GRAMINH^. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



L. .3 to .4; culms jreniciilate, 



88; 



Fig. 40^ 



Spikeletof Briza 

 maxima. 



3. B. anaxiina^ 



ascending. Leaves broad-linear. Panicle nearly simple, 

 somewhat one-sided, .04 to .1 long, .025 to .06 broad, nod- 

 ding at apex, with slender, wavy branches. Spikelets 

 large, ovate to ovate-oblong or oblong, pendulous, .008 

 to .02 long, .005 to .01 broad, 7-17-flowered, straw-colored 

 or reddisJi^— Bryving — Grassy places, as high as middle 

 mountain region; common. A most beautiful grass. 

 71. SCHISMUS, P. de B. Schismus. 

 Spikelets G-T-flowered, laterally compressed, the 

 flowerets perfect ; axis jointed, brittle. Glumes much longer than the 

 lowest floweret, herbaceous, scarious-margined, lanceolate, nearly equal, 

 the lower broader, 5-7-nerved, the upper 3-nerved. Lower pale obo- 

 vate, concave, qo -nerved, scarious-margined, 2-lobed, muticous or with 

 a short awn at sinus ; upper pale as long or shorter, obloug-spathulate, 

 entire, 2-keeled below — Tufted annuals; leaves at length convolute- 

 subulate, spikelets in an oblong spike, which (in ours) is .015 to .03 

 long, acutish at both ends. 



fi.S. ca!ycimi§, L. Behmeh. Safsuf. .1 to .15. Pedicels 

 one-half to one-third as long as spikelets; glumes acute; lower pale 

 short-hairy at margin or all over back, or rarely glabrous ; lobes obtuse, 

 one-fifth as long as pale ; awn short or ; upper pale nearly as long as 

 lower — Spring — Sinai ; Jordan Valley ; Coelesyria ; Palmyrene Desert 

 2. §. AraI>icH§, Nees. Abu-Machi. .1 to .2. Pedicels one- 

 half to one-fourth as long as spikelets ; glumes acuminate ; lower pale 

 silky hirsute, Ufid to one-third or one-half its length, lobes^ acute ; awn 

 obsolete-, upper pale two-thirds as long as lower — Spring ~ Sandy 

 places; Sinai; Jordan Valley; Damascus; Aleppo. 



72. POA, L. Meadow Grass. Spear Grass. 

 Spikelets pedicelled, laterally compressed, 2-co -flowered, the 

 flowerets perfect. Glumes keeled, shorter than flowerets, nearly equal 

 or the lower smaller. Lower pale 2-keeled, 2-lobed, at length decidu- 

 ous with the upper pale — Annuals or perennials, the spikelets in a 

 more or less open panicle. 



* Lower pale ^-nerved. 



t Lateral nerves of lower pale prominent. 



X Lower pale glabrous; tufted alpine and subalpine perennials. 



1. P. diversifolia, Boiss. et Bal. 2f .3 to .C. Leaves of sterile 

 clusters with a dilated sheath, slender, involute, .06 to .15 long; cau- 

 line leaves broader and flatter. Panicle erect, .05 to .1 long, .008 to 

 .02 broad; spikelets 3-5-flowered, .005 to .007 long, green or reddish; 

 glumes lanceolate, acute, the lower l-nerved, the upper longer, 3- 

 nerved, nearly as long as lower flowerets; lower pale lanceolate, gla- 

 brous, scabridulous, keeled, obtuse— May to August — Subalpine and 

 alpine Lebanon. 



Var. cra§sipe§, Hackel. Base of culms bulbous-dilated 



nearly alike. Panicle narrow. Branches and spikelets few. 



\ Lower pale usually silky-hairy at keel and margins. 



2. P. auMua, L. (D Low Spear Grass. .1 to .25, tufted 



Leaves 



