Stipa. GRAMINEJ3. 285 



8 or 9 lines long, nearly equal, long-acuminate and often lacerately 2-toothed at the 

 apex, hyaline, the lower 3- and the upper 5- or indistinctly 7-nerved : floret 5 or 6 

 lines long, with a short callus ; lower palet one-third longer than the upper, silky- 

 pubescent throughout, slightly but distinctly 2-toothed ; awn 1 J to 2 inches long, 

 geniculate below the middle, plumose from the base nearly to the bend, with con- 

 spicuous white silky hairs 3 lines long, smooth above : anthers 3, beardless. 

 Stipacea3, 45. 



Near San Bernardino, Parry & Lemmon, n. 423 (1876). This, which does not appear to have 

 been met with by other botanists, is a native of Chili, and is referred here from the description 

 only. It adds a third to the plumose species in the State. It is distinguished from S. ocdden- 

 talis by its longer and many-flowered panicle,, its more pointed glumes, which are generally lacer- 

 ate at the slender apex, and the more conspicuously plumed awn, the silky hairs ending abruptly 

 below the bend, the rest of the awn being quite smooth. 



2. S. occidentalis, Thurber. Culms slender, 1 to 2 feet high, somewhat sca- 

 brous, pubescent at the nodes : radical leaves 2 to 4 inches long, those of the culm 

 shorter, all involute, rigid and rough ; sheaths shorter than the internodes ; ligule 

 conspicuous, 2 or 3 lines long, lacerate : panicle 3 to 6 inches long, the base often 

 included, contracted ; rays mostly erect, the lower in twos or threes and few-flowered, 

 the upper solitary and 1 -flowered : lower glume 5 lines long, 5 -nerved, somewhat 

 exceeding the indistinctly 3-nerved upper one : lower palet 3 to 3| lines long, one- 

 fourth longer than the upper, brownish when ripe, pubescent with appressed hairs, 

 especially below ; callus short, acute, the apex with a short distinct crown of hairs ; 

 awn 1^ inches long, twice bent, and plumose to the upper geniculation with rather 

 coarse hairs which are less than a line long below and shorter above : anthers naked. 



-Bot. Wilkes Exped. 483; Watson, Bot. King Exped. 380. 



Common in the Sierras, extending into Oregon ; also Nevada. Mr. Bolander remarks, in Proc. 

 Calif. Acad. iv. 169, that in large specimens the awn is naked ; the large specimens from him, 

 referred to this species, belong to S. comata, Trin. 



3. S. chrysophylla, E. Desv. Culms forming very dense tufts, 6 inches to 2 

 feet high or more, somewhat branched, and clothed below with withered sheaths : 

 leaves half as long as the culm or more, closely and setaceously involute and 

 rigid, slightly scabrous and with the sheaths and panicle tawny yellow ; ligule 

 short ; upper sheath usually inflated : panicle contracted, mostly included below, 

 4 to 6 inches long, with short appressed 1 3-flowered rays : glumes about 8 lines 

 long, nearly equal, acuminate, hyaline, 5-nerved : floret including a medium callus 

 4 to 5 lines long ; lower palet twice the length of the upper, covered with spreading 

 white hairs, bearing two minute lobes at the apex and an awn 1 to 1J inches long 

 which is bent near the middle, plumose below the bend with silky hairs 2 lines long 

 and smooth above : anthers naked. Gay, Flor. Chil. vi. 278, t. 76, fig. 2. 



Santa Inez, near Mono Lake, and collected on Ives' Colorado Expedition ; a native also of the 

 mountains of Chili. Readily distinguished by its marked yellow color and its handsome plumose 

 awn. Agrees well with Gay's Chilian specimens, excepting that the purple tinge of the glumes, 

 which Desvaux gives as a character, is wanting in all of our specimens. This author makes two 

 varieties, minor and major, the one short with the leaves equalling the culm, and the other taller 

 with leaves half as long ; our specimens show by intermediate states that the plant is very varia- 

 ble in this respect. Two other species with plumose awns occur beyond the borders of the State, 

 one in New Mexico, very closely allied to S. pcnnata, Linn. (var. Nco-Mexicmia, Thurber, in 

 Grain. Mex. Bound, ined.), the other in the mountains of Colorado, S. Monyolica, Turcz. 



* * Awn not plumose, often strongly pubescent. 

 ^-Panicle open with spreading, often secund, few-flowered rays. 



4. S. comata, Trin. & Rupr. Culms 1 to 4 feet high, stout, mostly scabrous ; 

 leaves involute, roughened, the radical J or J the length of the culm, the leaves on 

 which are much shorter, the uppermost very small or reduced to a mere sheath ; 

 ligule conspicuous, acute, 2 or 3 lines long ; sheaths loose, the uppermost somewhat 

 inflated, smooth, at length shorter than the internodes : panicle included tit base by 



