302 GRAMINEJ<:. liatonia. 



lute, smootli or ciliate-liairy, witli tlic sheaths retror^elj' pubescent : jjanicle 1 to G 

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

 spikelets 2h lines long, 2 - 4 Uowered : glumes witli broadly scarious margins : lower 

 palet minutely scabrous, the Literal nerves indistinct, scarious except tlie green keel, 

 acute or mucronate. — Kunth, Enum. i. 381, and Suppl. 315; lieiclienb. Icon. Fl. 

 Germ. t. 93. K. nitida, Nutt. (ien. i. 74. 



Viciuit)' of San Francisco (Bolandcr) ; Sant.a Inez {Brewer) ; nortlnvanl to Oregon {Iloucf/), 

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

 panicle that it is dilliciilt to de.sif,'nate varieties. Dr. (iray places K. nitida, Nutt., as variety 

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

 "very long" spike, as given by (iray for the variety. Prof. Ihvwer's specimens from Santa Inez, 

 with the panicle an inch wide, have the spikelets light hmwn and tingcil with purple, depriving 

 them of the silvery appearance generally so characteristic of tlie jihuit. 



44. EATONIA, haf. 



Panicle contracted, or loose and slentler. Sjiikelets mostly 2-flowered, witli 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 Horets, 3-nerved and scarious-margined. Lower palet oblong, obtuse, 

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

 Scales 2, truncaU;. (irain linear-oldong. — Slender perennials, with simple tufted 

 culms, Hat lower leaves, and small i)ale green (rarely pur[)lish) 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 higli : leaves 4 to G inches long and 

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

 branches densely nianyllowered, sometimes interrui)ted ; spikelets slightly over a 

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

 upper one truncate-obtuse ; iloret oblong-lancenlate, narrowed at base. — Aim obtu- 

 sata, Michx. A. trnucata, Muhl. Ku^ltria truucata, Torr. Fl. N. York, ii. 4G9, 

 t. 150. Rthoulea graciiin, Kunth, luuim. i. 3G9, and Suppl. 3()r), in part. 



Near Mono Lake (Bolandcr); mountains of Northern Nevada ( iralsou) ; Oregon (Sj/uldiiuj) ; 

 Arizona (Eothruck) ; and eastward across the continent. 



45. MELICA, Linn. Mki.ic-Guass. 

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

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

 at the top of the si)ikelet. Glumes membranacoous, e(pialling or shorter than the 

 florets, mostly obtuse, convex, 3 - 5-nerved, the upper 5 - O-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 llattish 

 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 llnsliy, mostly united. 

 Stigmas plumose, bran(diing. Grain terete, loosely enclosed. — Fibrous-rooted peren- 

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

 flat, often soft. 



Widely distributcil tluonghout teni]>erate and subtropical regions. Over ^0 species are de- 

 scribed, though there are jirobably not half so many. The aildition of several Califoiiiian species 

 reipiires a modification of the character to avoid making two or thrc(! new genera. The enlarge- 

 ment of the bas(! of the culm is in some species very striking, the hulbs lieing sometimes an incii 

 in diameter. Tlio minute cross-veins connecting the nei ves of tht; ghuues seem to be (piile con- 

 stant u\ the Californi;in species, and may sometimes Ije oliserved in the iialets. 



