302 GRAMINE^E. Eatonia. 



lute, smooth or ciliate-hairy, with the slieaths retrorsely pubescent : panicle 1 to 6 

 inches long, sometimes very narrow, often much interrupted, with a silvery lustre ; 

 spikelets 2^ lines long, 2-4-flowered : glumes with broadly scarious margins : lower 

 palet minutely scabrous, the lateral nerves indistinct, scarious except the green keel, 

 acute or niucronate. Kunth, Enum. i. 381, and Suppl. 315; Reichenb. Icon. Fl. 

 Germ. t. 93. K. nitida, Nutt. Gen. i. 74. 



Vicinity of San Francisco (Bolander) ; Santa Inez (Brewer) ; northward to Oregon (Howell), 

 and as far eastward as Pennsylvania. It is so variable in the size and density of the spike-like 

 panicle that it is difficult to designate varieties. Dr. Gray places K. nitida., Nutt., as variety 

 gracilis of the species, hut our specimens collected by Nuttall have a very short, rather than a 

 "very long" spike, as given by Gray for the variety. Prof. Brewer's specimens from Santa Inez, 

 with the panicle an inch wide, have the spikelets light brown and tinged with purple, depriving 

 them of the silvery appearance generally so characteristic of the plant. 



44. EATONIA, Raf. 



Panicle contracted, or loose and slender. Spikelets mostly 2-flowered, with an 

 abortive rudiment or pedicel, mostly smooth. Glumes very dissimilar, the lower 

 narrowly linear, keeled, 1 -nerved ; the upper somewhat longer, broadly ovate, folded 

 around the florets, 3-nerved and scarious-margined. Lower palet oblong, obtuse, 

 compressed-keeled, naked, chartaceous ; upper palet thin and hyaline. Stamens 3. 

 Scales 2, truncate. Grain linear-oblong. Slender perennials, with simple tufted 

 culms, flat lower leaves, and small pale green (rarely purplish) spikelets. 



Two species are known, common in the Eastern States, one of them extending to the Pacific. 



1. E. obtusata, Gray. Culm 1 or 2 feet high : leaves 4 to 6 inches long and 

 with the sheaths smooth or pubescent : panicle 4 to 6 inches long, its short erect 

 branches densely many-flowered, sometimes interrupted ; spikelets slightly over a 

 line long, on short minutely roughened pedicels : glumes scabrous on the keel, the 

 upper one truncate-obtuse; floret oblong-lanceolate, narrowed at base. Aira obtu- 

 sata, Michx. A. truncata, Muhl. Koeleria truncata. Torr. Fl. N. York, ii. 469, 

 t. 150. Jteboulea gracilis, Kunth, Enum. i. 369, and Suppl. 305, in part. 



Near Mono Lake (Bolander) ; mountains of Northern Nevada ( Watson) ; Oregon (Spalding) ; 

 Arizona (Rothrock) ; and eastward across the continent. 



45. MELICA, Linn. MKLIC-GRASS. 



Panicle sparingly branched, sometimes narrow, rarely racemose and secund. Spike- 

 lets 2-8-flowered ; sterile flowers (1 to 3) much the smaller and convolute together 

 at the top of the spikelet. Glumes membrauaceous, equalling or shorter than the 

 florets, mostly obtuse, convex, 3 - 5-nerved, the upper 5 - 9-nerved ; lateral nerves 

 vanishing within the broad scarious margin, often united by delicate cross-veinlets. 

 Florets somewhat distant. Lower palet at length subcoriaceous, rounded or flattish 

 on the back, 5 - many-nerved, the scarious tip usually blunt and entire or 2-toothed ; 

 central nerve ceasing below the apex or more or less excurrent ; upper palet 2-nerved, 

 ciliate above, emarginate or 2-toothed. Stamens 3. Scales fleshy, mostly united. 

 Stigmas plumose, branching. Grain terete, loosely enclosed. Fibrous-rooted peren- 

 nials, the culm sometimes bulb-like at base : roots often tomentose : leaves mostly 

 flat, often soft. 



Widely distributed throughout temperate and subtropical regions. Over 50 species are de- 

 scril)ed, though there are probably not half so many. The addition of several California!! species 

 requires a modification of the character to avoid making two or three new genera. The enlarge- 

 ment of the base of the culm is in some species very striking, the bulbs being sometimes an inch 

 in diameter. The minute cross-veins connecting the nerves of the glumes seem to be quite con- 

 stant in the California!! species, and may sometimes be observed in the palets. 



