GRAMINEiE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 859 



truncate, obtusisli, -with a geniculate, divergent, exserted awn twice 

 to thrice its length; upper pale linear — May and June — Subalpine and 

 alpine Lebanon, and Antilebanon. 



24. ARISTIDA, L. Triple-Awned Grass. 

 Spikelets 1 -flowered, somewhat laterally compressed, the floweret 

 perfect, stipitate. Glumes membranous, lanceolate, acuminate. Pales 

 unequal, the lower membranous, at length indurated, enclosing the 

 slender, muticous, upper one, the awn dividing from or near base into 

 three naked or feathery bristles. Stamens 3. Styles 2 — (Ours) peren-^ 

 nial herbs, tufted at base, with stif! culms, geniculate below, and 

 filiform leaves. 



* Awn persistent, divided from hase into three, naked bristles. 



1. A. caeriilescens, Desf. If .4 to .5. Panicle ,15 to .3 long, 

 .02 broad, often interrupted at base; glumes linear-subulate, more or 

 less unequal, purplish; lower pale stalked, somewhat longer than 

 glumes, linear-convolute, slightly scabrous; awns capillary, .015 to .03 

 long, scabridulous — Spring — Rocky, dry places ; coast to middle 

 mountain zones ; el-Ghor to Sinai. 



Var. piimila, Post. Culms .05 to .3; glumes sometimes more 

 unequal ; floweret more exserted — Coast ; Dead Sea ; Tiberias ; south- 

 ern deserts. Rather a form than a variety. (A. pumila, Dec.) 



* * Atcn jointed, caducous, dividing ahove lase into 3, naked bristles. 



2. A. ^iebcriana, Trin. If .3. Panicle narrow ; glumes linear, 

 unequal, the lower tapering-setaceous, the upper convolute, with 3 

 bristles at tip, the middle longer; awn of lower pale twisted, .013 long, 

 as long as pale, then divided into three, nearly equal, naked bristles, .045 

 long — Spring — Palestine, near Arimathea. 



* * ''' Aic7i jointed, caducous, simple and often tioisted below, dividing 

 higher up into 3 bristles, the intermediate or all feathery. 



]■ Middle bristle of axon .025 to .05 long, feathery above ; the lateral 

 bristles {except A. Forslcahlei) not feathery. 



\ Lower pale 2-lobed at tip, the aion arising in ^^^' ^°^' 



the sinus. 



Node of stem. 



3. A. ol>tu§a, Del. 11 Dereri. Sefsuf. 

 Haifa. .1 to .3. Panicle close, .06 to .1 long, 

 .03 to .035 broad; glumes nearly equal, thrice 

 as long as floweret, lanceolate -linear, convo- 

 lute, acute; awn naked to fork, the middle 

 bristle naked below, feathery for its upper 

 two-thirds, .02 to .025 long, twice and a 

 half as long as the lateral — Spring — Sinai. 



X \ Lower pale notbilobed, but with a callous tip, 



to lohich the calyptriform base of. the awn is 



jointed. 



4. A. ciliata, Desf. 21 .3 to .5. Nodes 

 and ligules of leaves long-ciliated. Panicle 

 loose, .3 to .35 long, .05 to .06 broad; glumes 

 glabrous, nearly equal, linear-lanceolate, ob- 

 tuse ; lower pale hirsute at base ; awn slightly 



Spikelet of Aristida ciliata. 



