Ifi^tiihUs. GIIAMINE.E. 3(J5 



this lias n longer looser spikelct with the narrower .and neuter plumes much shorter in ]iro]iortiou 

 to tiie llorets, and tlio pah-t also more acute, while M. ][(irfon(ii has tln' lowi'r palet eiliate, and 

 M. (irisfitld a longer awn ami the palet hhmtcr and more broadly searious. 



0. M. Harfordii, I>ol;uiil. Culms subgeiiicuhite at one or two of tlie lower 

 iiotk's, wliicli am soiii(!wli;it swollen : leaves glaucous, smooth, or scabrous above, 

 long-acuminate, the uijperniost G inches long, about 2 lines wide, auriculate ami 

 cartilaginous at the union with the sheath, where they are often strongly eiliate : 

 panicle very pale, narrow ; spikelets G to 8 lin(!s long, 4-8-I1ow(mc(1 : lower palet 4 

 lines long, strongly scabr(nis-])ubescent, and eiliate with long shining hairs for two- 

 thirds of tlic margin below ; midnerve merely reacliing the truncate notched nar- 

 rowly-scarious often bilid apex, or excurrent just below it as a point or as a distinct 

 awn a line or more long; u[)per palet about one-fourth shorter, linely eiliate ou its 

 strong nerves and scabrous between them. — Proc. Calif. Acad. iv. 102. 



In the Coast Haiiges ^Kcdwooils, Mattole IJiver, Bolandcr) and in the Sierra Nevada, Bolandcr, 

 Lcminon. The slenck'r and rigid culms for 2 or 3 inches of the base are clothed with scarious often 

 dark imrjde sheaths. The height (3 to G feet) as given in !5olander's description is probably a 

 tyjiographical error. Lemmon's specimens, with nearly muticous spikcdets, show that characters 

 in this genus drawn from the awn are not very constant. The long hairs on the margins of the 

 lower palet readily distinguish this from any awnless form of the next. 



7. M. aristata, Thurber. Culms more leafy than in the preceding : leaves 

 linear-lanceolate, the lower 4 inches long and .3 lines wide, the uppermost half as 

 long, aiiriculate and cartilaginous at base : spikelets pale or puri)le, perfect florets 

 mostly 3 : lower palet 5 lines long, with a few stilf marginal hairs near the base, 

 very scabrous, the central nerve excurrent just below the bilid tip as an awn 3 to 5 

 lines long, one at least of the other nerves nearly reaching the ti[)S of the lobes ; 

 upper palet one-fourth shorter, strongly eiliate at top and a short distance below : 

 imperfect lloret usually awned. — Bolandcr, Proc. Calif. Acad. iv. 103. 



In the Sierra Nevada, HUhhraad, Bnlnnda-, n. 4801. "With a similar general appearance to 

 the i)receding, this has much shorter and broader leaves and a fewer-IIowered panicle ; the awn 

 appears to bo constant. Should awnless forms occur, the absence of the conspicuous line of haiis 

 on the margins of the lower palet will distinguish it. Sheaths at base dark pin[)le. 



8. M. acuminata, Bolandcr. Koot tuberous : leaves .5 to G lines wide at base 

 and long acuminate, the upper very narrow, scabrous ; ligule a coarse fringe : capil- 

 lary pedicels with a small uneipial callus-like swelling just below the elongated 

 loosely flowered spikelets ; perfect llorets about .^), distant upon tin; llexuosc rliachis : 

 glumes very acute, scabrous on the keel and minutely eiliate toward the apex, the 

 upper not one-fourth as long as the lower floret : lower ])alet G lines long, attenuate 

 into a narrow setiform point, with a very narrow eiliate margin, hirsute especially 

 below with scattered hairs ; upper palet about half the length of the other, densely 

 eiliate for its upper half and at the narrowly truncate tip. — Proc. Calif. Acad. iv. 

 104. Festnca mhidnta, Bong. Veg. Sitch. 173. Bromus subtdatna, Griseb. in Ledeb. 

 PI. Ross. iv. 358 ; Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. viii. 410. M. poceoides, var. acuminata, ' 

 of Bolander's distribution, n. 4G98. 



Redwoods, Mendocino County (Bolandcr) ; Oregon (IlaU), and northward to Alaska. 



46. DISTICHLIS, Raf. Siike-Guass. 

 Panicle densely spiked. Spikelets dia^cious, many-flowered, compressed, short- 

 pedicelled. Glumes herbaceous or membranous, narrow, keeled, faintly many-nerved. 

 Lower palet somewhat coriaceous, indistinctly many-nerved, acute. Upper palet 

 with infolded margins, and jjrominent or narrowly winged keel. Stamens 3. Scales 

 broad. Ovary smooth, stalked, tapering upward : styles very long with stigmas 

 oxsertcd from top of palet. Grain obovoid, free, with a thick .spongy poviairp. — 

 Perennials with widely creeping rootstocks and short culms clothed to the top with 



