Aijroslis. GRAMINEJil. 273 



j^lunics acute, tl>e lower a little lonj^er and aculoatc-roupliened for the whole length 

 of its iiiidiiei've, while the upper is only so at the tip : lloret hut lilth; shorter than 

 the j^'lunies ; lower palet O-nerved, entire and somewhat truneate iit apex, the up[)er 

 hyaline, exeeedingly minute. — Agrost. ii. 8."$. 



Collected by Bolamlcr, but no locality given ; also by Lcmmon in tlie Sierra Nevada. The 

 original specimens were from Nutka Sound. Tliis is referreil as above from tlie description only. 

 The ])ale rather rigid foliage and culms, and the long narrow open panicle give it a distinct 

 appearance. 



G. A. ezarata, Trin. Culm erect, 1 or 2 feet high or more, from a perennial (or 



annual?) root, at length naked for some distance below the panicle : leaves mostly 

 erect and flat, 1 to 3 lines broad, the radical 2 to 4 and those of the culm 6 inches 

 long or more, roughish or very rough ; ligule obtuse, more or less decurrent ; sheaths 

 longer than the internodes, usually smooth : panicle erect, rather narrow, dense to 

 very dense and crowded and somewhat lobed, pale greenish, rarely tinged with pur- 

 l)le; rays 3 to 5, semiverticillate, rough, mostly llower-bearing to the base : spikelets 

 li- to 2 lines long: glumes nearly ecpial, the lower a little longer, toothed on the 

 ke(;l, acute : lower palet J or ^ shorter than the glume, somewhat acute, 4-r)-nerved 

 and marked on the back by a longitudinal furrow, sometimes awned above the mid- 

 dle ; upper palet usually shorter than the ovary, sometimes longer : stamens 3 ; 

 anthers oblong. — Gram. Spec, i, t. 27, and Agrost. ii. 87. A. albicans, Buckl. 

 Proc. Acad. I'hilad. 18G2, 91. Poh/pogon alopecuroides, Buckl. 1. c. 88. 



Occurs in its various forms in nil the collections made in tlie State, ranging from Sitka to Cali- 

 fornia and eastward to Colorado and New Mexico. No other grass found upon the coast presents 

 such a variety of puzzlitig disguises as this. Specimens from wet grounds are 3 or 4 feet high, 

 wliile those from dry mountain aides are only as many indies. The panicle, sometimes nearly a 

 foot long, is usually very dense, but in some specimens the rays are sprea(Hiig, and it is not rare 

 to rind it interrupted below. The leaves, usually Hat, are in dry mountain localities narrow and 

 involute, and vary strikingly in their roughness. Tlie usually pale green of the panicle, with a 

 slightly satiny lustre, lias sometimes a strong purplish tin^e. The presence of awns is more com- 

 mon in the dwarf forms, though not coiilined to them, and the larger upjier jialet does not appear 

 to be associated with any other character. The sjiecific name was given with reference to a slight 

 groove upon the back of the lower palet, but it is far from constant, and the palet often has five 

 nerves. Mr. Bolander states, in the Transactions of the State Agricultural vSocicty for 1 864 - (!.'), 

 that the root is annual, but in some of the specimens it has every appearance of being perennial. 

 The following, described as species, are apparently forms of A. cxanita : — 



yl. graiidis, Trin. (Agrost. ii. 70), described from a very large panicle only. 



y/. iixpr.rifolia, Trin. (1. c. 71), witli exceedingly rough leaves. The specimens referred to this 

 liave very broad as well as narrow leaves, and have the awn [)resent or absent ; there are a few 

 very minute hairs at the base of the floret. 



A. jmllr.ns, Trin. (1. c. 82), is a strict form with usually narrow and sometimes involute leaves, 

 and a rather loose panicle, which is very jiale with little trace of green, but specimens occur 

 like it in all respects except in having the panicle strongly tinged with jnirple. 



A. Californica, Trin. (1. o. 113), may be a form of this; at least the specimens which Mr. 

 Bolander thought might belong to this species are A. cxarnta with a much interrupted jianicle. 



A. viicru])h}/fla, Steud. (Torr. in Pacif. R. Hep. iv. 1.54; yl. cxarnta, var., Watson, Hot. 

 King Exp. 377), is a small long-awned form, which we should hesitate to refer to A. cxarnta had 

 not Mr. Bolander traced it in the living plant from 3 to 6 inches high, through a regular series, 

 up to the large awned specimens that undoubtedly belong there. 



-I- •»- -4- Upper palet entireh/ wantincj, or present as a barely vianlfcst hyaline 

 scale. — Tkiciiodium. {Tricliodimn, jMiclix.) 



+-f Sjiikelets aivnless. 



7. A. varians, Trin. Culm slender, erect, from a fibrous (perennial?) root, 

 smooth, 3 to G inches high : leaves very narrow, often involute, slightly scabrous 

 above, the uppermost on the culm about an inch long ; upper ligule about | line 

 long, acutish ; sheaths longer than the internodes : jianicle 1 to 2 inches long, 

 blackish purple, the rays an inch long, erect or somewhat spreading : spikelets a line 

 long or less : glumes nearly ec^ual, roughish on the keel toward the apex : Horet a 

 little shorter than the glumes. — Agrost. ii. G8. 



