154 GRAiJINEAE 



tlie keel above and sparingly on the back near margins; palea filiate on keels. 

 Sand dunes along the coast, northern California to Washington. Crescent 

 City, Davy d- Blasdale 5966. 



Rcf.— P0-\ M.iCRAXTHA Vaspy, Bull. Torr. Club 1.5: 11. ISSS. 



6. P. olneyae Piper. Perennial from creeping rhizomes; culms 1 to 2 feet 

 high; sheaths smooth, or slightly scabrous; ligule about 1 line long; blades 

 flat or folded, smooth on lower surface; panicle pyramidal, rather open, 1 to 

 4 inches long, the lower branches 2 or 3 in a cluster, about an inch long, ascend- 

 ing or spreading: glumes 2 lines long, acute: lemmas nearly smooth, sparingly 

 piibescent or scaberulous on keel and marginal nerves, not webbed, the inter- 

 mediate nerves faint. 



Alpine meadows, open woods, and rockj' banks in the Sierra Nevada and high 

 southern mountains; north to British Columbia and east to Montana. 



Locs.— Siskiyou Co., Butler 1318; Bierstadt Peak, Vavii 3228 in part; Webber Lake, Ken- 

 nedy 4- Doten 137; Truekee River, ^onne 4; Yosemite Nat. Park, Hall <;- BahcocTc 3.538, 3567^ 

 UitchcocTc 3278, 3319; Black Mts., Hall 4"- Chandler 610; Sequoia Nat. Park, Davidson 2109,. 

 Hitchcock 3438; Griffiu, Ventura Co., Elmer 3970; San Jacinto Mts., Seed 2496, WUdcr 913; 

 Fallbrook, Jones 3096. 



Ref.— POA OLNEYAE Piper, Erytlica 7: 101. 1S99. 



7. P. atropurpurea Scribn. Perennial from creeping rhizomes; culms 1 to 

 IVi; feet higli. slender; sheaths smooth; blades mostly basal, folded or in- 

 volute, firm, smooth on under surface, the uppermost culm-leaf below the mid- 

 dle; panicle narrow, contracted, almost spike-like, purple-tinged, 1 to 2 inches 

 long; spikelets IV2 to 2 lines long, turgid; glumes broad, less than 1 line long; 

 lemmas a little over 1 line long, broad, smooth, not webbed, the nerves faint. 



Only known from tlie San Bernardino Mts., Parish 2477, 2968, 3696. 

 Ref."— PoA ATROPUKPUKEA Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 11: 53. pi. 10. 1898, 

 type Parish 2968. 



8. P. compressa L. Canada Bluegkass. Perennial from creeping rhizomes ; 

 culms not tufted, geniculate-ascending, flattened, wiry, bluish green, 1/0 to iy2 

 feet high; panicle narrow, 1 to 3 inches long, the usually short branches in 

 pairs, spikelet-bearing to the base: spikelets crowded, subsessile, 3 to 

 6-flowered, 2 to 3 lines long; glumes about 1 line long, 3-nerved; lemmas firm, 

 obscurely nerved, 1 to I14 lines long, sparingly wel>bed at base, short-pubescent 

 below on keel and marginal nerves. 



Open ground, open woods, meadows and waste places throughout the U. S., 

 introduced from Europe. — Distinguished from P. pratensis in gross appearance 

 by the color and the scattered culms. 



Ref.— PoA compressa L. Sp. PI. 69. 1753. 



I). P. confinis Vasey. Perennial from creeping rhizomes; culms low, often 

 geniculate or ascending at base, usually less than 6 inches high ; sheaths and 

 involute blades smooth; panicle narrow, contracted, l^ to 1 inch long, tawny; 

 spikelets about 2 lines long; glumes unequal, the second l^i; lines long; lemmas 

 11,0 lines long, si-aberulous, sparsely wel)bed at base, the nerves faint. 



Sand dunes and sandy meadows near the coast. ]\Iendocino Co. (Congdon) to 

 Alaska. 



Ref.— PoA CONFINIS Vasey, U. S. Dept. .\gr. Div. Bot. Bull. 13=: pi. 75. 1893. 



10. P. kelloggii Vasey. Perennial from creeping rhizomes; culms 1 to 2 

 feet high, smonth. sheaths smooth, mostly basal; blades flat or folded, sca- 

 brous on upper surface ; panicle pyramidal, open, 3 to 6 inches lozig, the 

 branches mostly in I's or 2's, slender, spreading or reflexed, bearing a few 



