Spowbolus. GUAMINEyE. 2G9 



Viir. flexuosus, 'rimrl). Panicle elongated, somewhat narrow but open, the 

 rhachis very slender and flexuose, the shorter rather distant rays spreading and 

 sometimes rellexcd ; spikelets usually much darker colored than in the normal form. 

 — Vasey, JJot. Wheeler's Kxpl. 282. 



Siena Nevada (Torrcy) ; Colorado River (Xcivbcrrii) ; the variety. The typical form, which lias 

 not yet been collected witliin the State, occurs in Oregon (HuN) and in the valleys of Northern 

 Nevada, in Colorado and the Rocky Jloiintains, eastward to New Kngland, and sontlnvard to 

 New Mexico and Texas. An nnnnai, with a ratlier nariow j)ani(de, which is sonietinies very 

 slowly liberated from the upper shcatli ; in tlie variety it is verv .slen(h'r and wavv, but there is 

 no other dilhMvnce. 



2. S. airoides, Torr. Culms forming large tufts, clothed below by the dea<l 

 sheaths, rarely branched at base, 2 to 3 feet high, somewhat rigid, smooth : leaves 

 very pale, convolute and tapering to a filiform apex, those of the radical tnft about 

 half eijnalling the ctdm, those of the culm 4 or 5, the np[)ermost reduced to a mere 

 filiform appendage to the sheath less than an inch long; ligule nearly obsolete; 

 sheaths smooth with a few long hairs at the throat, the lower two overlapi)ing, the 

 others shorter than the intcrnodes, the uppermost dilated and loose : panicle broadly 

 pyramidal, soon exserted, G to 12 inches long, few-llowere<l ; rays solitary or in 

 pairs, slender, spreading or reilexed, with rather distant branches, which are naked 

 below : spikelets a line long, brownish, on rather longer pedicels : glumes rather 

 obtuse, the lower narrower and ^ to ^ the length of the u|)per : floret slightly longer 

 tlian the npper glume ; palets about equal. — Marcy's li(i\). 300. Agrostis airoides, 

 Torr. in Ann. Lye. N. York, i. 151. Vilfa airoidex, Steud. Syn. Gram. 162; Wat- 

 son, 1. c. *S'. {Vilfa) diffusissimus, I'uckl. Proc. Acad. Philad. 18G2, 90. 



San Joaipiin Valley {Bolnnihr) ; Fort Moiiave, Cooper, Lcmmon. Extends eastward to Nebraska 

 and sontlnvard to New Jlexico and Texas, growing chielly in alkaline soils. A rather showy 

 perennial, on account of its remarkably pale foliage and broad brownish or brown-purple panicles. 

 Mr. C. J. Croft, U. S. Army, states (I'roc. Calif. Acad. iii. 20(>) that it is very abundant in th.' 

 Gila Valley, and that animals eat it readily when green. It is, however, .said to be a powerful 

 diuretic. 



* * Spikelets less than a line long : glumes nearly equal. 



3. S. ramulosus, Kunth. Annual, the culms tufted, 3 to 8 inches high, very 

 slender and branchecl below: leaves from ^ to 2 inches long, flat or involute, sca- 

 brous on the margins ; ligule short, obtu.se, often split ; sheaths very loose, mostly 

 longer than the internodcs : panicle very long for the size of the plant, constituting 

 three-fourths of its height, the capillary few-flowered mostly solitary rays rather dis- 

 tant and spreading, the secondary branches I -2- (randy 3-) flowered : spikelets less 

 than i line long, on nuich longer pedicels : glumes nearly erpial and mostly ciliate- 

 fringed on the margin, at least at the apex : floret \ or \ longer than the glumes ; 

 palets nearly ec^ual, the lower somewhat acute and scabrous on the back. — Kunth, 

 Enum. i. 215, and Suppl. 172. Vilfa ravudosa, HKK. Nov. Gen. i. 137, t. 684. 

 Agrostis minutissima, Steud. Syn. Gram. 171. 



Mono Lake (Bohmder) ; banks of the Truckee River ( //V^/.w») ; Colorado, New Mexico, Texas 

 and Mexico. The spikelets are often brownish or lead-eolor.-d, and the glumes sonietimes lack 

 the frhige of hairs, which is usually conspicuous. The leaves and sheaths soon wither and in 

 some specimens there is little besides the panicle. 



4. S. asperifolius. Culms 6 to 15 inches long, branched, decumbent at base 

 and by taking root at the joints forming broad matted tufts : leaves flat, 1 to 3 

 inches long, about a lino broad, scabrous, especially on the margins and upper 

 surface ; ligide very short, truncate ; sheaths smooth, loose, much crowded and over- 

 lapping below and longer than the internodes : pani(de included at base, open, 3 to 5 

 inches h)ng, pyramidal or ovoid in outline, the .scabrous rays solitary or in pairs, 

 bearing nearly to the base 3 - 4 flowered capillary branches: spikelets le.>^s than a 

 line long, on pedicels 6 lines long : glumes nearly equal, acute, minutely scabrous : 

 iloret slightly exceeding the glumes, the lower palet with sometimes a minute mucro 



