GRAMINE^, (grass FAMILY.) 887 



Hackel. Sheaths divided nearhj to dase, marcescent, 

 not fibrous. Laminae obtuse, 5-nerved, compressed in drying, more or 

 less deeply sulcate at sides. 



(a) Valesiaca, Koch. .2 to .3; culms slender. Lamina glau- 

 cous, glabrous or pruinose, capillary. Panicle dense, .05 long, .005 to 

 .006 broad; spikelets glaucous-pruinose; glumes and lower pale lan- 

 ceolate-subulate, the latter short-aristate — Summer — Natural Bridge 

 (Lebanon). 



(3) l£)evi§5 Hackel. Sheaths smooth, entire to or leyond middle, 

 at length more or less fibrous at least at base. Laminae smooth, obtuse, 

 compressed in drying, grooved at sides, with elevated margins. 



(«) geiiiiiiia, Boiss. Tall or rarely low. Laminae bristle-like 

 or rush-like. Panicle oblong to linear-oblong ; spikelets oblong-ellip- 

 tical; awn of 'pale half its length — Summer — Mt. Cassius. 



* * Ligules truncate, destitute of auricles, or the mouth of the sheath pro- 

 longed into sicMe-shaped auricles. Lamince of leaves usually flat, convolute 



in vernation. Lower pale scarious toward tip, involute in fruit. 



2. F. elatior, L. 2f 1 or more, tufted. Sterile leaf-clusters 

 usually outside of sheaths, curved at base, sometimes creeping a little 

 way, few-leaved; culms terete; sheaths of leaves split to base; ligule 

 short, truncate-shreddy ; laminae alike, linear-lanceolate, flat, more or 

 less convolute in drying, acute, many-nerved, scabrous toward tip. Pa- 

 nicle loose, .1 to .3 long, spreading in flower, more compact in fruit; 

 spikelets oblong to elliptical, .005 to .008 long; glumes nearly equal; 

 lower pale muticous or short-aristate — April and May — 



Var. praten§i§, Hackel. Lamina rarely auricled at base. Spike- 

 lets 7-8-flowered — Fields ; especially in middle mountain zones. 



Var. aruiidlnacca, Hackel. Lamina auricled at base. Spike- 

 lets 4-5-flowered — Lebanon, Coelesyria and Antilebanon ; Gilead ; 

 Moab; Hauran; Damascus. 



76. TUL.PIA, Gmel. Vulpia. Fox Grass. 

 Spikelets on pedicels thickened from base or above, or subsessile, 

 several-flowered, the flowerets diverging, the upper often tabescent. 

 Glumes keeled, acuminate. Lower pale lanceolate-linear, taj^eringfrom 

 an entire apex into a long awn, keeled, rarely convex at back; upper 

 pale 2-keeled, 2-toothed — Tufted annuals, the spikelets in a contract- 

 ed, spike-like panicle or raceme. Leaves more or less convolute 

 or folded. 



* Pedicels thicJcened above ; fertile flowerets usually numerous i?i spiJcelet ; 

 glumes unequal ; lower pale long-aristate. Caryopsis tapering at loth ends. 



1. v. inyuro§, Auct. © .2 to .5. Uppermost leaves near or at 

 base of panicle. Panicle spike-like, .03 to .15 long, .006 to .01 broad, 

 one-sided, somewhat curved and nodding, branches appressed ; pedi- 

 cels very short, compressed, spikelets 4-6-flowered, most of the flower- 

 ets fertile ; glumes linear, setaceous-acuminate, the lower one-third as 

 long as the upper, which is half as long as the adjacent floweret ; louver 

 pale linear-lanceolate, scah^ous at tip or all over, ending in an awn twice 

 as long as itself — Spring — Arabia Petraea; Bikfayah (Lebanon). 



2. "V, sciiiroicles, Roth. .2 to .3. Uppermost leaves remote 

 from panicle. Panicle short, erect, sometimes simple, the lower branch- 



