320 riKAMlNI'LK. JJnnans. 



tlie branches in tlireos to fives and spreading,' even in fruit ; spikelets ol)lon;^'-ovate, 

 tur^'id, 4 to 8 linc.-i Ioul,', ;") - lO-llowored, the lloruts latlier distant: lower pak't 

 7-U-nerved, at Knigth curiaceous, notched at apex, scahious, awnless or with a 

 variable awn less than its own length. — Torr. Fl. IS'. York, ii. 407, t. 157. 



Plumas County, Mrs. Aits/ia. Fouiul wherever grain is cultivated ; the belief that this, known 

 as "Chess" or "Cheat," is tlic result of the degeneration of wheat, has been very prevalent and 

 is still held by the ignorant. 



4. B. racemosus, Linn. Culms 1 to 3 feet high : leaves and sheaths smooth 

 or pubescent : panicle narrow, with branches in threes to lives, contracted in fruit ; 

 spikelets G to 9 lines long, G- lOllowered, the ilorets closely imbricated, scabrous : 

 lower palet 7 - 9-nerved, widest above the middle, bluntly angleil on the margins 

 and bitid above, decidedly exceeding the upper palet, with an awn of its own length. 

 — lieichenb. Icon. Fl. Germ. t. 143. 



San Franciseo, Bolandcr. The specimens have the leaves and especially the sheaths stiongly 

 pubescent, in which it is like D. inuUia, Linn., which is likely to be found in grain-fields, and 

 may be known by having the spikelets also downy. Some European botanists regard this species, 

 £. mollis and B. sccaliuus, all as varieties of B. arvcusis. 



* * * Panicle wltli slender elongnted di'oophKj branches : florets soon scparaihta 

 from each other: loicer i/liiine \-nerccd, upper ',i nerved, or with an obscure 

 additional pair. lndi(jenous perennials. 



T). B. ciliatus, Linn, (hdms from 3 to T) feet high: leaves long-))oint(!d from 

 a broad base, sometimes G lines wide, somewhat auriculate at the throat, smooth or 

 densely i)ubescent, as are the sheaths; ligule short, us\ially a mere baml : panicle 

 compound and very loose with elongated few-llowered rays, or narrow with short 

 mostly erect branches ; spikelets about an inch long, 7- 12-llowered : glumes acute, 

 the upper more than half the length of the low(;st floret : lower palet G to 8 lines 

 long, 7-nerved, the central and two other nerves stronger and longer than the other.s, 

 silky with appressed hairs near the margins, mimitely hairy all over, or with a few 

 long hairs on the nerves below or at the base ; awn one-fourth or three-fourths its 

 length. — Gray, Man. 035. JJ. pitrgans, Linn. ; Hook. Fl. JJor.-Am. ii. 252, in part. 

 B. Canadensis, jNIichx. JJ. pubescens, ^Ldd. 



San Juan and Silver Mountain Trail, at 8-9,000 feet altitude (Ilrcurr) ; Calaveras Grove 

 (Ilillcbrand) ; near San Francisco, Bolandcr. The specimens show as many marked I'orms as 

 there are localities, from perfectly smooth to densely velvety pubescent slieallis and liowers, and 

 especially variable in the character of the puniide. The ovary in all is remarkably iong-liairy at 

 the top, while the styles are detle.\ed. The stilf white hairs exteml a fourth of a line beyond' the 

 top of the ovary, forming a ilense brush which is filled with pollen-grains ; it would ajjpcar that 

 these hairs .serve as collectors of pollen, to be i>robably afterwards of service in some way in fir- 

 tilization. 



G. B. depauperatus, Fresl. IJoot-libres tomentose ; cidms 2 or 3 feet higli, 

 stout below : tiie, i:onvolute-setaceons root-leaves half as tall ; cidm leaves 3, distant, 

 the uppermost 3 to G inches long. Hat at least at base, scabrous ; ligule a narrow line ; 

 sheath auricled and hairy at throat : panicle very lax and open, the long spreading 

 capillary rays in twos, rarely in threes, few-flowered above the middle ; spikelet 

 5 or G lines long, lanceolate ; Ilorets 3 or 4, distant : glumes thin and hyaline : lower 

 palet lanceolate, soon terete, membranous, strongly scabrous, 5-nerved, barely seari- 

 ous at the acute tip, awn one-fourth to a half as long ; upper palet distinctly longer 

 than the lower, scabrous above and linely ciliate : anthers very large. — Iiel. H;enk. 

 i. 2G3; Steud. Syn. Gram. 319. 



fJeyseis and Pine Mountain {Bolandcr) ; Nutka Sound, Ilacnkc. This agrees well, save in size, 

 with Pivsl's descriiitic.n of Haenke's plant. The spikelets at first, with the lloiuts llatteneil on 

 the back, have the ajipearance connnon to the genus, but after they sjnead each lloiet becomes 

 cylindrical and the spiktlet is much like that of a Fcstuca. The aiitiiers are very huge; and the 

 ovary appears as if abortive, there being but little save the hairy crown. The plant i^. throughout 

 of a very pale straw-color. It appears to have l-een met with only by Mr. 15(dander. 



