No. 55. 

 CALAMAGROSTIS ARCTICA Vasey, .sp. uov. 



I'ltntt perennial, from a creeiiinit lootstoi'k. 



r^i/yfx decumbent at l)ase, smooth, 5 to 10 inches tall, covered below with persist- 

 ent, scarions sheaths. 



Lcnrcs from tln^ base, uumcrous, flat, smooth, 2 lines wide, half as lonjc as the 

 culm; but 1 or 1! above the decumbent base, these with ratlici- long sheaths h)ose 

 ab(>v«i, half open at the throat, smooth and thin ; the blades erect. Hat, or folded, about 

 1 inch long; ligiile nearly acute, about li lines long. 



Iiijlorrscciwc, a dense, short, spicate panicle, 1 inch long and ^ in(!h wide, rays .} 

 inch long, in glonuuate clu.sters. 



Spikrlcts 1-tiowercd, 2 to lii lines long; ein])ty glumes narrowly lanceovate, at- 

 tenuate-pointed, hisjiid on the keels and minutely scabiid throughout, piirj)le below, 

 the first 1 -nerved ami slightly longer, the second 3 nerved, 2 to 2i lines long; tioral 

 glume oblong, acutely 4-toothed at the ai)ex, smooth, purple above, 4-nerved, 2 lines 

 long; awn arising near the base, 2A to .'3 lines long, exsertcd beyond the empty glumes; 

 jiaiet oblong, 2-toothed at the apex, nearly smooth on the keels, about c(nuding its 

 glume; hairs of the callus and sterile pedicel one fourth as long as the llorct. 



Plate LV; a, .spikelet dissected, showing all the parts somewhat spread ; /*, tioral 

 glume, do sal view. 



St. Paul Island, Bering Sea. Collected by J. M. Macouu, 1«91. 



