864 GEAMINEiE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



* Annuals. Spikes cylindrical. Calms usually several, erect or ascending. 



t Leaves sealrous. 



1. P. tenue, Sclirad. .3 to .4. Spike .03 to .1 long, .003 to 

 .006 thick, glaucous; spikelets compressed, elliptical ; glumes coriace- 

 ous, glabrous, semiovate, incurved, acute, mucronulate, remotely 3- 

 nerved, connivent ; pales membranous, half as long as glumes, nearly 

 equal, the lower 5-nerved, ovate, truncate, denticulate, the upper nar- 

 row, 2-nerved — Spring — Grassy places; coast. 



Var. eiliatum, Boiss. Glumes ciliate at keel. 



2. P. exaratUHi, Hochst. .3 to .4. Spike .03 to .1 long; 

 spikelets compressed, oyaife / glumes subcoriaceous, oblong, with deep 

 grooves heticeen the 3 nerves, sparingly ciliate along upper part of keel, 

 acuminate, mucronulate, recurved at tip> ; pales about a fourth d.'s> long as 

 glumes, equal, puberulent, the lower 3-nerved, ovate, obtuse, somewhat 

 fringed, the upper 2-nerved — Spring — Dry hillsides; Aleppo to Aiu- 

 tab, and northward. 



1 1 Leaves smooth, or minutely scabridulous at margin. 



3. P. OraecuHi, Boiss. et Held. .3 to .4. Spike .03 to .08 

 long; spikelets compressed, linear; glumes membranous, 3-nerved at 

 back, pectinate-ciliate along Iceel, lanceolate, divergent above, aristate- 

 acuminate ; pales one-sixth as long as glumes, the lower ovate, truncate, 

 eroded, 5-nerved ; the upper narrower, 2-nerved — Spring — Coast. 



4. P. areiiarium, L. .1 to .2. Spike .01 to .03 long; spike- 

 lets compressed ; glumes lanceolate, narrowed at both ends, acuminate, 

 straight, not divergent at tip, 3-nerved, the keel ciliate ; \i^\e,s, one-fourth 

 as long as glumes, the lower ovate, 3-nerved, obtuse, somewhat tooth- 

 ed, puberulent — Spring — Haifa ; Beirut. 



* * Perennials. Pioot-stoolc short, fihriferous. Cuhns erect or geniculate below. 



5. P. Bwlimcri, Wib. 2f .2 to .4. Spike cylindrical, .02 to .06 

 long, pale; glumes linear-oblong, 3-nerved, scabrous or ciliate at keel, 

 aristate-mucronate, obliquely truncate below mucro; pales ttoo-thirds as 

 long as glumes, obtuse — May to September. 



Var. eiliatum, Griseb. Glumes longer, less oblique, with longer 

 mucro, ciliate — Ferruginous soil ; alpine and subalpiue Lebanon,- 

 Amauas, and northward. 



6. P. pratcnse, L. If .3 to .6. Spike . Fig. 387. 

 cylindrical, .01 to .1 long, dense, green; glumes 

 oblong, scarious-margined, truncate at a right 

 angle at tip, 3-nerved at back, keel ciliate, pro- 

 duced into a straight mucro ojie-third to one- 

 fourth as long as glume; pales one-third as long 

 as glumes, truncate — May. 



Var. nodosum, Boiss. Root -stock bulbous 

 — Jebel Baruk (Lebanon). 



•y. P. alpiiium, L. 2f .2 to .4. Spike 

 ovate to oblong and cylindrical, .015 to .08 long, Spikeletof Phieum pratense, 

 .008 to .01 thick, purplish; glumes oblong, magnified 6 diameters. 



liirsute, membranous-margined, truncate at a right angle at tip, 3- 



