BRIZA GRAMINE.E 7(55 



FESTUCA 



E. lutescens Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Cir. 9, 7. A low 

 much branched and densely cespitose annual, 4-8 inches high : sheaths 

 loose, smooth or with a few short hairs at the throat : ligules very short, 

 ciliate : leaves flat, 1-3 inches long, 1-2 lines wide, minutely scabrous 

 above, very acute : panicle pale green or straw-color, 2-4 inches long, its 

 branches ascending to appressed, spikelets narrowly oblong, 3-12-flowered : 

 empty glumes unequal, the first about } line long, the second K longer; 

 flowering glumes about 1 line long, obtuse. 3-nerved. On sandy banks along 

 Snake river eastern Washington to Idaho. 



47 BRIZA L. Sp. 70. 



Annual or perennial grasses with flat or convolute leaves, and 

 open or rarely contracted panicles. Spikelets flattened, several- 

 flowered, nodding: flowers perfect, glumes thin, membranous, 

 strongly concave, the two lower empty, 3-5 nerved, flowering 

 glumes imbracted, broader than the empty ones, 5-many-nerved, 

 the uppermost glumes often empty. Palets much shorter than 

 the glumes, hyaline, 2-keeled or 2-nerved. Stamens 3. Styles 

 distinct, with plumous stigmas. Grain usually free, enclosed in 

 the glume and palet. 



B. MINOR L. Sp. 70. Stems slender, 4-15 inches high, from an annual 

 root, simple: sheaths shorter than the internodes: ligules 1-3 lines long, 

 acute: leaves 1-5, 1-4 lines wide, sometimes scabrous : panicles 2-5 inches 

 long, open, its capillary branches spreading or ascending, 1-3 inches long: 

 spikelets 3-9-flowered, 1-1/4 lines long, about 2 lines broad, truncate at the 

 base : glumes scarious-margined, the empty ones about 1 line long : flowering 

 glumes much broader and deeply saccate, about % line long. Common in 

 southwestern Oregon to California: naturalized from Europe. 

 48 FESTUCA L. Sp. 73. 



Annual or perennial grasses with flat or convolute leaves and 

 paniculate inflorescence. Spikelets two- to several-flowered, the 

 two lower glumes empty, more or less unequal, acute, keeled : 

 flowering glumes membranaceous, narrow, rounded on the back, 5- 

 nerved, usually acute, and generally awned at the apex. Palets 

 scarcely shorter than the glumes. Stamens 1-3. Styles very 

 short, distinct, with plumose, stigmas. Grain glabrous, elongated, 

 often adherent to the glume or palet. 



F. microstachya Nutt. Journ. Acad. Phila. u. s. i, 187. Stems slen- 

 der, erect, 6-20 inches high, from an annual root: sheaths shorter, than 

 the internodes, smooth or pubescent: ligules very short: leaves 2-4, erect, 

 slender, 1-4 inches long: panicle erect, racemose or spicate, 2-5 inches long, 

 its branches channelled, single or some of the lowest in pairs, erect, spread- 

 ing or deflexed, the longest 6-18 lines long: spikelets 1-5-flowered : empty 

 glumes involute, the first 2-3 lines long, second 3-5 lines long : flowering 

 glumes convex, involute , acuminate, scabrous: 2)^-4 lines long: palets 

 scabrous, bearing 2 short awns : stamens 1 : very variable. On dry open 

 ridges, Arizona to Brit. Columbia. 



Var. ciliata Gray, Beal Grasses N. Am. ii, 587. Axis, branches of 

 panicle and glumes all strongly ciliate. On dry ridges, southern Oregon 

 to California. 



Var. pauciflora Scribn. Vasey, Cat. Grasses U. S. 90. Stems 

 slender, 1-2 feet high : panicle loose, with longer branches : spikelets 1-2- 

 flowered, the flowering glumes with awns 6-12 lines long. On dry open 



