304 GRAMINE.K. AJrlun. 



3. M. bulbosa, (Joyer. Culms 1 to 3 feet liigli, ciilargctl and l)iill) like at base ; 

 roots \voolly-[mlje.seeiit : culm leaves 3 to G inches long, setaceously convolute, ami 

 like the sheaths nearly .snuuith or scabrous : panicle i to 8 inches long, narrow and 

 spiko-liko uhove, interrupted below ; rays erect, mostly iu jiairs, very uneipial, the 

 shorter densely llowered throughout ; spikelets with 2 or 3 perfect ilowers, about 4 

 lines long, shining: glumes membranous, broad, obtuse, the lower 3-r)-nerved, the 

 upper r)-7-nerved : lower palet 3 or 4 lines long, scarious-margincd, minutely sca- 

 brous, 7-nerved, the uneciual nerves all ceasing below the broadly hyaline obtuse 

 apex ; upper palet ciliate on the strong keels : sterile lloret often double, the upper- 

 most minute and hooded. — Hook. Journ. Dot. viii. 11); Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad, 

 viii. 401). M. poaoides, Ton: in I'acif. U. Kep. iv. 157, not Nutt. ; Thurber, Uot. 

 Wilkes Exp. 41)1 ; Lolander, 1. c. iv. 101 ; Watson, Uot. King Exp. 383. 



Santa Inez {Brewer, n. 5(39), and noitlnvaiil in the Coast Haiigeb and Sierra Nevada to Oro^'on, 

 and eastward to Wyoming. Very vaiiabie and presenting some pu/.i;ling forms esiiceially in the 

 character of tlie i)anieie. Bolander makes a variety injiata ujion what appears from the (hsi lip- 

 tion to be a very hirge luany-tlowered form. The original M. puujuides of Nuttall is probahly an 

 Atropis, as indicatt-d by Dr. Gray, \. c. 



4. M. fugax, Ikilander. Culms 1 or 2 feet high, much enlarged and Ijulli like 

 at base, slender, wiry, and with the foliage pubescent or scabrous ; roots sparingly 

 tomentose : leaves 2 or rarely 3, the uppermost and longest 4 to G inches long by a 

 line wide, often setaceously pointed : panicle simple ; rays remote, socjn horizontal, 

 1 -G-tlowered, the lower chisteied and umupial ; spikelets 3 or 4 lines long, of 3 t(j 5 

 perfect llorets, terete becoming somewhat zigzag, soon deciduous : glumes obtuse, 

 with wide scarious margins, 3- 5-nerved, the upp(;r a third larger, shorter than its 

 floret : lower palet 2 lines long, herbaceo-coriaceous, .strongly 7-nerved, oidy the 

 midnerve reaching the narrowly scarious ai)ex ; ui)per palet slightly shorter, minutely 

 ciliate: sterile floret similar in texture. — Proc. Calif. Acad. iv. 104. M. Geyeri, 

 Thurber, 1. c, 492, not Munro. Gbjceria halbosn, Puckley, Proc. Philad. Acad. 

 1802, 95 ; Gray, same, 335. 



In the Sierra Nevada from Lake Tahoe to Oregon ; Caseade Mountains, Piekcriwj. Interme- 

 diate between G/i/eeria and Meliai, and long ago referred by Nntlall to tlie former genus under 

 the name which Ikickley afterwards ]iubli3hed as his own. Much of the confusion among tliese 

 species has resulted from the failure of collectors to gather roots with their s]ieeimi'ns. Lenniion's 

 e.vcellent specimens show that in this species at least tiiere is a contorted rootstock bearing the 

 bulbs and the remains of the growth of several years. 



§ 2. Spikelets of ^ to ^ perfect florets, the lower exceedhif/ the glumes: lower 

 pnh't promlnentl u 1-neroed, aplc.iilate or dlstinctli/ aimed hij the excurrent 

 mid/iervG at the notched or blfld or narroivlj truncate or rarebj loiuj- 

 attenuate tip. — Pro.melic.v. 



Rronuis-like grasses, with culms 2 to 5 feet high, all except the first with coarse ril)rous roots 

 and tomentose lootiets. Leav(;s Hat, sometimes convolute aliove, and with the sheaths scabious 

 or hairy ; ligule .short, very thin and mostly lacerate. I'anicle with erect or sometimes spreading 

 very unequal remotely clustered few-tlowered rays, the ui>[>er rays and spikelets mostly solitary. 

 Lower palet iiioie or less herbaceous or coriaceous and scariously margined. 



5. M. bromoides, Gray. Cidms bulbous at base, very leafy : leaves sometimes 

 6 lines wide, the u[)permost 1 or 2 inches long : spikelets about 8 lines long, of 

 4 or 5 perfect florets: glumes ovate, acutish, the upper often irregularly notched: 

 lower palet 4 lines long, narrowly margined, minutely scabrous, lanceolate, acute, 

 with 2 narrow ciliate teeth, the three principal nerves running to the ai)ex, the mid- 

 nerve ending as a point between the teeth or slightly prolonged ; npper jialet one- 

 fourth shorter, minutely 2-toothed, ciliate on the ni;rves. — Proc. Amer. Acad. viii. 

 409. M. Geyeri, liolander, Proc. (^alif. Acad. iv. 103, not Munro ^Is. M. poceoides, 

 var. bromoides, of Uolander's distribution (n. G119). 



In the Coast Kanges and Siena Nevada from San Francisco and Mount Dana (liolnnder) to 

 Oregon, Jlowell. liulamler states lliat tin; bulbs slirinU greatly in drying and tliat whim fresh 

 they are ofteji an inch in diameter. As compared with the two other more or less awned species, 



