270 GRAMLNE.E. Polypogon. 



at its obtuse tip. Vilfa asperifolia, Nees & Meyen in Trin. Agrost. i. 73 ; Steud. 

 Syn. Gram. 160; Watson, 1. c. 375. Sporobolus (Vilfa) arenaceus, Euckl. in Proc 

 Acad. Philad. 1862, 89. 



Mono Lake (Bolander), and frequent in alkaline soils through northern Nevada to Oregon 

 (Nuttall), eastward to Nebraska, and southward to Texas and Mexico ; also Chilian. While *the 

 Californian specimens appear as if the species was an annual, those from the Rocky Mountains 

 have the root of a perennial ; the leaves are pale green, sometimes erect, much crowded and rather 

 rigid, but none are sufficiently rough to make the specific name descriptive. Specimens were 

 collected in Colorado by Wolf in which the ovary was ergotized and the spikelets 2- and 3-llowered, 

 an abnormal state which might be ascribed to a diseased condition did not specimens apparently 

 perfectly healthy, collected by Dr. Torrey in Nevada, have almost uniformly two florets in the 

 spikelet, giving the plant much the appearance of an Eragrostis. 



17. POLYPOGON, Desf. BEARD-GRASS. 



Panicle dense and spike-like or somewhat branched or lobed. Spikelets 1-flow- 

 ered, very small, rarely exceeding a line in length. Glumes nearly equal, com- 

 pressed, 1-nerved and bearing a long awn at or below the apex. Floret much shorter 

 than the glumes, without manifest callus, and naked at base. Lower palet hyaline, 

 broad, 1-nerved (or obscurely 5-nerved), truncate, toothed, awned at the apex. 

 Scales 2, falcate, entire, as long as the ovary. Stamens 3 ; anthers small. Styles 

 short, with long feathery stigmas. 



A genus of about a dozen mostly annual and widely distributed species, especially in warm 

 countries, usually growing upon the seashore and in sandy waste places. It is closely allied to 

 Agrostis, from which it is distinguished by its conspicuously awned glumes. Of no known eco- 

 nomical value. 



1. P. Monspeliensis, Desf. (ANNUAL BEARD-GRASS.) Culms 6 inches to 2| 

 feet high, procumbent and geniculate at base, rarely erect, often branching from the 

 lower nodes : leaves broad, flat, somewhat scabrous ; sheaths smooth ; ligule 2 or 3 

 lines long, obtuse : panicle 2 to 6 inches long, cylindrical or somewhat interrupted, 

 yellowish, dense and soft : spikelets about a line long : glumes notched at the apex 

 and emitting an awn two or three times their length : lower palet with an awn 

 equalling or slightly exceeding the glumes. Eeichenb. Icon. Fl. Germ. i. 15, t. 91 ; 

 Doell, Fl. Bras. fasc. Ixxix. 44, t. 12. 



From Oregon to San Diego County, chiefly in the mountains, not rare ; also in Northern Nevada 

 and Southern Utah, and on the Atlantic coast. It occurs nearly throughout Europe, also in Asia 

 and Africa. On account of the light color of its dense panicle it is a rather conspicuous grass. 



2. P. littoralis, Smith. Culms from a perennial root, forming large tufts, 1 to 2 

 feet long or more : leaves rather narrow, scabrous on both sides ; ligule 1 to 3 lines 

 long, acute : panicle narrow, much lobed its whole length and sometimes completely 

 interrupted below, usually purplish : glumes more or less pubescent and distinctly 

 aculeate on the keel, tapering into an awn of about their own length : awn of lower 

 palet slightly exserted beyond the glumes. Eeichenb. 1. c., t. 92 (n. 172). P. 

 fugax, Boland. Cat. 34. 



Wet places, San Francisco and Oakland (Bolander, Lcmmon) ; Oregon, Howcll. Coasts of 

 western Europe and the Mediterranean ; South America. This was at first referred to P. fugax, 

 Nees (which Trinuis places as a variety of the preceding), and is so given in Bolander's Catalogue. 

 It is readily distinguished from the other by its narrower, often interrupted panicle, which on 

 account of its shorter awns feels much harsher, a'so by its frequent purplish tinge or, when that 

 is not present, by the darker green color of the panicle. Mr. Bolander regarded it as an annual, 

 but the specimens are all without roots. 



18. AGROSTIS, Linn. BENT-GRASS. 



Panicle open and spreading, sometimes contracted and narrow, the rays whorled, 

 often in clusters of several. Spikelets small (' to 2 lines long), 1-flowered or (rarely) 



