I 



No. 98. 

 ELYMUS CONDENSATUS Trcsl. Rel. Da-iik. i. 205 (1«30). 



Plant pereuuial, often in bnnclies, usually glaucous tbrougliout, from ;i string 

 rootstock. 



Viilms erect, nearly smooth, or pubescent near the nodes, leafy nearly to the jiaii 

 icle, 5 to 10 feet tall, and in the larger specimens J inch thick. 



Learex of the cnhii 4 to 8; slieaths rather loose, half open at the throat, nearly 

 smooth, often cxcei-ding the internodes; l)lades Hat, or involute and rigid toward tlif 

 long, tapering points, hispid or nearly smooth; .3 to 12 lines wide, 10 to 20 inches 

 long; ligule obtuse, 1 to 2 lines long. 



InjloreHcence an erect, spicate i)anicl<', usually dense, i to 1 inch thick and (i to IL' 

 inches long, the smaller, more common forms with 2 to 5 spikelets sessile or nearly 

 sessile at each Tiode of the nearly smooth rachis, the larger forms with some of the 

 spikelets on appressed rays 1 to "2 inches long. 



Sjjikclets 3 to G-flowered, 6 to 8 lines long; empty glumes subulate, rigid, liisjiid, 

 the second slightly broadened and 3-iierved below, nearly equal, o to 7 lines long; 

 tloral glume laiu'e-ovate, a<'ute or 3-toothed at the apex, often short-awned, hispid- 

 ciliat<i on the margins and nerves, 5- to 7-nerved, 4 to 5 lines long; palet laiicc-oblong, 

 2-toothed at the apex, slightly hisi)id on the 2 keels and nunutely limbriate on the 

 ni)])er margins, nearly equaling the glume; stamens 3, included; ovary pubescent, 

 with 2 branching stigmas; lodicules 2, fringedj 1 line long; interuodc of the rachilla 

 clavate, flucly strigose-pubescent. 



Plate XCVIII; a, spikelet; b, empty glumes; c, floral glunu', dorsal view. 



Califoriiin, to Washington, and eastward to Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mex- 

 ico. Exceedingly variable in general size and in the form of the i)anicle. Valuable 

 as a forage plant, and good for hay if cut before it becomes too coarse. 



