266 



Fig. 260. MELICA STRICTA Boland. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 3 : 4. 1863. 

 LARGE-FLOWERED MELICA.— A densely ceespitose perennial 2..>-5 dm. 

 (8'-20') high, from a bulbous base, with flat, more or less pubescent leaves and 

 simple, one-sided panicles 10-15 cm. (4'-6') long, bearing ten to twenty spike- 

 lets (a) 2 to 4 flowered, 12-16 mm. (6"-8") long, mostly pendulous on slender, 

 curved, finely pubescent pedicels; empty glumes subequal 12-15 mm. (6"-7i") 

 long, almost hyaline, 5-nerved; flowering glumes (b) narrowly elliptical, 

 5-nerved. the inclosed palea about 5 mm. (2^") long.— Dry ridges among rocks, 

 altitude 1,850 to 2,700 m. (5,550°-8,100°) , Nevada, California, and Oregon. June 

 to August. 



The inflorescence of this alpine species is similar to that of M. parviflora, but 

 the panicle is much shorter, with only about a dozen spikelets, rarely more 

 than twenty, and the spikelets themselves are much larger. 



