Panicum. GRAMIXE^E. 259 



slender branches solitary or in pairs, at first erect, then spreading and when old 

 often reflexed ; spikelets 1 lines long, ovoid to narrowly oblong, pointed and often 

 purplish, scattered, on mostly much longer pedicels : neutral floret of a single palet, 

 twice the length of the acute 1 -nerved lower glume ; upper glume 5-nerved, pointed, 

 nearly a half longer than the somewhat obtuse perfect flower. Keichenb. 1. c., 

 t. 192. 



Distributed throughout the State and the adjoining States and Territories. This is an abundant 

 grass, mostly in sandy soil, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and varies considerably at the East, 

 but the western specimens are more robust and the branches of the panicle stronger than in the 

 eastern plant, while the spikelets are somewhat longer on shorter pedicels ; but there are no per- 

 manent differences. Of no agricultural value. ; indeed it is said that animals will not touch it. 

 The dry panicles break off in autumn, and are blown about by the winds, often collecting in great 

 heaps in fence-corners, etc. 



4. P. ITrvilleanum, Kunth. Culms perennial, 12 to 20 inches high and, like 

 the whole plant, clothed with whitish hairs: leaves rigid, 12 to 18 inches long, 3 

 lines wide at the flat base, convolute above and ending in a very long tapering point : 

 panicle 6 to 10 inches long, open, the not numerous branches solitary or in pairs, 

 bearing towards their ends a few very hairy large spikelets, which are 2 to 3 lines 

 long, ovate, acute : lower glume 7-nerved, two-thirds the length of the 15-nerved 

 upper one, the nerves in both distinct and greenish : sterile floret staminate, with 

 two palets, the lower 1 5-nerved ; perfect floret oblong, smooth except a fringe of long 

 silky hairs upon the margins. Bev. Gram. t. 115; Brougn. Yoy. Coquille, Phan. 

 117, t. 9. 



San Diego County (Parry & Lemmon) ; also in the State Survey collection, a single specimen, 

 without ticket ; a native of Chili. Several of the lower joints of the culm are naked, indicat- 

 ing that it grows in blowing sands. The sheaths are much crowded, the outer ones weather-worn. 

 The whole plant when young of a very pale glaucous green, when old yellowish throughout. 



t- -t- Spikelets obtuse. 



5. P. scoparium, Lam. Culm from a perennial root, 6 inches to 2 feet high, 

 geniculate at the lower nodes and at length branched and reclining : leaves lanceo- 

 late, 3 to 5 inches long, about 6 lines wide, indistinctly 9-nerved, mostly erect and 

 somewhat rigid, hairy beneath and fringed with spreading hairs at base ; sheaths 

 hairy : panicle 2 to 3 inches long, nearly simple, the hairy slender branches bearing 

 a few large (1J lines long) tumid obovate usually hairy spikelets: upper glume 

 9-nerved, twice or three times the length of the roundish lower one : perfect flower 

 (under a strong lens) minutely dotted in longitudinal lines, the lower palet with a 

 transverse furrow or fold near the base. Encycl. iv. 744 bis (there is much con- 

 fusion in the paging) ; Chapm. Fl. 675. P. pauciflorum, Ell. ? ; Gray, Manual, 648. 



Oregon, Pickering, Spaulding, Hall, Howell Not found as yet within the State, but so fre- 

 quent in Oregon and elsewhere that its occurrence is very probable. It extends from New Eng- 

 land westward, also southward, where the plant is much larger than any Oregon specimens. Late 

 in the season it branches, taking on a variety of forms, some of which are velvety hairy. The 

 fold or crease at the base of the perfect floret appears to have been overlooked ; it seems to be 

 quite characteristic of this species. 



6. P. dichotomum, Linn. Culm from a few inches to 2 feet high, erect and 

 simple or, late in the season, decumbent and variously branched : lower leaves 

 usually ovate, the upper linear-lanceolate, smooth or hairy or velvety : terminal 

 panicle open, ovoid, those of the branches short and often included in the sheaths ; 

 spikelets a line long, oblong-obovate, smooth or hairy : lower glume roundish, one- 

 third the length of the 5 - 7-nerved upper one. P. thermale. Bolander, Proc. Calif. 

 Acad. ii. 181. 



Yosemite Valley, the Geysers, and on Lassen's Peak, at an altitude of 4,500 feet. Found all 

 over the country, and presenting an endless variety of forms, many of which have been desciibed 

 as species. It assumes a very different appearance after the first flowering, when it begins to 

 flower upon the numerous branches. Some forms smooth and shining, but all thus far collected in 

 the State are hairy. P. thermale was described from a densely velvety low and much branched state. 



