504 Key to the System of 



2118. Bracts supporting the fruits cleft to near the middle, 



hardly ever exceeded by the awn. 

 Usually dwarf ; leaves very narrow ; panicle quite short ; 

 its spikelets almost racemously arranged, rather small ; 

 flowers few or reduced to three ; lobes of the fruit- 

 supporting bracts with tufts of seriated whitish hairlets ; 

 awn delicate. D. carphoides. 



Bracts supporting the fruits cleft to less than the 

 middle, always exceeded by the awn ... ... 2119 



2119. Normally quite dwarf, with few usually three-flowered 



spikelets. 



Alpine grass, sometimes forming patches ; leaves extremely 

 short and narrow, but rigid ; spikelets small, sometimes 

 reduced to two, always short-stalked ; lobes of the fruit- 

 supporting bracts simply pointed or very slightly awned ; 

 hairlets whitish, hardly tufty, forming two irregular 

 transverse rows ; awn about twice as long as the lobes, 

 rather rigid ; anthers hardly longer than broad ; fruit 

 obovate-ellipsoid. D. pauciflora. 



Normally rather tall, with many usually several- 

 flowered spikelets. 



2120. Slightly tufted, with often slender and moderately or 



hardly tall stems. 



Seldom dwarfed ; leaves generally long, but narrow, often 

 involute along the margin ; panicle of spikelets short- 

 branched, moderately or slightly spreading or racemously 

 narrowed ; lowest bracts nearly always somewhat sur- 

 passing the others ; tufts of hairlets of the fruit- support- 

 ing bract whitish, usually arranged in two transverse 

 interrupted rows ; lowest portion of the middle awn (as in 

 most congeners) spirally but closely twisted ; lateral awns 

 variously shorter than the middle one, occasionally almost 

 undeveloped ; fruit more narrowed towards the base than 

 towards the summit. D. peiiicillata. 



Amply tufted, with often robust and very tall stems. 



Alpine grass, very tall and robust, somewhat succulent ; 

 leaves very long, almost flat, rather broad ; leaf-stalks 

 laxly clasping; panicle much elongated, somewhat 

 spreading ; spikelets comparatively large ; flowers few 

 or several, sometimes extending beyond the lowest bracts; 

 hairlets of the fruit-supporting bracts whitish, rather 

 irregularly dispersed or hardly tufted. D. robusta. 



