278 (.ilLVMINE.E. Vu6,>ja. 



tinged or dark purple tliroughuiit ; ligide nearly a line long, lacerate ; sheaths some- 

 what intlated : panicle 2 to G inches long, the few mostly solitary rays spreading, 

 distant, a little longer than the intersi)aces, included below by the npi)er sheath : 

 spikelet 1 to U lines long ; lloret 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 st^abrous throughout, ternunated by a slender awn 1 to 1.', 

 inches long; upper palet eejual or slightly the shorter. — Agrost. ii. 4'J. Jf. jiur- 

 purea, Nutt. Plant. Gamb. 18G. Podoscemum dtbile and /*. tittosian, HI5K. 1. c. 128, 

 129, t. 681. 



Southern Califoniia, from Santa 15arliara to Nortlioni Mexico, and eastward to the valley of the 

 Kio Unuulo. A very slciidfr annual, which is often of a deep jiniidc color tliioughout. The 

 llorets drop very early and it is often collected with only tlie pcihistcnt niinnte colorless glumes, 

 when it presents a very tlili'erent appearance from the plant when its long slender-awned florets 

 are present. 



22. VASEYA, Thnrl.. Vasf.va. 



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 jjalet 3-nerved, terminating in a 



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



styles long ; stigma of simple hairs. — Proc. Pliilad. Acad. 18G3, 71). 



But one sjiecies at jiresent known, a perennial, with the aspect of a Multlcnlicnjia or of a I'ofij- 

 pocjuii, while it rescnihlcs a CulatiHujroslis in the long hairs around the iloict. 



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

 nodes where tliey are retrorsely pubescent : leaves (aliont (i) Hat, 4 to G 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 \ipj)er somewhat shorter 

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

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

 upper solitary, all very densely many-llowered : spikelets on very short j)edicels, 

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

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

 purplish. — Watson, IJot. King Exp. 378. 



Yoseniite Valley and Mono Lake (Bu/midcr) ; Huntington Valley, Nevada ( liaison) ; Nebiaska 

 (Hall & Harbour) ; (Colorado, ^^^ol/. First dcserihed from Nebraska sitecimens, which are much 

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

 lirst 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, ilature specimens are still 

 desired. 



23. CALAMAGROSTIS, Adans. 1!kei) BiiNT-GnAss. 



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-o-nerve(l, mostly truncate and sometimes toothed at the 



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



awn, or rarely awnless ; u[)per palet much siiorter, or sometimes ecpialling the upper. 



Stamens 3. Scales 2, .acutfi. 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 arc about (iO s]H'cies, widely distrilmted throughout the temperate jiarts of the globe. 

 All of the species here given belong to the section Dcycicxui, which inclutks tiio.si; h.iving liie 



