FestHca. GRAMINEtE. ^l^ 



2. F. tenella, WilM. Culms slonder, often filiform, G to 18 inclips lii^li, its 

 erect leaves I to 3 inches loii.i,' ; slieiitiis sometimes })ulK'scent : panicle 2 to 3 inches 

 l(jng, simple, often secund, the lower umnpial branches in pairs, often spreading ; 

 Rpikelets, including awns, 4 or 5 lines long, 7 - 13-ilowered, often becoming brown 

 when old : glumes subulate, very acute, the lower at least half the length of the 

 n{)per : lower palet involute, njugh, abinit 2 lines long, exclusive of its awn, which 

 is mostly shorter than tlie palet and often very brief : stamens 2. — Torr. FJ. N. York, 

 ii. 470, t. 154, and Pacif. II. Ivep. iv. 158 (var. aristidala). 



Napa Vallpy {Bigdow) ; near San Fran(;i.soo, etc. (Bolnnder, Fitch), and I'xtPndiiif; to Orogon, 

 CronUiitc. Very cointnon in tlie Eastern States, wlicre as lieio it is abundant on dry liills. Torrey 

 doubtfully referred Bigelow's speciniena to this species, placing it as a variety, but it is no more 

 unlike the typical form than are s|)ecimens from Florida. Indeed where. the same si)ikelet lias 

 some florets twice as long-awiied as others, varieties founded upon this character have little value. 

 It extends across the country from east to west, and southward to Mexico, Texas, etc. It varies 

 greatly in the degree of roughness of the palet, and the glumes are .sometimes pubescent. 



3. F. microstachys, Nutt. Culm slender, 4 to 15 inches high, the filiform 

 leaves, sheaths, etc., smooth to strongly pubescent; ligule very minute: jjanicle 

 1 to 5 inches long, simple and racemose or s[)ike-liko, or witii the 1-sided channelled 

 rays spreading or sometimes delle.xed ; spikelets 1 - 5-llowered, on short thickened 

 clavate pedicels, scabrous, rough-pubescent or sometimes smooth : glumes acute, the 

 upper 3-nervcd and little exceeding or twice as long as the 1-nerved lower one, and 

 more than half equalling the floret next it : lower palet 2 or 3 lines long, with an 

 awn 3 to 5 lines in length ; upper palet with two long setose teeth, which in the 

 older plant often project beyond the lower : stamen 1 {Nuttall) : grain large, filling 

 the palet, and with a very broad shallow groove, its testa dark purple. — Plant Gamb. 

 187; Torr. Pacif. R. liep. iv. 156; Watson, Hot. King Exped. 388; Thurber, Bot. 

 Wilkes Exped. 492. Vnlpia mi'crnsfachi/n, Munro in Denth. PI. Hartw. 342. F.gra- 

 cilenta and F. pmilla, lUickl. in Proc. Acad. Phil. 1862, 97. 



Very frequent througli the whole length of the State to Oregon and northward, and eastward to 

 Nevada and Utah. Exceedingly variable, but distinguished from any form of F. Mijurus by its 

 larger lower glume, and from F. tmclla by its fewer-llowcred and looser spikelets and its longer 

 more distinct awn. The spikelets, as well as other parts, present a great variety as respects 

 pubescence ; in Cooper's specimens from the Mohave desert, 1 to 2 inches high, they bear long 

 scattered spreading hairs. Nuttall, 1. c., refers to its resemblamie to a Entriiinn (Bmilrloun), 

 wlii(;h is very strong in one of the freriuoiit forms where the 2-llowered Kpikelets are divergent, as 

 are also tlio 1-sided branches, while the. siiglitly projecting tei-th of the upper palet add to the re- 

 semblance. The species is (piito too eloso to F. dclicnliila, I.ngasca, a rare Spanish grass. 



§2. Perennials; the mostly short-awned spikelets in loose, or more ur less ojien 



panicles. 



4. F. ovina, Linn. Culms slender, 6 inches to 2 feet high, glaucous : leaves 

 all setaceous or the upper Hat ; ligule 2-lobed and auriculate : panicle short, more 

 or less compound, somewhat one-sided, the rays mostly solitary, spreading in flower; 

 spikelet 3 - 8-llowered, the florets somewhat distant : lower palet about 3 lines long, 

 ternate, mucronate or with an awn less than half its own length. — Keichenb. Icon, 

 n. Germ. t. 131. 



Var. duriuscula, Gray, Taller, less densely tufted : stem-leaves often flat and 

 sheaths pubescent : i)anicle more open and spikeletsl arger. — Man. 633. I^ dariiis- 

 cula, Linn. 



Var. rubra, Gray. Less tufted, with running root-stocks : leaves sometimes flat, 

 and with the sjiikelets often reddish or purplish. — Man. 633. /'. rubra, Linn. 



Var. brevifolia, Watson. Culms slender, 4 to 8 inches high : leaves all seta- 

 ceous, and sheaths glabrous ; uppermost leaves often very short and the sheaths 

 rather loose : panicle racemose and nearly simple, erect, 1 to 2 inches long ; spike- 

 lets 1-4-llowered, the iloreta terete, .somewhat scabrous, about 2 lines long and 

 twice tho length of the awn. — JJot. King Exp. 38U. /'. brevifolia, \l JJr. 



