130 GRAMINEAE 



/ 



smooth or puberulent; sheaths and usually the blades puberulent; panicle 

 dense and spike-like, pale or often dark- purple, 2 to 6 inches long ; spikelets 2 

 to 3 lines long; glumes somewhat unequal in length, smooth except the keels, 

 the first narrow, acuminate, 1-nerved, the second broader, 3-nerved, acute; 

 lemmas scaberulous, 2^ lines long, the first longer than the glumes, the teeth 

 setaceous; awns geniculate, exserted. 



A characteristic grass of high altitudes in the Sierra Nevada, especially above 

 timber-line, found up to the limit of vegetation; extends from arctic regions of 

 the northern hemisphere southward in the higher mountains to the southern 

 hemisphere. 



Eefs. TRISETUM SPICATUM Richter, PI. Eur. 1 : 59. 1890. Aira spicata L. Sp. PI. 64. 1753. 

 Trisetum subspicatum Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 88. 1812 ; Thurb. in Wats. Bot. Cal. 2 : 296. 1880. 

 Aira subspicata L. Syst. Veg. ed. 10. 2: 873. 1759. Trisetum subspicatum Beauv. var. molle 

 Gray, Man. ed. 2. 572. 1856; Thurb. in Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 296. 1880. 



5. T. congdoni Scribn. & Merr. Resembling T. spicatum, but differing in 

 having smooth sheaths and blades, the latter usually flat but sometimes involute, 

 and in having wider panicles and larger spikelets, about 4 lines long. 



Meadows and slopes above timber-line, Sierra Nevada. 



Locs. Mt. Shasta, Copeland 3895, Hitchcock 2935; Donner Pass, Heller 7117; Lake Tahoe, 

 Hall # Chandler 4676; Pyramid Peak, Hall $ Chandler 4715; Yosemite Nat. Park, Hitchcock 

 3260, 3270, 3271, 3312; Sequoia Nat. Park, Coville # Funston 1495, Grant 5339, Hall $ 

 Babcock 5512, 5678, Hitchcock 3390, Purpus 5116. 



Bef. TEISETUM CONGDONI Seribn. & Merr. Bull. Torr. Club 29: 470. 1902, type from 

 Shadow Lake Trail, Congdon in 1899. 



33. SPHENOPHOLIS Scribn. 



Spikelets 2 to 3-flowered, articulated below the glumes, in narrow panicles. 

 Glumes about equal in length, often dissimilar in shape, the first narrow, the 

 second often obovate, becoming subcoriaceous in fruit, 3-nerved. Rachilla pro- 

 longed behind the uppermost floret as a slender pedicel. Lemma chartaceous, 

 awnless or awned below the summit, the nerves obscure. Slender perennials. 

 Species about 6, all North American. (Greek sphen, a wedge, and pholis, a 

 scale.) 



1. S. obtusata Scribn. var. lobata Scribn. Culms erect, 1 to 2 feet high; 

 sheaths and blades scabrous; panicle narrow and compact, often spike-like, 

 more or less interrupted or lobed especially near base, 2 to 4 inches long; 

 glumes subequal, the second subcucullate, the broad chartaceous margins 

 smooth and shining. 



Prairies and open woods throughout U. S. and extending into Canada and 

 Mexico. Rare in California. 



Locs. Amador Co., Hansen 615; Santa Ana River, Parish Bros. 1640; San Bernardino, 

 Parish in 1891; Murray Canon, Wilder 1128. 



Refs. SPHENOPHOLIS OBTUSATA Scribn. var. LOBATA Scribn. Rhodora 8: 144. 1906. Trise- 

 tum lobatum Trin. Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. VI. Math. Phys. Nat. 1: 66. 1830. Eatonia 

 obtusata Gray, Man. ed. 2. 558. 1856; Thurb. in Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 302. 1880. Eatonia Raf. 

 is a synonym of Panicum. 



34. KOELERIA Pers. 



Spikelets 2 to 4-flowered, in narrow spike-like panicles. Glumes unequal, 

 slightly shorter than the florets, membranaceous, acute, the first 1-nerved, the 

 second 3-nerved. Rachilla prolonged behind the uppermost floret as a naked 

 pedicel. Lemmas chartaceous- membranaceous, the margins scarious, faintly 

 3 to 5-nerved, acute or mueronate or awned. Tufted annuals or perennials. 

 Species about 50, temperate regions, mostly of the Old World. (Prof. G. 

 Koeler, an early writer on grasses.) 



