288 POACE^. 



y-AT. Hookeri (Triu.) Vasey. Vilfa Hookeri Trin. Fund. 

 Agrost. 1:84 (1820). 



Blades of sterile shoots 6-15 cm. long, first glume 1.5 mm. 

 long, second 2-2.5 mm. long, floral glume 3.5-4 mm. long. 



Mississippi, U. S. Dept. Agricul. from Johnson. 



4. S. filiculmis (Thurb.) A^asey, Cat. Grasses U. S. 44 (1885). 

 Vilfa JiUcnlm is Thurb. 



A very slender tufted perennial, 15-20 cm. high, coming from 

 stout rootstocks. Some of the sheaths shorter than the internodes ; 

 ligule about 1 mm. long; blades of sterile shoots strongly involute, 

 recurved, 1-2 cm. long, those of the culm 3-4 in number, mucro- 

 nate. Panicle terminal, much exserted, narrow, spikelike, inter- 

 rupted, 2-5 cm. long. Empty glumes equal, 1-nerved, ovate-lance- 

 olate, 3 mm. long; floral glume thinly pubescent on the lower 

 half, lanceolate, cuspidate, 3-nerved, 4-4.5 mm. long; palea thinly 

 pubescent on the lower half, linear, nearly as long as its glume. 



New Mexico, Scribner, from Thurber, collected on tlie Whipple 

 expedition Sept. 1853. A note by Munro with specimen reads: 

 "A good species, very close to V. fastigiata, iM-incijiaWy differing 

 in size and having a hairy palea, in which respects it approaches 

 V. ctispidata." ^ 



Texas, New Mexico. 



5. S. brevifolius (Nutt.) Scribn. Mem. Torr. Club, 5:105 

 (1894). Agrostis Srevi/ofe Nutt. Gen. 1 : 44 (1818). Vilfa cus- 

 pidata Torr.; Hook. Flor. Bor. Am. 2: 238 (1840). *S'. cuspidatus 

 Wood, Am. Bot. & Flor. 385 (1871). 



A very slender nearly smooth branching perennial, 30-40 cm. 

 high, often with stout rootstocks. Sheaths two-thirds as long as 

 the internodes; ligule very short; blades not over 3-4 cm. long, 

 those of the culm 5-6 in number, erect, involute, filiform, 3-8 cm, 

 long. Panicle terminal, interrupted, partially included by the upper 

 sheath, consisting of 4-6 slightly overlapping spikelike branches. 

 2-5 cm. long, or in small plants reduced to a slender spike 3-5 cm. 

 long. Empty glumes subequal, 1-nerved, ovate-lanceolate, 1-2 

 mm. long, floret with a callus; floral glume dark brown, slightly 

 pubescent under a lens, lanceolate, 3-nerved, the lateral nerves ob- 



