GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 83 



3-9 dm. tall: leaves 5-15 cm. long, 2-5 mm. wide, rough, especially above: 

 spike 5-12.5 cm. in length, narrow, slender, often somewhat flexupus: spikelets 

 appressed to the rachis, single at each node, or the lower sometimes in pairs, 

 1-3-flowered: glumes (occasionally 3) awn-shaped, 3-nerved, rough, 6-8 mm. 

 long, bearing a slender straight rough awn, 6-10* mm. in length; lemmas 7-10 

 mm. long, rough toward the apex, bearing a slender straight awn 6-10 mm. 

 long. From New Mexico into British America. 



4. Elymus innovatus Beal, N. Am. Gr. 2: 650. 1896. Culms slender, erect, 

 rather rigid, 5-8 dm. high: basal leaves scabrous, flat or involute, 2-3 dm. 

 long; culm leaves about 3, the sheaths shorter than the internodes; ligule very 

 short; the blades 4-10 cm. long: spike erect, densely ciliate-pubescent : spike- 

 lets 3-6-flowered, 10-15 mm. long, 2 at each node: glumes mere bristles, 4-12 

 mm. long; lemma ovate-lanceolate, 8-9 mm. long; palet as long as its lemma. 

 Wyoming to Dakota and British Columbia. 



5. Elymus triticoides Buckley, 1. c. Culms from rootstocks, rather slender, 

 5-8 dm. high: leaves 15-25 cm", long, erect, often loosely flowered: spikelets 

 1-3 at each node, 4-8-flowered : glumes equal, linear-lanceolate, rigid, acumi- 

 nate, 6-10 mm. long, equaled by the floret; lemma firm, lanceolate, acuminate 

 or short-awned, nerves indistinct below, 7 above. Colorado to Montana, 

 west to the Pacific States. 



6. Elymus ambiguus Vasey & Scribn. Contrib. Nat. Herb. 1: 280. 1893. 

 Rigid and densely tufted, 5-10 dm. high: leaves of the sterile shoots erect, 3-4 

 dm. long, involute, smooth or scabrous; culm leaves about 4, 1-2 dm. long; 

 the ligule short: spikes erect, 8-12 cm. long, rachis scabrous: spikelets 2 at 

 each joint, or sometimes single near the end, scabrous, 5-9-flowered: glumes 

 subulate, 12-15 mm. long; lemma firm, obscurely 5-nerved, 8-12 mm. long, 

 the short teeth unequal; awn about 2 mm. long; palet as long as the lemma. 

 Colorado to Montana. 



7. Elymus salinus Jones, Proc. Cal. Acad. II. 5: 725. 1895. A rigid wiry 

 erect densely caespitose perennial 3-6 dm. high: leaves rather rigid, involute, 

 narrow and spreading: spikes erect, 5-10 cm. long: spikelets usually only one 

 at each node, about 12 mm. long, 5-9-flowered: glumes nearly subulate, un- 

 equal; lemma short-awned, about 8 mm. long. (E. simplex S. & W. U. S. 

 Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 11. 57. 1898.) Saline situations; Wyoming 

 and Utah. 



8. Elymus condensatus Presl. Reliq. Haenk. 1: 265. 1830. Culms 6-30 

 dm. tall: leaves 1.5-3 dm. long or more, 6-24 mm. wide, scabrous, at least 

 above: spike 1-4 dm. in length, usually stout, strict, often interrupted below, 

 sometimes compound at the base: spikelets 3-6-flowered, 2-several at each 

 node of the rachis: glumes awl-shaped, 9-12 mm. long, generally awn-pointed, 

 usually rough, sometimes smooth. Valleys, banks, and ravines mostly in 

 saline situations; throughout our range and westward. 



65. SITANION Raf. 



Tufted grasses with flat or involute leaves and a terminal dense spike with 

 the rachis articulated and readily breaking up. Spikelets numerous, in twos 

 or threes at each joint, 1-5-flowered. Glumes entire or divided, the divisions 

 extending often to the base, the lemmas or their divisions bearing long slender 

 awns; palet 2-keeled. Stamens 3. Styles distinct, short; stigmas plumose. 

 Grain adherent to the palet. 



Leaves and sheaths glabrate or scabrous. 



Leaves long and flexuous 1. S. longifolium. 



Leaves short and rigid 2. S. brevifolium. 



Leaves and sheaths more or less pubescent. 



Leaves pubescent on both sides 3. S. hystrix. 



Leaves pubescent beneath, scabrous above . . . . . 4. S. montanum. 



1. Sitanion longifolium J. G. Smith, U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 18. 

 1899. Tufted, 3-5 dm. high: leaves of the innovations 1.5-3 dm. long, often 

 as long as the culms, glabrous and glaucous or obscurely pubescent: spike sub- 



