126 GRAMINEAE 



cent ; panicle about an inch long and nearly as thick ; glumes very narrow, 

 lines long. 



Berkeley, Davy 734; Pacific Grove, Heller 6701. 



Eef. LAGURUS OVATUS L. Sp. PI. 81. 1753. 



TRIBE VI. AVENEAE. 

 29. NOTHOLCUS Nash, gen. nov. 



Spikelets 2-flowered, articulated below the glumes, in contracted panicles, the 

 lower floret perfect, awnless, the upper staminate, awned. Glumes thin, sub- 

 equal, compressed, boat-shaped, longer than the florets. Lemmas somewhat 

 indurated, boat-shaped. Palea thin, nearly as long as lemma. Perennials with 

 flat blades and terminal panicles. Species about 8, Europe and Africa. (Greek 

 nothos, false, and Holcus, the generic name usually applied to this group.) 

 (Spiculae 2-florae, infra glumas articulatae. Flosculus inferior hermaphro- 

 ditus, muticus; superior masculus, aristatus. Glumae membranaceae, sub- 

 aequales, compressae, naviculiformes, flosculis longiores. Lemmata duriuscula, 

 naviculiformia. Palea membranacea, fere lemmate aequilonga. Gramineae 

 perennes, foliis planis et paniculis terminalibus.) 



The name Holcus being applied to the genus Sorghum, with the type, H. sorghum, the above 

 genus, Holcus of most recent authors, with the type Holcus lanatus L., must receive a new name. 

 The section Homalachna Benth. & Hook. (Gen. PI. 3: 1159. 1883), raised to the rank of a genus 

 by Post & Kuntze (Lex. Gen. Phan. 285. 1903) includes two species of the Mediterranean 

 region, in which both florets are perfect and awned, and is probably not congeneric with 

 Notholcus. Ginannia Bub. (Fl. Pyr. 4: 321. 1901) is a homonym, according to Dalle Torre 

 and Harms (Gen. Siphon.) the name having been used by Scopoli (Introd. 300. 1777) and by 

 Dietrich (Vollst. Lex. Gaertn. 4: 357. 1804). 



1. N. lanatus Nash, n. comb. VELVET-GRASS. Plant grayish, velvety- 

 pubescent ; culms erect, 1 to 2 feet high ; panicle 2 to 4 inches long, narrow, 

 contracted, sometimes almost spike-like, purple- tin ged ; spikelets 2 lines long; 

 glumes villous, hirsute on the nerves, the second broader than the first, 3- 

 nerved; lemmas ciliate at the apex; awn of the second floret hook-like. 



A native of Europe, occasionally cultivated as a meadow grass in the U. S. 

 and abundantly introduced or escaped on the Pacific Coast, especially in the 

 Coast Ranges. 



Eefs. NOTHOLCUS LANATUS Nash. Holciis lanatus L. Sp. PI. 1048. 1753; Thurb. in Wats. 

 Bot. Cal. 2: 299. 1880; Davy in Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 49. 1901; Abrams, Fl. Los Ang. 

 38. 1904. 



30. AIRA L. 



Spikelets 2-flowered, both flowers perfect, articulated below the glumes, in 

 open or contracted panicles. Glumes thin, somewhat scarious, subequal, acute, 

 awnless, longer than the approximate florets. Lemmas bidentate, awned on the 

 back, or the lower awnless. Palea a little shorter than the lemma. Delicate 

 annuals. Species about 6, Europe and North Africa, introduced in the U. S. 

 (An ancient Greek name used by Theophrastus for a weedy grass, probably 

 Lolium temulentum.) 



Awns of both florets 1% to 2 lines long 1. A. caryophyllea. 



Awn of lower floret minute or wanting 2. A. capillaris. 



]. A. caryophyllea L. Culms solitary or few, slender, erect, 4 to 12 inches 

 high; blades short, setaceous; panicle open, the silvery shining spikelets 1^2 

 lines long, clustered toward the ends of the spreading capillary branches; 

 lemma of both florets with a geniculate awn 2 lines long from below the middle, 

 the teeth of the apex setaceous. 



