126 GRAJIINEAE 



cent: panicle about an inch hmg and nearly as thick: ghimes very narrow, 5 

 lines long. 



Berkeley, Davy 734; Pacific Grove. HcUer 6701. 



Ref, — Lagurus ovatus L. Sp. PI. 81. 17.5.3. 



Tribe VI. AVENEAE. 

 29. NOTHOLCUS Nash, gen. nov. 

 Spikelets 2-flo'\vered. articulated below the glumes, in contracted panicles, the 

 lower floret perfect, awnless. the upper staminate, awned. Glumes thin, sub- 

 equal, compressed, boat-shaped, longer than the florets. Lemmas somewhat 

 indurated, boat-shaped. Palea thin, nearly as long as lemma. Perennials with 

 flat blades and terminal panicles. — iSpecies about 8. Europe and Africa. (Greek 

 nothos. false, and Holcus. the generic name usually applied to this group.) — 

 (Spiculae 2-florae. infra glumas articulatae. Flosculus inferior hermaphro- 

 ditus, mutieus; superior niasculus. aristatus. Glumae membranaceae. sub- 

 aequales. compressae, naviculiformes. floseulis lougiores. Lemmata duriuseula, 

 naviculiformia. Palea membranaeea, fere lemmate aequilonga. — Gramineae 

 perenues, foliis planis et panieulis terminalibus.) 



The name Holcus being applied to the genus Sorghum, with the type, H. snrfilmin, the above 

 geuus, Holcus of most recent authors, with the type Hoh'ua laitatus L., must receive a new name. 

 The section Eoinalachna Benth. Sc Hook. (Gen. PI. 3: 11.59. 1883), raised to the rank of a genus 

 by Post & Kuntze (Lex. Gen. Phan. 283. 1903) includes two species of the Mediterranean 

 region, in which both florets are perfect and awned, and is probably not congeneric with 

 Notholcus. Ginannia Bub. (Fl. Pyr. 4: 321. 1901) is a homonym, according to Dalle Torre 

 and Harms (Gen. Siphon.) the name having been used by Seopoli (Introd. 300. 1777) and by 

 Dietrich (Vollst. Lex. Gaertn. 4: 357. 1804). 



1. N. lanatus Nash, n. eomb. Velvet-gr\ss. Plant grayish, velvety- 

 pubescent; culms erect, 1 to 2 feet high; panicle 2 to i inches long, narrow, 

 contracted, sometimes almost spike-like, purple-tinged; spikelets 2 lines long; 

 glumes villous, hirsute on the nerves, the second broader than the first, 3- 

 nerved; lenunas ciliate at the apex; awn of the second tloret hook-like. 



A native of Europe, occasionall.y cultivated as a meadow grass in the U. S. 

 and abundantly introduced or escaped on the Pacific Coast, especially in the 

 Coast Ranges. 



Refs. — Notholcus lanatus Nash. Holms Jaudtns L. Sp. PI. 1048. 175.3; Thurb. in Wats. 

 Hot. Cal. 2: 299. 1880; Davy in Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 49. 1901; .\brams, Fl. Los Ang. 

 38. 1904. 



30. AIRA L. 



Spikelets 2-flowered. both flowers perfect, articulated below the glumes, in 

 open or contracted panicles. Glumes thin, somewhat searious, subequal. acute, 

 awnless, longer than the approximate florets. Lemmas bidentate. awned on the 

 back, or the lower awnless. Palea a little shorter than the lemma. Delicate 

 annuals. — Species about 6, Europe and North Africa, introduced in the U. S. 

 (An ancient Greek name used by Theophrastus for a weedy grass, probably 

 Lolium temulentum.) 



Awns of both florets IY2 to 2 lines long 1. A. caryophyllea. 



Awn of lower floret minute or wanting 2. A. rapillaris. 



1. A. caryophyllea L. Culms solitary or few. slender, erect. 4 to 12 inches 

 high; blades short, setaceous; panicle open, the silvery shining spikelets IV2 

 lines long, clustered toward the ends of the spreading capillary branches; 

 lemma of both florets with a geniculate awn 2 lines long from below the middle, 

 the teeth of the apex setaceous. 



