GRAMINE^. (GRASS FAMILY.) 895 



elliptical, obtusish or acute, nearly equal; lower pale elliptical-oblong 

 more or less nerved, apex sliort-bidentate, awn slender, as long as pale- 

 straight or at length recurved - - May to August — Fields ; middle to 

 subalpine Lebanon ; northern Syria. 



19. 15. piilcHsellus, Fig. et Not. Low, pubescent. Panicle 

 simple, somewhat one-sided ; spikelets erect or nodding, oblong, com- 

 pressed, loosely 6-9-flowered; glumes beautifully nerved, shorter than 

 flowerets, appressed-hirtulous at back ; lower pale appressed-hirtulous, 

 bifid, obversely oblong, margin not angled, bifid into triangular, subu- 

 late lohes, awn inserted above middle, longer than pale, twisted — Val- 

 leys of Sinai. 



§1. BRACeYPOBlSJM, P. dc B. False Brome Grass. 



Spikelets very short-pedicelled, many-flowered, cylindrical, then 

 linear-lanceolate or oblong, laterally compressed, appressed to the axis 

 of the spike; flowerets perfect, the uppermost tabescent; rachis gene- 

 rally brittle. Glumes slightly unequal, somewhat coriaceous, several- 

 nerved, shorter than adjacent floweret. Pales nearly equal in length, 

 the lower herbaceous or somewhat coriaceous, concave, aristate or mu- 

 ticous,' the upper membranous, 2-keeled, truncate at tip, pectinate- 

 hairy at keels — Perennials or annuals; spikelets appressed forming a 

 spike-like raceme. 



* Annuals. Glumes acute. 



1. M. distacSiyuni, L. Belimeli. .15 to .4; culms geuiculate-as- 

 cending, leafy to or below middle. Leaves linear, .003 broad, .Oo to 

 .06 long, hairy or puberulent. Spikelets 1-G, oblong-linear, .025 to 

 .035 long, .004 to .006 broad, 6-16-flowered, glabrous or puberulent; 

 axis brittle; lower pale linear-lanceolate, prominently 5-7-nerved, 

 ciliate toward tip, ending in a straight awn shorter or longer than pale 



— March .to August — Dry fields and waste places; common. 



* * Perennials. Glumes mucronate. 



2. B. §ylvatiemii, Huds. If .5 to 1 ; root fibrous; culms numer- 

 ous, erect, slender, not branching, naked above, hirsute at nodes. 

 Leaves linear, .005 to .01 broad, .3 to .3 long, flaccid, with hairy 

 sheaths. Raceme oblong-linear, .1 to .2 long, .015 to .03 broad, some- 

 what nodding, composed of 2-15, more or less approximated, linear- 

 lanceolate to linear, G-lS-flowered spikelets, .02 to .03 long, .0015 to 

 .003 broad; lower pale oblong, hirtulous. ciliate-margiued toward tip, 

 ending in an awn, in lower flowerets shorter, in upper longer than itself 



— June to August — Shady places; coast to middle mountain zone; 

 interior tablelands. 



Var. pilosuni, Post. Sheaths and laminae of leaves long-hairy — 



Amanus; Antilebanon plateau. 



3. B. piniiatuiii, L. 2^ .5 to 1; root-stock long, creeping; 

 culms erect, rigid, not branched, minuteli/ 2^ul/erulent nt nodes. Leaves 

 linear, .003 to .007 broad, glabrescent or puberulent. Uaceme linear, 

 .1 to .15 long, .01 to .025 broad, erect or nodding at tip, composed of 

 2-9, rather distant, linear, glabrous or velvety, many-flowered spikelets, 

 .025 to .04 long, .0015 to .0025 broad ; glumes oblong-lanceolate, acute, 

 mucronate; lower pale oblong, fjlahrous, ciliate-margincd toward tip, 

 ending in an awn shorter than itself — June to August— Stony, dry 

 places; coast to middle mountain zone and interior tablelands. 



