278 MISC. PUBLICATION 200, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



to distinguish definite varieties. On the Pacific coast there is a 

 rather large loosely tufted form (K. cristata var. longifolia Vasey) 

 with long narrow or involute blades and somewhat open panicle. 



2. Koeleria phleoides (Vill.) Pers. (Fig. 542, B.) Annual; culms 

 15 to 30 cm tall, smooth throughout; sheaths and blades sparsely 

 pilose; panicle dense, spikelike, 2 to 7 cm long, obtuse; spikelets 2 

 to 4 mm long ; glumes acute ; lemmas short-awned from a bifid apex ; 

 glumes and lemmas in the typical form papillose-hirsute on the back, 

 but commonly papillose only, o Introduced from Europe at 

 Pensacola, Fla., Mobile, Ala., Portland, Oreg., and at several points 

 in California. 



53. SPHENOPHOLIS Scribn. WEDGEGRASS 



Spikelets 2- or 3-flowered, the pedicel disarticulating below the 

 glumes, the rachilla produced beyond the upper floret as a slender 

 bristle; glumes unlike in shape, the first narrow, usually acute, 

 1 -nerved, the second broadly obovate, 3- to 

 5-nerved, the nerves sometimes obscure, mostly 

 somewhat coriaceous, the margin scarious ; lem- 

 mas firm, scarcely nerved, awnless or rarely with 

 an awn from just below the apex, the first a 

 little shorter or a little longer than the second 

 glume; palea hyaline, exposed. Slender per- 



FiGUR^543.-Distnbution of ennials (rarely annual) with usually flat blades 

 and narrow shining panicles. Type species, 

 Sphenopholis obtusata. Name from Greek sphen, wedge, and pholis, 

 horny scale, alluding to the hard obovate second glume. 



All the species are forage grasses but are usually not abundant. 

 The most important are S. intermedia and S. obtusata. 



Panicle dense, usually spikelike, erect or nearly so; second glume subcucullate. 



1. S. OBTUSATA. 



Panicle not dense, lax, nodding, from very slender to many-flowered, but not 

 spikelike. 



Spikelets awned 6. S. FALLENS. 



Spikelets awnless (rarely awned in S. filiformis) . 



Second glume acute or subacute; panicle many-flowered. 



Second glume about 2.5 mm long 2. S. INTERMEDIA. 



Second glume about 3.5 mm long 3. S. LONGIFLORA. 



Second glume broadly rounded at summit; panicle relatively few-flowered. 

 Blades rarely more than 10 cm long, flat, 2 to 5 mm wide. 



4. S. NITIDA. 

 Blades elongate, flat to subinvolute, mostly less than 2 mm wide. 



5. S. FILIFORMIS. 



1. Sphenopholis obtusata (Michx.) Scribn. PRAIRIE WEDGEGRASS. 

 (Fig. 544, A.) Culms erect, tufted, 30 to 100 cm tall; sheaths glabrous 

 to finely retrorsely pubescent; blades flat, glabrous, scabrous, or 

 pubescent, mostly 2 to 5 mm wide; panicle erect or nearly so, dense, 

 spikelike to interrupted or lobed, rarely slightly looser, 5 to 20 cm 

 long; spikelets 2.5 to 3.5 mm long, the two florets closer together than 

 in the other species; second glume very broad, subcucullate, some- 

 what inflated at maturity, 5-nerved, scabrous; lemmas minutely 

 papillose in texture, rarely mucronate or with a short straight awn, 

 the first about 2.5 mm long. 91 Open woods, old fields, moist 

 ground, and prairies, Maine to British Columbia, south to Florida, 

 Arizona, and California; Mexico; Dominican Republic. Variable in 



