or curved at the base. 



Sheaths mostly pubescent; ligule 



1-1.5 mm. long, laciniate; blades broadly linear, usually pubescent throughout. 



Panicle i-;? f?»i. long, broad, lax, drooping ; lower branches 2-0, loiig and slender, 



rarely bearing more than one spikelet. Spikelets drooping, 2.5-3.5 cm. long, 6-10- 



flowered, linear-elliptical before flowering, becoming oblong and enlarged upward 



during flowering, and finally oblong-cuneiform with flattened sides and subdis- 



tant florets; empty glumes lanceolate-subulate, smooth ar scabrous, the lower 



1-nerved, 7-9 mm. long, the upper 3-nerved, 11-13 mm. long; flowering glume 



linear-lanceolate, 5-7-nerved, 17-20 mm. long, scabrous or scabrous-puberulent, 



deeply bidentate; teeth hyaline, subulate, about 2 mm. long; awn stout, tapering, 



very rough, 2-3 cm. long; palea considerably shorter than its glume. 



Fig. 12. — Bromusrubens: n, empty glumes; 6, portion 

 of a spikelet showing flowering glume with portion of 

 the awn, also the palea. 



