1:6 Festuceae 



2. K. cristata pinetorum. Closely resembling the type in 

 babil and floral characters, bu1 the sheaths and l raves soft-pubes- 

 cent. I k~. cristata pubescent Vasey, not of Beauv.) 



Occasional in open pine forests. Wilson's Peak; San Bernardino Moun- 



Lto Mount B ■ 



29. MELICA L. Melic-gbass. 



Perennial ofteD tufted grasseswith usuallyflal Leaves 

 and contracted or open panicles. Spikelets 1 several- 

 flowered, often secund. The rachilla extended beyond 

 the flower.- and generally bearing 2-3 empty club-shaped 

 or hooded glumes, convolute around each other. Two 

 outer glumes empty, membranous, 3-5-nerved : flowering 

 glumes Larger, rounded on the back, 7 13-nerved, some- 

 times bearing an awn, the margins more or Less scari- 

 ous. Palea broad, shorter than the glume, 2-keeled. 

 Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Grain free, enclosed in the 

 palea and glume. 



1. M. imperfecta Trin. Culms slender, somewhat tufted, 3-10 



dm. high; sheaths exceeding the internodes; blades ii-7. flat or 

 becoming involute, usually glabrous or more or less scabrous, 

 15-20 cm. long, ahout 2 mm. wide; panicle 2-.'] dm. long, its 

 branches in remote clusters, unequal, the longer 5-7 cm. long; 

 spikelets scabrid l-Ho\vered, with an imperfect flower or rarely 

 2-flowered; empty glumes ovate or nearly so, the first ahout 3 

 mm. long, 3-nerved, second slightly longer, 5-nerved; flowering 

 glume about 4 mm. long, ovate, obtuse, 7-neived, often purplish; 

 palea nearly as long as its glume. 



Common on grassy slopes on the mesas and grassy hills. Maroh-May, 



2. M. imperfecta flexuosa Boland. Much resembling the 

 type in habit and foliage, but the branches of the panicle few- 

 flowered, generally in pairs, often reflexed ; spikelets larger, 



er, paler ami more coriaceous. 



Sail! ;i Mo 



:;. M. imperfecta minor Scribn. Usually densely tufted; 

 culms compressed "r angular; leave- mostly basal; branches of 



