=< ae =” 
——__ - 
POA GRAMINEZ® 759 
feet high, smooth or slightly scabrous, from stout creeping perennial root- 
‘stocks: sheaths smooth, the lower ones short but exceeding the internodes: 
ligules obtuse, 1 line long or less, or often nearly, obsolete :: panicle oblong, 
1-3 inches long: leaves flat or involute, 2-6 inches long, |-2 lines wide: 
panicle 1-3 inches long, its branches hispid, 2-4 at each of the 5-7 nodes, 
1 inch long or less, nearly erect or somewhat spreading: spikelets rather 
turgid 3-5-flowered: empty glumes ovate, acute or acutish, smooth, 144-2 
lines long: flowering glumes lance-ovate, minutely scabrous, hispid-ciliate 
on ‘the ‘keel, purple with scarious tips, 5-nerved, 244-3 lines long: palet 
‘oblong, obtuse or retuse, 2 lines long, ciliate on the keels. On the highest 
peaks of the Cascade Mountains, Washington to California. 
P. pratensis L. Sp. 67. Stems slender, erect, simple, 1-4 feet high, 
‘from long running rootstocks: sheaths often longer than the internodes: 
ligules truncate, 34 line long, or less: leaves 2-10 inches long, flat or invo- 
lute 124-3 lines wide: panicle 2-8 inches long, usually pyramidal, its bran- 
ches spreading or ascending, 1-3 inches long: spikelets 3-5-flowered, 2-214 
lines long: empty glumes unequal, glabrous, rough on the. keel, the lower 
l-nerved, the upper 3-nerved: flowering glume 13¢ line long, acute, 5-ner- 
ved, webbed at the base, the marginal nerves and midnerve silky-pubescent 
‘below. Common everywhere. 
 P. compressa L. Sp. 69. Pale bluish-green and glabrous: stems 6-24 
inches long, decumbent at base, from long horizontal rootstocks, smooth, 
‘much flattened: sheaths loose, mostly shorter than the internodes: ligules 
“2g line long: leaves 1-4 inches long, about 1 line wide. smooth, beneath, 
rough above: panicle usually contracted, its branches erect or ascending, 
_ Linch long or less: spikelets 3-9-flowered, 134-3 lines long: empty glumes 
‘acute, 3-nerved; flowering glumes 1-114 lines long, obscurely 3-nerved, the 
nerves slightly pubescent toward the base. In fields and waste places: 
naturalized from Europe. 
P. Wheeleri- Vasey Rothr. Rep. Bot. U. S. Surv. vi, 291. Stems 
10-30 inches high, from perennial running rootstocks: ligules about 1 line 
long: leaves of sterile shoots 7-10 inches long, 1-2 lines wide, rigid, condn- 
licate or involute, with a firm oblique point: panicle open, 4-6 inches 
ong, ovoid, its slender branches mostly in pairs, the longer about 2 inches 
long, spikelets lance-elliptical, 2-4 lines long, 3-flowered: empty glumes 
subequal, ovate-lanceolate 3-nerved; the second one 2 lines long; flowering 
glumes not webbed, 2 lines long, ciliate on thelateral nerves and on the 
lower part of the keel, oval, subacute, with scarious margins: palets trun- 
cate very nearly as long as the glumes, ciliate on the keel. Eastern 
Washington to Colorado. 
‘P. ‘acutiglumis Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Cir. 9,4. A 
loosely tufted perennial: stems smooth or somewhat roughened at the 
nodes, about 2 feet high, sheaths shorter than the internodes: ligules 
about 2 lines long, often more or less fimbriately divided: stem leaves 2-3, 
minutely roughened on both sides: panicle ovate in outline, about 4 inches 
long, its branches in twos or threes, rough-hispid, ascending, the lower 
_ ones 1-214 inches long: spikelets lanceolate, acute, 5-7 lines long loosely 
4-7-flowered: empty glumes unequal, hispid on the back, the lower long- 
acuminate, 3-nerved, the upper lanceolate, acute, more or less distinctly 
5-nerved, 2 lines long; flowering glumes narrowly oblong-lanceolate, acute, 
5-nerved, hispid on the back: palets oblong-linear, acute, a little shorter 
than the glumes, ciliate on the keels. Near Grave Creek, southern Oregon. 
P. epilis Scribn. 1. c. A closely cespitose perennial with numerous 
basal leaves from intravaginal shoots: stems slender, smooth, sheaths most- 
ly shorter: than the internodes: ligules of the stems leaves acute, 1144 line 
long: leaves smooth, flat: or convolute, 2-10 inches long, panicle contracted, 
its smooth branches ‘erect or ascending, 1-2-inches long: spikelets ovate- 
