GRASS FAMILY 145 



Spikelets broad; glumes broad and papery; sterile lemmas small and convolute around each 



other, more or less hidden in the upper fertile lemmas. 

 Culms bulbous at base. 



Pedicels capillary, flexuous or recurved 5 jjf spectabtiis. 



Pedicels stouter, appressed. 



Panicle narrow; branches short, erect 6. M. bella. 



Panicle open; branches spreading. 



Spikelets about 3 lines long 7 ^ fugax. 



Spikelets about 6 lines long g jf _ inflata. 



Culms not distinctly bulbous at base (somewhat bulbous in M. bulbosa). 



Spikelets large, reflexed 9. M . stricta. 



Spikelets smaller, not reflexed. 



Fertile florets 3 or 4 in each spikelet; spikelets 5 to 6 lines long. 



Spikelets silvery white; glumes about as long as spikelet; plant tall and somewhat 



woody 10. ^ M . frutescens. 



Spikelets tawny or purplish; glumes shorter than spikelet; plant lower, herbaceous... 



11. M. bulbosa. 

 Fertile florets 1 or 2 in each spikelet; spikelets 2 to 3 lines long. 



Fertile lemmas pubescent 12. M. torreyana. 



Fertile lemmas glabrous 13. M. imperfecta. 



1. M. aristata Thurb. Culms erect or decumbent below, not bulbous at base, 

 smooth. 2 to 3 feet high; sheaths scabrous or pubescent; blades flat, more or 

 less pubescent; panicle narrow, the branches short and appressed; flumes 

 narrow, 5-nerved, 5 to 6 lines long; lemmas 5-nerved, scabrous, bifid at apex, 

 awned, the awn 3 to 5 lines long. 



Dry woods, slopes and meadows, Washington, southward in the Sierra 

 Nevada to Fresno Co. 



LOGS. Siskiyou Co., Butler 811; Mt. Shasta, Hitchcock 2944; Grizzly Hill, Leiberg 5121; 

 Emigrant Gap, Jones in 1882; Lake Tahoe, Reed fy Pendleton 1726; Mt. Tallae, Hitchcock 

 3163; Pioneer, Hansen 1849; Yosemite Valley, HitcJicocTc 3349; JSTorthfork, Griffiths 4581, 

 6670; Pine Ridge, Hall # Chandler 314. 



Eefs. MELICA ARISTATA Thurb.; Boland. Proc. Cal. Acad. 4: 103. 1870, type from Clark's 

 (now Wawona), Bolander 4861; Thurb. in Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 305. 1880. 



2. M. harfordii Boland. Culms 2 to 4 feet high, decumbent below, smooth, 

 not bulbous at base ; sheaths smooth ; blades scabrous, firm ; panicle narrow, 

 the branches appressed ; glumes narrow, about 3 lines long, obtuse ; lemmas 7- 

 nerved, pilose on lower part of margin, the apex emarginate, mucronate or 

 short-awned ; awn less than 1 line long. 



Open dry woods and slopes, Coast Ranges from Monterey Co. to Castella and 

 north to British Columbia. 



Eefs. MELICA HARPORDII Boland. Proc. Cal. Aead. 4: 102. 1870, three specimens mentioned, 

 Bolander 53, 6464, and one from Bear Valley, Nevada Co., in 1869; Thurb. in Wats. Bot. 

 Cal. 2: 305. 1880. 



3. M. subulata Scribn. Culms 2 to 4 feet high, bulbous at base; panicle 

 narrow, the branches appressed; spikelets narrow, % to 1 inch long, loosely 

 several-flowered; glumes narrow, obscurely nerved, the second about 4 lines 

 long, shorter than the lower lemma ; lemmas prominently 7-nerved, gradually 

 narrowed to an acuminate point, awnless. the keel and marginal nerves pilose- 

 ciliate. 



Meadows, banks and shady slopes, from Siskiyou Co. and Trinity Summit to 

 Lake Tahoe (Reed & Pendleton 1686) and Mt. Tamalpais (Piper 6343) ; north 

 to Alaska and east to Wyoming. 



Kefs. MELICA SUBULATA Scribn. Proc. Acad. Phila. 1885: 47. 1885. Bromus subulatus 

 Griseb. in Ledeb. Fl. Eoss. 4: 358. 1853. Melica acuminata Boland. Proc. Cal. Acad. 4: 104. 



