FESTUCE.E. 479 



the keels finely ciliate. Grain ovoid, compressed, 0.5-0.6 mm, 

 long. Distributed us E. Priiujhi Scribn. 



Mexico, Pringle 333-4, on the sandy plains of Jalisco. 



3. E. pallida Vasey, Contrib. U. S. Nat. Herb. 1:285 (1893). 

 An erect or spreading sparingly branched annual, 30-50 cm. 



high. Sheaths 3, nearly smooth, shorter than the internodes; lig- 

 ule very short; blades scabrid on both sides, flat, 8-12 cm. long, 3-5 

 mm. wide. Panicle spikelike, interrupted below, light-colored, 

 15-20 cm. long, rays often densely clustered, flower-bearing to the 

 base, 3-5 cm. long. Spikelets on short pedicels, ovate or ovate- 

 lanceolate, slightly compressed, 1.5-2.3 mm. long, 4-7-flowered; 

 empty glumes 1-nerved, oval, obtuse or acute, first 0.6 mm. long, 

 second 0.8-0.9 mm. long; floral glume ovate or oval, acute or ob- 

 tuse, 1.1-1.2 mm. long, lateral nerves less than the length of the 

 glume: jxilea about 0.9 mm. long. 



Nearly allied to E. alba Presl. 



Mexico (State of Colima), Palmer 1268. 



4. E. ciliaris (L.) Link, Hort. Berol. 1: 192 (1827). Poa cili- 

 aris L. Sp. PI. Ed. 2:102 (1762). Megastacliya ciliaris Beauv. 

 Agrost. 74 (1812). Poa elegans Poir. Lam. Encycl. 5: 87 (1804). 



A diffuse slender branching annual, 20-50 cm. high. Sheaths 

 smooth or sparingly ciliate, bearded at the throat; blades thin, flat 

 or involute, 5-10 cm. long, about 2 mm. wide. Panicle spiked, 

 cylindrical, more or less interrupted, 5-10 cm. long, 5-7 mm. diam. 

 Spikelets oval, 5-10-flowered, 2.5-3 mm. long; empty glumes ovate- 

 lanceolate, 1-nerved, subequal, 0.8-1.2 mm. long; floral glume 

 elliptical, lateral nerves very near the margin, mucronate, 1 mm. 

 long, rough or ciliate on the back; palea as long as its glume, 

 linear, the keels fringed with slender bristles often 1 mm. long. 

 Grain ovoid, slightly flattened on the side opposite the embryo, 

 0.4-0.5 mm. long. 



Georgia, Curtiss 3493; Mississippi (Ocean Springs), Tracy; 

 Mexico (Jalisco), PringU 1851. 



South Carolina to Mexico. 



Var. patens Chapm. ? Blades broader; panicle more open, 2 

 cm. diam.; spikelets purplish, 3-5-flowered; empty glumes shorter 



