GRAMINE^. (grass FJLMILY.) 901 



Var. macrathera, Boiss. Awns of upper 3-4 spikelets, ^many 

 times as long as spikelets — Dtmas (near Damascus). 



y. M. bicornis, Forsk .3 to .6. Spike not including awns 

 .06to.l long, .008 broad, 2-rauked; spikelets somewhat longer than 

 internodes,^ about 3 flo\\jered, the upper floweret tabescent, not awned : 

 glumes coriaceous, obliquely oblong, convex, truncate or retuse at tip, 

 1-2-deuticulate, scabrous at nerves, somewhat shorter than pales; lower 

 pales oblong, all produced into a scabrous awn, twice to ten times as long 

 as pale, the lateral nerves at base of awn sometimes produced into a short 

 mucro — April and May — Sands and waste fields ; coast. 



Var. inutica, Post. Lower pales of lower or of all the spikelets 

 muticous — Haifa. 



8. iE. Auclieri, Boiss. © .3 to .5. Spike loose, zigzag, 2-ranked, 

 .08 to .1 long; spikelets 5-11, 3-o-flo\vered, as long as joints of axis in 

 which they fit; glumes of all the spikelets oblong, unequal, convex, 

 obsoletely keeled, truncate and mucronulate at tip; lower pale longer 

 than glumes, oblong, truncate at tip, in lateral spikelets 1-2-denticulate 

 at tip, the lateral teeth rounded, the middle acute ; lower pale of terminal 

 spike tapering into an awn many times its length — April to June — 

 Fields; coast; interior tablelands; ascent from el-Ghor to Nebo (Moab). 



Var. polyatliera, Boiss. Lower pales of lateral spikelets pro- 

 duced into an awn half to twice as long as they — Coast ; Aintab. 



88. L.EPTURUS, R. Br. Lepturus. Sea Hard-Grass. 



Spikelets solitary, immersed in the hollows of the rachis, 1-flower- 

 ed, with occasionally a rudiment of another floweret, or 2-flowered. 

 Glumes of all the spikelets 2, coriaceous, many-nerved, in the lateral 

 spikelets placed edge to edge in front of spikelet, open before flower- 

 ing, then- closed, in the terminal spikelet opposite. Flowerets mem- 

 branous, oblique to the axis, the pales of equal length, the lower con- 

 cave, muticous, the upper 2-keeled — Annuals, with filiform spikes. 



Li. incurvatus, L. Fig. 420. 



Shii'air. Timzein. Ilaidah. 

 .1 to .4; culms clustered, de- 

 cumbent or ascending, incurved , 

 often branching at base. Leaves 

 linear, fiat, the uppermost near 

 the base of the spike. Spike ,n - . ,. 



A- *.« f» „ I AAi ^ ill) of sijiko of Lepturus mcurvatus. 



Oo to .2 or more long, .001 to * ' 



,0015 thick; spikelets, usually longer than internodcs; glumes coriiice- 



ous, equal, 3-5-nerved, longer than floweret; pales lanceolate acuminate ; 



anthers minute, ovate-oblong — February to ]\Iay — Sandy places and 



fields; coast; Sinai. 



89. PSIIARUS, Triu. Psilcrus. 

 Spikelets solitary (rarely twin), immersed in hollows of axis, 2- 

 flowered, one floweret sessile, perfect, the other ])edieelled, usually 

 abortive. Glume 1, triangular, situated at the outer side of the spike- 

 let, much shorter than pale. Pales parallel with the axis, the lower 1 

 nerved, linear-lanceolate, subulate-aristate, enclosing' the 2-keeled, 

 ciliolate upper pale. Stamen 1 —Annual herbs, with filiform sj)ike3. 



P. nardloides, Trin. .1 to .3; culms filiform. Leaves flli- 



