96 GRAMINEAE 



TRIBE IV. PHALAR1DEAE. 

 10. PHALARIS L. 



Spikelets with 1 perfect flower, laterally flattened. Glumes equal, boat- 

 shaped, exceeding the florets. Sterile lemmas 2, small and narrow, appearing 

 like hairy scales attached to the fertile floret. Fertile lemma indurated and 

 shining in fruit, enclosing a faintly 2-nerved palea. Annuals or perennials, with 

 flat blades and dense spike-like panicles. Species about 10, mostly natives of 

 southern Europe. (An ancient Greek name for a grass.) 



Spikelets in groups of 7, 1 fertile surrounded by 6 sterile 1. P. paradoxa. 



Spikelets single, all alike. 

 Plants perennial. 



Rhizomes absent; panicle dense, ovate or oblong 2. P. calif ornica. 



Rhizomes present; panicle spreading during anthesis 3. P. arundinacea. 



Plants annual. 



Glumes broadly winged; panicle ovate or short-oblong. 



Sterile lemma solitary; fertile lemma 1% lines long 4. P. minor. 



Sterile lemmas in pairs; fertile lemma 2 to 3 lines long. 



Sterile lemma % line long 5. P. brachystachys. 



Sterile lemma y 2 as long as fertile 6. P. canariensis. 



Glumes wingless or nearly so; panicles oblong or linear, dense. 



Glumes acuminate ; fertile lemma turgid, the acuminate apex smooth .... 7. P. lemmoni. 

 Glumes acute; fertile lemma less turgid, villous to the acute apex. 



Panicle 1 to 2 inches long ; sterile lemmas % as long as fertile .... 8. P. caroliniana. 

 Panicle 2 to 5 inches long ; sterile lemma % as long as fertile 9. P. angusta. 



1. P. paradoxa L. Annual ; culrns cespitose, more or less spreading at base, 



1 to 2 feet high; panicle dense, oblong, narrowed at base, 1 to 2 inches long, 

 often enclosed at base in the uppermost enlarged sheath ; spikelets finally fall- 

 ing from the axis in groups of 7, the central fertile, nearly sessile, the others 

 sterile, slender-pediceled ; glumes of sterile spikelets narrow, with faint lateral 

 nerves, the keel prominently winged above, the wing extending into a more or 

 less well-marked tooth, the apex of the glume narrowed into an acuminate 

 point or awn, the glumes of the 4 outer sterile spikelets in the lower part of the 

 panicle more or less deformed; glumes of fertile central spikelet lanceolate, 

 3 to 4 lines long including awn, the lateral nerves prominent, the wing on the 

 keel more tooth-like, the apex of the glume narrowed into an awn about 1 line 

 long; fertile lemma smooth, and shining, 1% lines long, the sterile lemmas 

 obsolete. 



Occasional in grain fields ; a native of the Old World, introduced on the Pacific 

 Coast: Richmond, Congdon. 



Var. praemorsa Coss. & Dur. Sterile spikelets short-pediceled, the 4 outer 

 much reduced, the apex deformed or variously incurved ; fertile spikelet some- 

 what indurated, several-nerved at base, acuminate, the wing fin-like in appear- 

 ance. Introduced from Europe. Apparently the commoner form in Califor- 

 nia: Princeton, Berkeley Hills, Davy; San Diego, Brandegee. 



Refs. PHALARIS PARADOXA L. Sp. PI. ed. 2. 2: 1665. 1763; Davy in Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. 

 Cal. 35. 1901, the description applies to the variety. Var. PRAEMORSA Coss. & Dur. Expl. Alg. 

 2: 24. 1854. P. praemorsa Lam. Fl. Franc.. 3: 566. 1778. 



2. P. calif ornica H. & A. Perennial ; culms erect or somewhat geniculate at 

 base ; blades flat, rather lax, 3 to 6 lines wide ; panicle ovoid or oblong, 1 to 



2 inches long, % to 1 inch thick, often purplish tinged ; glumes about 3 to 3^2 

 lines long, narrow, gradually narrowed from below the middle to an acute 

 apex, smooth or slightly scabrous on the keel, the lateral nerves somewhat 



