GRASS FAMILY 111 



tightly rolled prophylluiii. The glumes are wantiDg and awn of the lemma 

 reduced, but the grain is larger than that of the spikelets in the terminal 

 intiorescence, being about the same length (1 line) but much thicker. The 

 prophyllum enclosing the spikelet is narrowly conical and readily disarticu- 

 lates from the plant at maturity. 



Open ground from middle and southern California to Arizona and northern 

 Mexico. Carmel Bay {Elmer 5085) and San Luis Obispo {Brewer 466) south- 

 ward, extending east to Kern Canon {Heller 7654) and The Needles {Chase 

 5792). 



Eefs. — MUHLENBERGI.\ MICR0SPERM.\ Trin. Gram. Unifl. 193. 1824 (by inference only) ; 

 Kunth, Rev. Gram. 1: 64. 1829. Tricliochloa microsperma DC. Cat. PI. Monsp. 151. 1813. 

 Uuhlenbtrgia debilis Trin. Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 4': 29.J. 1840; Thurb. in 

 Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 277. 1880; 4brams, Fl. Los Ang. 32. 1904. Podosaemum debile H.B.K. 

 Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 128. 1816. 



6. M. porteri Scribn. Perennial ; culms woody or persistent at base, numer- 

 ous, wirj^ widely spreading or ascending through bushes, scaljerulous, more or 

 less branched from all the nodes, 1 to 3 feet long or more; sheaths smooth, 

 spreading away from the branches, the prophyllum conspicuous; blades small, 

 flat, 1 to 2 inches long, early deciduous from the sheath ; panicles 2 to 4 inches 

 long, open, the slender branches and branchlets brittle, widely spreading, bear- 

 ing rather few. long-pediceled spikelets ; glumes narrow, acuminate, slightly 

 unequal, the second longer, about 1 line long; lemma purple, acuminate, 

 minutely pilose, II/j to 2 lines long, the awn about 3 lines long. 



Rocky deserts from southern California (San Felipe, San Diego Co., Parish 

 Bros. 1529) to Texas and northern Mexico. 



Ref. — MuHLEN'BERi;i.\ PORTERI Scribn. ; Real, Grasses N. .\ni. 2: 259. 1896. 



7. M, jonesii Hitchc. n. comb. Perennial ; culms cespitose, erect, slender, 

 about 1 foot high ; blades mostly basal, involute, flexuous, scabrous ; panicles 

 narrow, loose, 2 to 3 inches long; glumes equal, obtuse, toothed at apex, a 

 little more than % line long; lemma 2 lines long, acuminate, awn-pointed. 



Only known from northeastern California. 



Locs. — Mt. Shasta, Palmer 2640 in 1892; Warner Valley, Austin 1230; Silver Lake, Baker 

 4' Nutting; Prattville, Jones; French Meadows, Placer Co., Kennedy cj' Doten 408. 



Refs. — MUHLENBERGIA JONESII Hitchc. Sporobolus jonesii Vasey, Bot. Gaz. 6: 297. 1881, 

 type from Soda Springs, Jones in 1881. 



8. M. flUformis Rydb. Annual or sometimes apparently perennial, rather 

 soft and lax, spreading from a cluster of fibrous roots or with decumbent creep- 

 ing, apparentl.v perennial bases; culms capillary, a few inches to as much as a 

 foot high, often depauperate; blades fiat, usually less than an inch long; pani- 

 cles narrow, interrupted, few-flowered, an inch long or less; glumes ovate, 

 i/u line long; lemma lanceolate, acute, nuicronate, 1 line long, minutely pu- 

 bescent, scaberulous at tip. 



Mountain meadows from Siskiyou Co. {Butler 1768) south through the 

 Sierra Nevada to Sequoia Nat. Park {Hitchcock 3420), San Bernardino Mts, 

 {Parish 2101, 3293), and San Jacinto Mts. {Hall 2290) ; Washington to Mon- 

 tana and southward in the mountains to Arizona. 



Refs. — MUHLENBEROIA FILIFOBMIS Rydb. Bull. Torr. Club 32: 600. 190."). Vilfa depauprrata 

 Torr. var. fiUformis Thurb.; Wats. King's Expl. 376. 1871. V. graeilUma Thurb. in Wats. 

 Bot. Cal. 2: 268. 1880 (based upon two specimens. Sierra Nevada, Brewer, and Yosemite 

 Valley, Bolandrr), not Muhlenbergia gracillima Torr. 18.56. Sporobolus fiUformis Rydb. 

 Contr. Nat. Herb. 3: 189. 1895. 



9. M. repens Hitchc. n. comb. Perennial from wood.v crcei)ing rhizomes; 



