GRASS FAMILY 151 



A native of Europe, commonly cultivated in the cooler regions of the U. S. as 

 a meadow grass. Escaped from cultivation along roadsides and in waste places. 

 Yreka, Butler 835 ; Scotia, Davy & Blasdale 5957 ; Bennett Valley, Heller 5657 ; 

 Lake Tahoe, McGregor 199 ; San Bernardino, Parish. 



jj e f s . DACTYLIS GLOMERATA L. Sp. PI. 71. 1753; Thurb. in Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 301. 1880; Davy 

 in Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 65. 1901; Abrams, Fl. Los Ang. 48. 1904. 



57. LAMARCKIA Moench. 



Spikelets of 2 forms, in fascicles, the terminal one of each fascicle fertile, 

 the others sterile. Fertile spikelet single, with 1 perfect floret, the rachilla 

 produced beyond the floret into a slender stipe, bearing a small awned empty 

 lemma, or reduced wholly to an awn. Glumes narrow, acuminate, or short- 

 awned, 1-nerved. Lemma broader, 1-nerved, bearing below the apex a slen- 

 der straight awn. Stamens 3. Sterile spikelets linear, 1 to 3 in each fascicle, 

 consisting of 2 glumes similar to those of the fertile spikelet, and numerous, 

 distichously imbricated, obtuse awnless empty lemmas. A low annual grass 

 with elegant 1-sided narrow panicles of crowded fasciculate spikelets, the fer- 

 tile spikelets being hidden, except the awns, by the numerous sterile ones. 

 Species 1, southern Europe, introduced in California. (Jean Baptiste Antoine 

 Pierre Monnet, Chevalier de La Marck, the eminent French naturalist.) 



1. L. aurea Moench. GOLDEN-TOP. Culms erect, or decumbent at bas'e, 4 to 

 15 inches high ; leaves smooth ; ligule prominent, decurrent as a broad, seari- 

 ous margin ; panicle dense, 1 to 3 inches long, % to 1 inch wide, shining, gold- 

 en-yellow or purplish, the branches close, short, erect; pedicels fascicled, 

 somewhat clavate, pubescent, spreading at right angles, the fascicles with a 

 tuft of long whitish hairs at the base ; fertile spikelet about 1 line long, the 

 sterile 3 to 4 lines long; glumes narrow, hyaline, 1 line long; lemmas awned 

 from below the apex. 



A native of the Mediterranean region, abundantly naturalized in southern 

 California, rarer northward to Santa Clara Co. ; also in northern Mexico. 



Befs LAMARCKIA AUREA Moench, Meth. PI. 201. 1794; Thurb. in Wats. Bot. Cal. 2: 299. 

 1880 ; Davy in Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 65. 1901 ; Abrams, Fl. Los Ang. 49. 1904. Cynosurus 

 aureus L. Sp. PI. 72. 1753. Achyrodes aureum Kuntze, Eev. Gen. PI. 2 : 758. 1891. 



58. POA L. 



Spikelets 2 to several-flowered, the uppermost floret rudimentary, in open or 

 narrow panicles. Glumes keeled, 1 to 3-nerved. Lemmas herbaceous or mem- 

 branaceous, mostly scarious-tipped, acute or obtuse, keeled, awnless, 5-nerved, 

 the intermediate nerves sometimes obscure, keel and marginal nerves sometimes 

 villous, the floret sometimes with cobwebby hairs at base. Annuals or peren- 

 nials with blades ending in a navicular point. Species numerous, over 100, in 

 the temperate and cool regions of both hemispheres. (Greek poa, grass or 

 fodder. ) 

 Plants annual. 



Lemmas villous on nerves below. 



Panicle pyramidal, open ; sheaths smooth 1. P. annua. 



Panicle narrow, contracted; sheaths scabrous 2. P. bigelovii. 



Lemmas not villous on keel and nerves. 



Sheaths rough; lemmas pubescent on back 3. P. howellii 



Sheaths smooth; lemmas smooth or nearly so 4. P. bolanderi. 



Plants perennial. 



Creeping rhizomes present. 

 Lemmas not webbed at base. 



Glumes 4 lines long; spikelets about ^ inch long 5. P. macrantha. 



