ISTo. 8. 

 STIPA CORONATA Tliiirh. Bot. ('Ml. ii. 287. 



Plant coiirsc, ])t'i-eimiiil, tiilfcd; loctts coarse and strimj;. 



Culm fleet, terete, minutely liispid, naked aln)vt', .'5 to (i leet liij;li, \ inch thick at 

 base where it is clothed with the remains of several weather-worn sheaths. 



Learen tVoiii tlie base with rather .scarioiis, sinootli sheaths .'{ to G inelies Ion;,'' and 

 bhides Hat or iiivohite with slen(h*r, convolute jioints, smooth below, hispid above, .> to 

 5 lines wide at base, li to 3 feet long. Leaves of culm 3 to 5; sheaths smooth except the 

 ciliate throat, equalinji or exceeding the internodes; blades like those of the radical 

 leaves 1 to - feet long; ligule, lacerate or fringed, i line long. 



Tnjiorcscoice a narrow, rather dense, virgate panicle, \'2 to 1(5 inches long, at first 

 spike-like and included in the ui)])er sheath; branches mostly in fascicled clusters of 

 4 or more, 2 to 3 inches long, erect and bearing i>edicellate spikelets to the base, or 

 the lower branches fewer and spikelet l)earing only beyond the middle. 



Spikiietii lanceolate, turgid, 8 to 10 lines long; emiity glumes ap])ressed, lanceo- 

 late, slender-pointed, herbaceous below, often purple or purplish with membranaceous 

 margins; first glume 3-nerved, 8 to 10 lines long; second glume a line sliorter and 

 5-nerved ; stii)e curved, acute, white, beai'ded above, J line long; Horet spindle sha])ed, 

 4 lines long, § line thick; floral glume clothed with silky white hair a line long, longer 

 and somewhat tufted at the apex, obscurely "(-nerved; awn often ]>urplisli, twisted, 

 nearly naked, slightly bent; palet oblong, lacerate at the obtuse apex, 1^ to 2 lines 

 long; lodicules minute; anthers naked; grain spindle-shaped, widest below, reddish, 

 nearly opaque, 3 lines long, A line thick. 



Plate VIII; «, spikelet dissected and enlarged about twice. 



Arizona and sontliern California in the valleys or lower levels near water. One 

 of the largest of North American Stipas. 



