No. 05. 



MELICA FUGAX I'.nlniHl. I'loc Ciil. A.iiil. i\. loi (ISTO). 



Pliiiil ])riciiiiial, stroiiuly hiillKnis, \\ il li :i ciiiitortcil riiulsliick hcaiiiif; the r('i;i;iiiis 

 of old hiilhs, runts (iiicly laiiatc. 



CulniK erect, rarely braiuilied, slender, wiry, ictrorsely liispiil, naked al)u\e, 1 to 2 

 feet tall. 



/,(■(( (v.v of cnliii I or li; slicatlis retrorscly scahrid, close, lialf oi)cii at tlie throat, 

 excccdiufi' the short, lower iiiteiuodcs; blades Hat or soiiiewiiat iiixoliitc toward the 

 att«Miuate points, scabrous or minutely i)ubescent, 1 to 2 lines wide, .3 to 6 inches long: 

 ligule Iticerate, about 1 line loiiff. 



I n1ii)rcncencc a loose, open, erect ])aiiicle. 4 to (i inches Innj;. rarely uncxpandcd and 

 linear, often with small, lateral i>aiiicles in the njtper shcaih : liran.lies mostly in twos 

 or threes at tin" 4 or .T rather distant nodes, nne(|ind, liorizoiitai, bearinj; I to 4 sjjike- 

 lets toward the extremities. 



Spikel^ts oblong, about 5 lines long, with 2 to 4 perfect tiorets and a rudiment, erect 

 and imbricated, deciduous; first empty .ylume broadly ovate-oblont;, ol)tnse, often 

 toothed oil one or both sides below the apex, smooth, i)uri)le, 1-nerved, scarious- 

 margined, 1^ lines Icnig; second empty glume broadly lanceolate, obtuse or barely 

 acute, smooth, obscurely 3- to .^-nerved, scarious-margined, 2A lines long; floral glume 

 broadly obovate-oblong, minutely roughened, purple near the narrow, scaiions margin. 

 7-nerved, 2 to 3 lines long and more than half as wide: palet lance-oblong, obtuse. 

 miiuitely"pul)escent on the arched keels, slightly shoi ter than the glume; grain oblong, 

 curved, 1 line long; iuternode of T'achilhi yellow, tuberculate, glabrous. 



TlatI'". LXV; «, si)ikelet with mature florets in ])osition; //, spikeli-l partly dis- 

 sected and the parts of the florets spread oiieii. 



('alifornia to AVashington, mostly in ilie nionnlain valleys. Ivsidently a grass of 

 some promise if introduced in cultivation. 



