234 GIIAMINEJ":. Stipa. 



Sierra Viillty, lUihimlcr, Miiy, 1871. Tlic .s]M'cimiMi.s are iiiiiiiatinv, and lcav(! it fur rijicr 

 materials to coniiilttc the (icsrri|.ti()ii. Except in its very (liUVreiit iiaiiiclc it acconls well with 

 Eriocoma, ami it is invlVrnMl to iiioilify tlic -^iMifrir cliaractiT rallicr than ad.i a new j,'cn\is. Tlu; 

 awn ill tliis falls even earlier than in A'. cii.-^i>itl((t(i, and is rarely to lie foimd except in tliosu 

 spikelets that are still included liy the upper sheath. The collector sent this j,'rass several years 

 ago with a set of his species of ,SV(>f, to which ^'enns he snjiposed it to belong, with the recpiest that, 

 should it be new, it be named in honor of Dr. Webber of Sieira Valley, an esteemed ])hysieian wlio 

 bad aided iiini in his botanical explorations, and npon whose estate the grass was discovered. 



25. STIPA, Linn. Fi:atiikii-Gi!.\ss. 



Panicle open, with few spreacliug branches, or sometimes crowded and narrow. 

 Spikelets l-Uowered, the cylindrical floret with an obconic bearded and often elon- 

 gated sharp-pointed callus, in our species shorter than the glumes, and readily fall- 

 ing at maturity. Glumes suljccjual, membranaceous, often terminated by a long 

 subulate point. Lower palet coriaceous, cylindrical-involute, inclosing the mostly 

 shorter upper one, entire at the apex or terminating in two minute sometimes hya- 

 line teeth, naked or with a crown of short hairs, coii^[iicut)Usly awned. Awn articu- 

 lated with the palet, often caducous, genicidate below, glabrous or jxibescent or 

 plumose with spreading hairs. Scales 3. Stamens usually 3, sometimes 1 or 2 ; 

 anthers often bearded at the apex. Ovary stipitatc, smooth : styl(>s 2, short ; stig- 

 mas i)lumoso with simple hairs. (!niin cylindrical, smooth, frtie from but inch)scd 

 in the palets. 



A genus of perennials, with mostly involute leaves and early deciduons florets, rcjiresented in 

 almost every j)art of the world. Some of our species, under the not very distinctive name of 

 " Binich-grass," are among the valued kinds of forage in the Sierra Nevada. Sfi/xi (Macro- 

 chloa, Kth.) tenacissinm, of southern Europe and northern Africa, forms a portion of the 

 "Esparto grass," largely used in paper-making. .S'. pcnuHta of Europe (a vaiicty of which occurs 

 in Arizona) is an old garden plant, cultivated for its beautifully plumose awns; the jianicles, 

 which are G to 12 inches long, are imported in considerable ipiantities for "ornamental" pur- 

 poses, usually dyed in various biilliant and unnatural colors. 



* Awn for a part of its length plumose w ith silky hairs. 

 Foliage, panicle, etc., ])ale green. 



Lower palet 2-lobed at apex. 1. S. si-Ecio.sA. 



Lower palet entire at apex. 2. S. occidicstai.is. 



Foliage, panicle, etc., tawny yellow. 3. S. clluvsoi'iivi.i.A. 



* * Awn not jdumose, often strongly pubescent. 

 Panicle open with spreading often secund rays, which are few-llowered 

 above the middle. 

 Awn 6 inches long; lloret eoar.sely hairy. 4. S. comata. 



Awn 3 inches or less in length. 



Lower palet tuberculate, partially hairv. .'). S. SETKiF.r.A. 



Lower palet hairy all over. «. S. kminkns. 



Panicle narrow, with mostly erect lay.s. 



Panicle small, 2 inches long ; floret 2 lines long, purplish. 7. S. KiMiii. 



Panicle large, 6 inches long or mori\ 

 Lower palet with two distinct herbaceous teeth. 8. S. Srii.i.MANil. 



Lower ])alet with two more or less manifest hyaline teeth. 

 Floret less than three Unes long. 9. S. SimiiicA. 



Floret 3 to 5 lines long. 



Lower palet with copious long silky hairs. 10. R. coiionata. 



Lower palet with short .scattered hairs. 11. S. vUMlnn.A. 



* Awn for a part of its leiKjth distlnctlij I'Uimose with slllcij hairs. 



1. S. speciosa, Tiin. it Ilupr. Culm 1 to 2 feet high : radical leaves half as 

 long as the culm, tlie others much shorter and with the sheaths minutely puberulent ; 

 upper sheath iidlatcd, its leaf about 4 inches long, its ligule less than a line long, 

 tliat of the lower slieaths mintite and fringccl : panicle (J to 8 inches long, included 

 below, contracted, its appiessed rays mostly in pairs and G-8-fluwered: glumes 



