GRASS FAMILY 113 



what creeping base; panicles ellipsoidal or short-cylindrical; awn of glumes 

 1 line long, giving the head a bristly appearance. 



Common in mountain meadows, bogs and swamps, in the high Sierra Nevada, 

 and in the Coast Ranges as far south as Mendocino Co. ; also in the San Jacinto 

 Mts. Throughout the cooler regions of Eurasia and North America and extend- 

 ing south in the mountains to Mexico and South America. 



Refs. PHLEUM ALPINUM L. Sp. PI. 59. 1753; Thurb. in Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 263. 1880; Davy 

 in Jepson, PI. W. Mid. Cal. 40. 1901. 



19. ALOPECURUS L. 



Spikelets 1-flowered, flattened, falling from the axis entire, in dense cylin- 

 drical spike-like panicles. Glumes equal, awnless, usually connate at base, cili- 

 ate on the keel. Lemma broad, obtuse, 5-iierved, about as long as glumes, 

 bearing a slender erect dorsal awn from below the middle, the margins connate 

 near the base. Palea none. Slender annual or perennial grasses, with flat 

 blades and soft panicles.- Species about 20, temperate regions, mostly the north- 

 ern hemisphere. (Greek alopex, fox, and oura, tail.) 



Spikelets 1% lines long; panicle oblong, 3 lines wide 1. A. calif ornicus. 



Spikelets 1 line long; panicle narrow, linear, 2 lines wide. 



Awn scarcely protruding 2. A. aristulatus. 



Awn protruding about 1 line 3. A. geniculatus. 



1. A. californicus Vasey. Culms 6 inches to 2 feet high; sheaths inflated; 

 panicles oblong, 1 to 2 inches long, about 3 lines wide; glumes l 1 /^ lines long; 

 lemma sparsely pilose on the sides, the awn exserted about l 1 /^ lines. 



Meadows and wet places, mostly in the Coast Ranges from Willits (Davy 6556) 

 to San Diego (Brandegee 3677) ; also in Merced Co. (Congdon). Alaska to Mon- 

 tana and the mountains of Arizona. 



Refs. ALOPECURUS CALIFORNICUS Vasey, Bull. Torr. Club 15: 13. 1888, type from Santa 

 Cruz, Anderson in 1887; Davy in Jepson, PI. W. Mid. Cal. 41. 1901. A. pratensis [L. mis- 

 applied by] Thurb. in Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 263. 1880. 



A. PRATENSIS L.. the cultivated Meadow Fox-tail, is reported by Davy 

 (Jepson. Fl. AV. Mid. Cal. 40. 1901) as being occasionally naturalized. It 

 resembles A. californicus but has larger spikelets, about 3 lines long. 



2. A. aristulatus Michx. Culms erect or spreading, 6 inches to 2 feet 

 high: panicles narrow-cylindrical, 1 to 3 inches long, about 2 lines wide; 

 glumes 1 line long; awn of lemma short, scarcely exserted. 



In water and wet places throughout the California mountains; common in 

 the cooler parts of North America. 



Refs. ALOPECURUS ARISTULATUS Michx. PI. Bor. Am. 1: 43. 1803; Thurb. in Wats. Bot. 

 Cal. 2: 263. 1880. A. geniculatus L. var. aristulatus Torr. PI. North. & Mid. U. S. 97. 1823; 

 Davy in Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 41. 1901. 



3. A. geniculatus L. Differs from A. aristulatus in being more or less 

 decumbent at base, and in having a longer awn exserted about 1 line. 



In water and wet places, the cooler parts of America and Eurasia, rare in Cali- 

 fornia. San Diego, Abrams 3448. 



Refs. ALOPECURUS GENICULATUS L. Sp. PI. 60. 1753; Thurb. in Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 269. 

 1880; Davy in Jepson, PI. W. Mid. Cal. 41. 1901; Abrams, Fl. Los Ang. 33. 1904. 



20. SPOROBOLUS R, Br. 



Spikelets 1-flowered, in narrow or open panicles. Glumes awnless, nearly 

 or quite nerveless, usually unequal. Lemma equaling or exceeding the glumes, 

 awnless. Palea equaling or exceeding the lemma. Grain readily falling from 

 the spikelet, the pericarp loosely enclosing the seed, often thin and evanescent. 



