102 CONTRIBUTIONS FEOM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



on the back, at least below, acute or tapering into a straight awn, faintly 3 to 5-nerved, 

 not webbed at the base; stamens 3; styles very short, distinct; grain elongated, fur- 

 rowed, frequently adnate to the palea. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



Annuals or biennials. 



Spikelets loosely 1 to 5, rarely 6-flowered 1. F. pacijica. 



Spikelets densely 8 to 13-flowered 2. F. octo flora. 



Perennials. 



Glumes thin, the second 1-nerved, or 3-nerved only at the base; 



ligules long and acuminate 3. F. thurberi. 



Glumes firm, the second 3 to 5-nerved; ligules various. 



Plants low, less than 30 cm. high 4. F. brachyphylla. 



Plants tall, 60 cm. high or more. 



Leaf blades very narrow, filiform, involute, grayish 



green 5. F. arizonica. 



Leaf blades wide, flat, bright green. 



Spikelets narrowly oblong, 3 to 5-flowered 6. F. sororia. 



Spikelets ovate or oblong, 6 to 11-flowered 7. F. elatior. 



1. Festuca pacifica Piper, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: 12. 1906. 

 Type locality: Pullman, Washington. 



Range: British Columbia to California and New Mexico. 



New Mexico: Ledges of Gallinas River, near Las Vegas (Cockerell). Upper 

 Sonoran Zone. 



2. Festuca octoflora Walt. Fl. Carol. 81. 1788. 

 Festuca tenella Willd. Sp. PL 1: 419. 1797. 

 Type locality: Carolina. 



Range: Throughout most of temperate North America. 



New Mexico: Santa Fe; Farmington; Sierra Grande; Las Vegas; Mogollon Moun- 

 tains; Socorro; Organ Mountains; Roswell. Upper Sonoran Zone. 



3. Festuca thurberi Vasey in Wheeler, Rep. U. S. Surv. 100th Merid. 6: 292. pi. 29. 



1879. 

 Festuca scabrella vaseyana Hack.; Beal, Grasses N. Amer. 2: 603. 1896. 

 Type locality: Twin Lakes, Colorado. 

 Range: Wyoming to northern New Mexico. 



New Mexico : Beattys Cabin ; Sandia Mountains ; Baldy . Meadows, in the Canadian 

 Zone. 



4. Festuca brachyphylla Schult. Mant. 3: 646. 1827. 



Festuca brevifolia R. Br. Suppl. App. Parry's Voy. 188. 1824, not Muhl. 1817. 

 Festuca ovina brevifolia S. Wats, in King, Geol. Expl. 40th Par. 5: 389. 1871. 

 Type locality: Melville Island. 



Range: British America to New Mexico and Vermont. 



New Mexico: Las Vegas Range; Winsors Ranch; Truchas Peak; Baldy; Albu- 

 querque. Meadows, in the Hudsonian and Arctic-Alpine zones. 



5. Festuca arizonica Vasey, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 1: 277. 1893. 



Arizona fescue. 



Type locality: Near Flagstaff, Arizona. 



Range: Utah and Colorado to Arizona and New Mexico. 



New Mexico: Sierra Grande; Raton Mountains; Chama; Grants Station; Winsors 

 Ranch; Trout Spring; Johnsons Mesa; Rio Pueblo; San Lorenzo; West Fork of the 

 Gila; White Mountains. Open slopes, in the Canadian Zone. 



