No. 96. 

 AGROPYRUM DIVERGENS Nees. in Steu.l. Syn. Gram. 347(1855), 



riant i)er«'niiiiil, soiiKnvliat tiilted, usually glaucous. 



Cubtix ftrt'ct, tliickened at the base, sleufler, sinootli, '' to .'5 feet tall. 



Lcuris of the sterile sJKiots, witii long, close sheatlis and involute blades 4 to <» 

 Indies l(ing: leaves of the culm 2 or 3; sheatlis close, truncate at the throat and nearly 

 closed, shorter than the npix-r internodes; blades involute, rather rigid, ])ungently 

 ])oiMted, slightly aurieled, smooth, 1 to li lines wide, 4 to 6 inches long; ligule almost 

 obsolete. 



Infloirsccncc a lincsir, erect or slightly nodding, loose spike, with 1 sessile a])- 

 pressed s])ikelet at each of the (> to 12 nodes oi- rartly with some of the spikeletson 

 branches. 



Npihelctx 4- to 'J-tlowcrcd, (> to l(t lines long; empty glumes oblong, acute, or 

 acuminate and subulate-pointed, thick and rigid, 3- to 5-nerved, the first 3 lines long, 

 the second 1 line longer; floral glume lance-oblong, sub-acute, rather rigifl I)ut thin- 

 ner than the emjity glumes, 4 to o lines long, o-nerved, the outer nerves evanescent 

 at the apex, the 3 inner ones uniting and excurrent in a hispid awn curved back- 

 ward, j to 1i inches long; jialet oblong, obtuse, strongly liisjiid on the keels, about 

 eqnaliiig the glume; stamens 3, with anthers li to 2.\ lines long; ovary pubescent; 

 grain oblong, acute at the base, flattened on one side, brown, nearly opaque, 3 lines 

 h)ng; lodicules 2, jj line long; iuteruode of rachilla thick, clavate, smooth, 1 line 

 long. 



Plate XCVI; a, sjiikelet; h, empty glumes; c, floral glume; d, palot. 



Northern California to Washington and eastward to New Mexico, Colorado, and 

 .Montana. The species varies considerably in the lengt li of the awn, and is imi)erfeetly 

 diu'cious. 



