888 GRAMINEiE. (GRABS FAMILY.) 



es sometimes half as long as panicle ; pedicels short, flattened, rough ; 

 rrlumes linear, setaceous-acuminate, the lower half as long as the upper, 

 which is scarcely shorter than the adjacent floweret ; lower pale linear- 

 lanceolate, scalrous toward tip or all over, ending in an awn once and a 

 half to twice its length — May and June — Beit-Meri ; Neba'-el-Hadid 

 (Lebanon). 



Var. niinutigUima, Post. Lower glume minute — Hauran. 



3. V. ciliata, Pers. .3. Panicle contracted, oblong, .03 to 

 .07 long, .01 to .015 broad, branches appressed, pedicels short; spike- 

 iets 4-6-flowered, the lowermost floweret only fertile as a rule ; glumes 

 o-labrous, lanceolate-subulate, the lower minute or 0, the upper one- 

 fourth to one-third as long as next pale; lower pale lanceolate, keeled, 

 mllous-ciliate at base and margin or all over, ending in an awn about twice 

 its length — Spring — Syrian coast. 



Var. plumosa, Boiss. Spikelets 3-flowered, flowerets spirally ar- 

 ranged ; upper glume minute. Lower pale longer-ciliate — Jebel Nah- 

 has (Aleppo), and eastward. 



4. V. uiiigl»mi§, Sol. .3 to .4. Upper leaves often near the 

 panicle, and sometimes forming an involucre to it. Panicle oblong, 

 .05 to .08 long, .01 to .02 broad, one-sided, nearly simple, branches 

 short, stiff; pedicels rather long, compressed, thickened from base to 

 tip ; spikelets 4-7-flowered ; lower glume minute or 0, upper nearly as 

 long as adjacent pale, long-awned ; lower pale linear-lanceolate, glalrous 

 at lack, scabrous at leel and margins and tip, ending in a scabrous awn 

 as long as or longer than itself— Spring — Sands; coast. 



♦ * Pedicels thicTcened adove ; the lowest floweret of the spiTcelet only fertile, 

 the rest reduced to pales gradually less in size, in 'Z-ranlcs or spirally 

 crowded in a stipitate cluster. All the lower pales long-aristate. Caryopsis 



rounded at tip. 



5. V. inop§, Del. © .05 to .15. Panicle ovate to oblong, .03 to 

 .05 long, .006 to .015 broad, dense; branches short, thick; pedicels 

 short, flattened ; glumes equal in length, glabrous or hirsute, the lower 

 subulate, the ujjper linear-lanceolate, both ending in a long awn ; lower 

 pale of fertile floweret glabrous or hirsute, its awn with those of the 

 glumes overtopping the awns of the sterile floicerets ; upper flowerets of 

 sterile cluster reduced to awns — Spring — Deserts from Sinai to 

 Palmyra. 



* * * SpiMets nearly sessile, on node-UTce pedi- jy Fig. 410! 

 eels, the fertile flowerets numerous. Glumes very 

 unequal, the lower often obsolete. Lower palemu- 

 cronate-aristate. Caryopsis tapering at both ends. 



6. Y. pectinella, Del. Abu-Dhu- 

 neibah. .05 to .3. Panicle spike-like, .02 

 to .03 long, .008 broad, one-sided, simple, 

 or with one or two spreading branches at 

 base ; spikelets 2-ranked, spreading, oblong, 

 .004 to .000 long, .002 broad, 3-8'flowered; 

 lower glume minute, scale-like, ovate-trian- 

 gular, upper coriaceous, concave, linear, 

 mucronate, convex at back, half as long as 

 adjacent floweret ; flowerets loosely racemed Spikes of Vuipia pectineiia. 



