No. 20. 

 MUHLENBERGIA CALIFORNICA Vasey, Bull. T.nr.Club, xiii. .")3. 



I'laiit i)eieimiiil, witli strong creeping rootstock, green, often glaucous. 



Cidms asceiidiiig, geniculate anil i>rancliiiig l)cl(i\v, tei'Ctc, lower internodes naked, 

 smooth and shining, waxy pubescent near tlic nodes, hispid hclow the pLi.iclc, H to 2.i 

 feet high. 



LrnvfH of culm s ti> 1 1 ; lower with open sheaths and short divaricate blades, often 

 fascicled; middle and upper with dose, striate, hisjjid sheaths exceeding the internodes 

 and Hat, hispid blades \ inch wide and -i to o inches long; ligule membranaceous, lacer- 

 ate, nearly 1 line long. 



Iiijlort'sceiice a close almost spike like panicle, .3 to 5 inches long, interrujtted 

 below; branches alternate, nearly erect, pubescent, slightly exceeding the intervals, 

 lower i to li inches long, with the nearly sessile spikelets crowded on the short, 

 api)ressed subdivisions. 



iS[/>(7i-e/e<A- oblanceolate, compressed, 1-flowered, l.i to 2 lines long; empty glumes 

 lance-ovate, acuminate and subulate-pointed or obtuse and mucronate in the same 

 si>ecimen, carinate, minutely scabrous, membranaceous except the green hispid keel, 

 1 -nerved, in-arly eijual, U to 2 lines long; floral glume ovate, acute, or minutely bidcTi- 

 tate at the ai)cx, finely scabious, spaiingly villous near the l)ase, •'{ nerved, lateral 

 nerves extending to the apex but not marginal, midnerve excurrent in a minutely 

 hisi)e<l awn k to l.J lines long; palet ovate, acute, thin, villous between the 2 nerves 

 below the middle; stamens .'5, included; stigmas braiiclied; giain spindle-shaped, 

 tapering to each end, minutely roughened, reddish-brown, nearly opaque, ^ line long. 



Plate XX; a, spikelct enlarged about '> times; b, />', em]ity glumes showing 

 variations; c <;', floral glumes showing variations in leugtli of awns; d, palet. 



Southern California. This species is doubtless worthy of attention as a forage 

 plant. 



