250 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vou51. 



they took special occasion to reinvestigate this "Hypnum Jiaydenii" 

 the type being sent them for this purpose. Their conclusion regard- 

 ing it is as follows : * 



We are satisfied that it is not a moss, and Dr. L. M. Underwood, of Columbia Uni- 

 versity, has expressed his opinion that it can not be a Lycopodium. The closest com- 

 parisons which we have been able to make are with certain conifers, especially with 

 forms of Juniperus communis L., in wliich the young growing branchlets often present 

 a striking similarity in general appearance to tliis specimen. 



It is on the basis of the above statement that it is referred tenta- 

 tively to Juniperus, with the frank admission that it does not agree 

 very clearly with the well-known forms of this genus, since it can 

 not be referred either to the Musci or to the Lycopodiaceae. It is 

 quite well marked and will be easily recognized should it be found 

 again. 



MUHLENBERGIA FLORISSANTI. new species. 



Plate 13, figa. 1-3. 



In the Hambach collection several beautifully preserved spikelets 

 of a grass were found. Thoy were shown to ^Ii's. Agnes Chase, the 

 well-known gi-aminologist, who recognized at once their reference to 

 the genus MiMenehergia. Mi's. Chase kindly consented to prepare 

 brief notes and measurements from which the following characteriza- 

 tion is compiled: 



Stems and leaves unknown; axis of inflorescence not well defined; 

 spikelets borne on pedicels about 1.5 mm. long, the body of the 

 spikelet being spindle-shaped, about 2.8 mm. long, and 0.6 to 0.7 

 mm. wide; awn slender, 2 to 3 times as long as the body, being fully 

 7 nun. long. In one of the specimens [34,751] in which there are 

 fewer, more scattered spikelets, some of the florets have apparently 

 faUen from their glumes, the body of the floret being about 2 mm. 

 long. 



Type.— C&t. Nos. 34,750 [=fig. 1]; 34,751 [=fig. 3], U.S.N.M. 



These specimens happen to be preserved on very fine-grained 

 shale with the result that they are retained with a great degree of 

 fidehty. They consist simply of little groups of spikelets broken 

 from the panicle or inflorescence, and they exhibit no trace of the 

 axis to which they were attached. The figures, of which figure 1 is 

 nearly natural size and figures 2 and 3 are multiphed 3 times, give an 

 excellent idea of the characters. 



This species appears to be very near to the living Muhlenhergia 

 porteri Scribner, a species ranging from Colorado and western Texas 

 to CaUfornia and Mexico. This species, known as the mesquite grass, 

 is especially common in many parts of New Mexico, where it almost 

 always grows in the shade of mesquite bushes. It has slender, lax 

 stems and open spreading panicles. 



» Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, vol. 34, 1907, p. 140. 



