GRASS FAMILY 127 



Introduced from Europe, common in open ground from Vancouver Island 

 to southern California. 



Kefs. AIRA CARYOPHYLLEA L. Sp. PL 66. 1753; Davy in Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 49. 1901. 



2. A. capillaris Host. Similar to A. caryophyllea ; panicle more diffuse; 

 spikelets scattered at the ends of the branches, l 1 /^ lines long ; lemma of lower 

 floret awnless or with a minute awn just below the apex, the teeth short; 

 lemma of upper floret bearing a geniculate awn iy 2 lines long from below the 

 middle, the teeth setaceous. 



Sparingly introduced from Europe. Redwood Creek, Humboldt Co., Davy & 

 Blasdale 5684; Kenwood, Michener 121. 



Kefs. AIRA CAPILLARIS Host, Gram. Austr. 4: 20. pi. 35. 1809; Davy in Jepson, Fl. "W. Mid. 

 Cal. 50. 1901. 



31. DESCHAMPSIA Beauv. 



Spikelets 2 (rarely 3) -flowered, in narrow or open panicles. Glumes sub- 

 equal, thin or scarious. Rachilla prolonged behind the upper floret as a hairy 

 bristle. Lemmas 4-nerved (the midnerve becoming an awn), truncate, 2 to 

 4-toothed, bearing a slender dorsal awn from below the middle. Annuals or 

 perennials, with shining spikelets. Species about 20, in the cold and tem- 

 perate regions of the Avorld. (Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, a French botanist, 

 17741849.) 

 Plants annual; awns strongly geniculate. 



Glumes 3^ to 4 lines long 1. D. dantlionioides. 



Glumes about 2 lines long 2. D. gracilis. 



Plants perennial; awns straight. 



Panicle dense ; plant stout 5. D. Tiolciformis. 



Panicle loose or open. 



Plants robust; blades flat, 1 line wide or more; branches of panicle spreading 



4. D. caespitosa. 

 Plants slender; blades capillary; branches of panicle erect 3. D. elongata. 



1. D. dantlionioides Munro. Annual; culms slender, erect, 6 to 15 inches 

 high ; blades few, short and narrow ; panicle open, 3 to 6 inches long, the 

 branches capillary, stiffly ascending, naked below, bearing a fe\v T spikelets 

 toward the ends ; glumes 3 to 4 lines long, acuminate, smooth except the keel, 

 longer than the florets; lemmas smooth and shining, somewhat indurated, 1 

 to 11/2 lines long, the base of the florets and the rachilla pilose, the awns genicu- 

 late. 2 to 3 lines long. 



Open ground throughout California except in the higher mountains; extends 

 from Alaska to Mexico. 



Kefs. DESCHAMPSIA DANTHONIOIDES Munro; Benth. PI. Hartw. 342. 1857. Aim dantlioni- 

 oides Trin. Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. VI. Math. Phys. Nat. 1 : 57. 1830 (Jan., apparently earlier 

 than PresFs work); Thurb. in Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 298. 1880. Danthonia calycina Presl, Eel. 

 Haenk. 1: 251. 1830, type from Monterey; Davy in Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 51. 1901; Abrams, 

 Fl. Los Ang. 39. 1904. 



2. D. gracilis Vasey. Annual ; culms 1 to 2 feet high ; blades usually fili- 

 form; panicle open, 3 to 8 inches long, the branches slender, rather densely 

 flowered toward the ends, naked below; glumes 2 to 3 lines long, the first 

 3-nerved ; lemmas as in D. danthonioides. 



Damp places; Mendocino Co. southward to Lower California. Sherwood, 

 Hitchcock 2709; Tulare, Davy 3086, 3088, 3114; San Gabriel, Basse: San 

 Diego, Brandegee 3681, Pringle in 1882. 



Kefs. DESCHAMPSIA GRACILIS Vasey, Bot. Gaz. 10 : 224. 1885, type from San Diego, Orcutt. 



3. D. elongata Munro. Perennial; culms slender, erect. 1 to 4 feet high: 



