130 GRAMINEAE 



smooth or puberuleut ; sheaths and usually the blades puberulent ; pauiele 

 dense and spike-like, pale or often dark-purple, 2 to 6 inches long ; spikelets 2 

 to 3 lines long; glumes somewhat unequal in length, smooth except the keels, 

 the first narrow, acuminate, 1-nerved, the second broader, 3-nerved, acute; 

 lemmas scaV)erulous, 214 lines long, the first longer than the glumes, the teeth 

 setaceous; awns geniculate, esserted. 



A characteristic grass of high altitudes in the Sierra Nevada, especially above 

 timber-line, found up to the limit of vegetation; extends from arctic regions of 

 the northern hemisphere southward in the higher mountains to the southern 

 hemisphere. 



Refs.— Tbisktum spicatum Richter, PI. Eur. 1: 59. 1890. Aira ssio'ta h. Sp. PI. 64. 17.53. 

 Trisetum siibspiratum Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 88. 1812; Thurb. in Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 296. 1880. 

 Aira suhsiiicaia L. Syst. Veg. ed. 10. 2: 873. 1759. Trixetum subspicatitm Beauv. var. molle 

 Gray, Man. ed. 2. 572. 1856; Tburb. in Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 296. 1880. 



5. T. congdoni Scribn. & Merr. Resembling T. spicatum, but differing in 

 having smooth sheaths and blades, the latter usually flat but sometimes involute, 

 and in having wider panicles and larger spikelets, about 4 lines long. 



Meadows and slopes above timber-line. Sierra Nevada. 



Loos. — Mt. Shasta, Copcland 3895, Hitchcocic 2935; Conner Pass, Heller 7117; Lake Tahoe, 

 Hall 4- Chandler 4676; Pyramid Peak, Hall # Chandler 4715; Yosemite Nat. Park, Hitchcock 

 3260, 3270, 3271, 3312; Sequoia Nat. Park, Coville # Fuiiston 1495, Grant 5339, Hall <J- 

 Babcock 5512, 5678, Hitchcock 3390, Furpiis 5116. 



Ref.— Trisetum congdoni Scribn. & Merr. Bull. Torr. Club 29: 470. 1902, type from 

 Shadow Lake Trail, Congdon in 1899. 



33. SPHENOPHOLIS Scribn. 



Spikelets 2 to 3-flowered, articulated below the glumes, in narrow panicles. 

 Glumes about equal in length, often dissimilar in shape, the first narrow, the 

 second often obovate, becoming subcoriaceous in fruit, 3-nerved. Rachilla pro- 

 longed behind the uppermcst floret as a slender pedicel. Lemma chartaceous, 

 awnless or awned below the summit, the nerves obscure. Slender perennials. — 

 Species about 6, all North American. (Greek sphen, a wedge, and pholis, a 

 scale.) 



1. S. obtusata Scribn. var. lobata Scribn. Culms erect, 1 to 2 feet high; 

 sheaths and blades scabrous; panicle narrow and compact, often spike-like, 

 more or less interrupted or lobed especially near base, 2 to 4 inches long; 

 glumes subequal, the second subcucullate, the broad chai-taceous margins 

 smooth and shining. 



Prairies and open woods throughout U. S. and extending into Canada and 

 Mexico. Rare in California. 



Loes. — Amador Co., Hansen 615; Santa Ana River, Parish Bros. 1640; Sau Bernardino, 

 Parish in 1891; Murray Canon, Wilder 1128. 



Refs. — SPHENOPHOLIS OBTUSATA Scribn. var. lobata Seribn. Rhodora 8 : 144. 1906. Trise- 

 tum lobatum Trin. Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. VI. Math. Phys. Nat. 1: 66. 1830. Eatonia 

 obtusata Gray, Man. ed. 2. 558. 1856; Thurb. in Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 302. 1880. Eatonia Raf. 

 is a synonym of Panicum. 



34. KOELERIA Pers. 



Spikelets 2 to 4-flowered, in narrow spike-like panicles. Glumes unequal, 

 slightly shorter thau the florets, membranaceous, acute, the first 1-nerved, the 

 second 3-nerved. Rachilla prolonged behind the uppermost floret as a naked 

 pedicel. Lemmas chartaceous- membranaceous, the margins scarious, faintly 

 3 to 5-nerved, acute or mucronate or awned. Tufted annuals or perennials. — 

 Species about 50, temperate regions, mostly of the Old World. (Prof. G. L. 

 Koeler. an early writer on grasses.) 



