T= yy -_ 
‘SPOROBOLUS GRAMINEZ 723 
lets 1-flowered. Glumes membranaceo-chartaceous, 1-nerved or 
nerveless, not awned but sometimes pointed. Flowers sessile, or 
with a minute callus, usually longer than the glumes.  Palets 
similar to the glumes in texture, mostly 1- or indistinctly 3-nerved. 
Stamens 2 or 3, Ovary oblong. Stigmas with simple hairs. 
S. asperifolius Thurber Bot. Cal. ii, 269. Stems 6-15 inches long: 
‘branched, decumbent at base, rooting at the nodes and thus forming broad 
matted tufts: leaves flat, 1-3 inches long, about’1 line broad, scabrous: 
ligules very sort, truncate: sheaths smooth, loose, very short and overlap- 
ping below: panicle included at base, open, 3-5 inches long, pyramidal or 
ovoid, in outline, its scabrous branches solitary or in pairs: spikelets less 
than a line !ong, on pedicels 6 lines long: glumes nearly equal, acute, min- 
utely scabrous: flowers slightly exceeding the glumes, the flowering glume 
sometimes with a minute mucro at its obtuse tip. In alkaline soil, Brit. 
Columbia to California and Nebraska. 
S. ecryptandrus Gray Man. ed. 2, 542. Stems 2-3 feet high, usually 
geniculate and branched below: sheaths smooth, strongly bearded at the 
throat, the lower shorter than the internodes: ligules reduced to a mere 
fringe: leaves flat, 3-6 inches long, about 2 lines wide, acuminate, scabrous 
above: panicle narrowly pyramidal, more or less enclosed by the upper 
sheath, 4-8 inches long, its branches mostly in pairs, spreading: spikelets 
a line long, short-pedicelled, rather crowded, lead-colored: empty glumes 
somewhat acute, the upper twice the length of the very narrow lower one: 
flowering glume about equalling the second one. In sandy soil, Oregon to 
the New England coast. 
-.§$. airoides Torr. Pac. R. Rep. vii, 21.. Stems 2-3 feet high, somewhat 
rigid, smooth, forming large tufts, rarely branched, clothed below with 
dead sheaths: sheaths smooth, with a few long hairs at the throat, the 
2 lower overlapping, the uppermost loose: ligules nearly obsolete: leaves 
very pale, convolute and tapering to a filiform point, the basal ones about 
_half as long as the stems, the uppermost reduced to a mere filiform appen- 
dage to the sheath: panicle broadly pyramidal, soon exserted, 6-12 inches 
long, few-flowered: its slender branches setae or in pairs, spreading or 
reflexed: spikelets a line long, brownish, on rather long pedicels: empty 
glumes rather obtuse, the first norrower and 14-1, as long as the second 
one; flowering glume slightly longer than the second one: palet about as 
long asthe glume. On prairies, eastern Oregon to California and Nebraska. 
‘S$. cuspidatus Wood Bot. € Fl. 385. ‘Smooth and glabrous: stems 
{+2 feet high, erect, simple or somewhat branched: sheaths shorter than 
the internodes: ligule a mere ring: leaves 1-4 inches long, less than 1 line 
wide, erect, involute-setaceous, at least when dry: panicle 2-5 inches long, 
slender, its branches 44-1 inch long, appressed: spikelets 144-14 lines 
long: empty glumes acuminate or cuspidate, scabrous on the keel; flower- 
ing glume long-acuminate and cuspidate, sparingly scabrous. In dry soil, 
eastern Washington to the Missouri river. 
_§. depauperatus Scribn. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club. ix, 103. Vilfa. dep- 
auperata Torr. Stems tufted. very slender, 3 inches to 2 feet long, decum- 
bent and geniculate, often much branched: leaves short, often involute, 
very minutely scabrous above: sheaths rather loose, crowded and overlap- 
ping below: panicle 44-2 inches long, very narrow, of few solitary distant 
erect branches: spikelets 1 line long or less, short-pedicelled: empty. 
glumes ovate, obtuse, nearly equal: flower about twice as long as the emp- 
ty glumes, often blackish, deciduous; flowering glume obscurely 3-nerved, 
the mid-nerve often excurrent: as a small:mucro: palet nearly as long as 
a glume. On margins of ponds, eastern Oregon to California and New 
exico,. — oe : thes 
