278 GRAMINEJ3. Vaseya. 



tinged or dark purple throughout ; ligule nearly a line long, lacerate ; sheaths some- 

 what inflated : panicle 2 to 6 inches long, the few mostly solitary rays spreading, 

 distant, a little longer than the interspaces, included below by the upper sheath : 

 spikelet 1 to 1 lines long ; floret very early deciduous : glumes ^ to ^ its length, 

 equal or the lower slightly shorter, the upper or both eroded at the obtuse or truncate 

 apex, hyaline : lower palet scabrous throughout, terminated by a slender awn 1 to 1| 

 inches long ; upper palet equal or slightly the shorter. Agrost. ii. 49. M. pur- 

 purea, Nutt. Plant. Gamb. 186. Podoscemum debile and P. setosum, HBK. 1. c. 128, 

 129, t. 681. 



Southern California, from Santa Barbara to Northern Mexico, and eastward to the valley of the 

 Rio Grande. A very slender annual, which is often of a deep purple color throughout. The 

 florets drop very early and it is often collected with only the persistent minute colorless glumes, 

 when it presents a very different appearance from the plant when its long slender-awned florets 

 are present. 



22. VASEYA, Thurb. VASEYA. 



Panicle dense, sometimes interrupted below. Spikelets 1 -flowered, herbaceo- 

 membranaceous. Glumes 1 -nerved. Floret equalling the glumes, with an oblique 

 callus bearing hairs as long as the floret. Lower palet 3-nerved, terminating in a 

 slender awn ; the upper equalling it and acute. Stamens 3. Ovary stipitate : 

 styles long; stigma of simple hairs. Proc. Philad. Acad. 1863, 79. 



But one species at present known, a perennial, with the aspect of a Muhlenbcrgia or of a Poly- 

 poyon, while it resembles a Calamagrostis in the long hairs around the floret. 



1. V. coniata, Thurber, 1. c. Culms 1 to 3 feet high, smooth, except at the 

 nodes where they are retrorsely pubescent : leaves (about 6) flat, 4 to 6 inches long, 

 2 to 3 lines wide, dull green and roughish on both sides ; ligule a short lacerate 

 fringe ; sheaths slightly roughened, the lower equalling, the upper somewhat shorter 

 than the internodes : panicle 3 to 4 inches long, pale green, lead-colored or purplish, 

 either narrow throughout or lobed below, the lower rays two or three together, the 

 upper solitary, all very densely many-flowered : spikelets on very short pedicels, 

 flattened, pubescent, a line and a half long : glumes narrow, very acute, the lower a 

 little the longer, serrulate on the keel : awn 3 to 4 lines long, flexuose, rough, often 

 purplish. Watson, Bot. King Exp. 378. 



Yosemite Valley and Mono Lake (Bolander) ; Huntington Valley, Nevada ( Watson} ; Nebraska 

 (Hall & Harbour) ; Colorado, Wolf. First described from Nebraska specimens, which are much 

 less luxuriant than those since collected in California, the very narrow lead-colored panicles of the 

 first presenting a very different aspect from the broader purplish inflorescence of the latter. Such 

 an unusually leafy species may be worth a trial under cultivation. Mature specimens are still 

 desired. 



23. CALAMAGROSTIS, Adans. REED BENT-GRASS. 



Panicle either open and spreading or contracted and spike-like. Spikelets 1 -flow- 

 ered, and mostly with a bristle-like bearded (or naked) rudiment of a second flower : 

 glumes usually nearly equal, concave, acute, unawned. Floret shorter than the 

 glumes, sessile or pedicelled, surrounded by usually copious white silky hairs at base. 

 Palets thin, the lower 3-5-nerved, mostly truncate and sometimes toothed at the 

 apex, and bearing on the back, below the tip, a slender usually bent and twisted 

 awn, or rarely awnless ; upper palet much shorter, or sometimes equalling the upper. 

 Stamens 3. Scales 2, acute. Ovary smooth : styles distinct and short, with feathery 

 stigmas. Grain inclosed but not adherent to the palets. Perennials with running 

 rootstocks and mostly tall erect and rigid culms. 



There are about 60 species, widely distributed throughout the temperate parts of the globe. 

 All of the species here given belong to the section Dcyeuxia, which includes those having the 



