Bent-grass Tribe 33 



single, sessile ; spikelets 2-3 mm. long, short-pedicellate ; empty 

 glumes nearly equal, % to Y 5 as long as the flowering glume, 

 mostly obtuse or eroded, hyaline; flowering glume slender, taper- 

 ing, scabrous throughout, terminated by a slender awn 25-35 

 mm. long; palea about equal to the flowering glume. 



Common on dry ridges and exposed places in the chaparral belt. Santa 

 Monica, San Gabriel and Santa Ana Mountains, south to San Diego. 



12. PHLEUM L. TIMOTHY. 



Annual or perennial grasses with flat leaves and spike- 

 like inflorescence. Spikelets 1-flowered. Glumes 3, the 

 2 outer empty, membranous, compressed keeled, the 

 apex obliquely truncate, midnerve produced into an 

 awn, the third much shorter and broader, hyaline, trun- 

 cate denticulate at the apex. Palea narrow, hyaline. 

 Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Grain ovoid, free, enclosed 

 in the glume and palea. 



1. P. pratense L. Culms more or less tufted, erect, leafy, 3-9 

 dm. high, simple; sheaths smooth; blades minutely scabrous; 

 spike about 6 mm. wide, 3-10 cm. long; empty glumes about 2 

 mm. long, hyaline except the 3 scabrous nerves; flowering glume 

 nearly 2 mm. long. 



Occasional in lawns, and In mountain meadows. Cuyamaca. 



13. ALOPECURUS L. FOX-TAIL GRASS. 



Annual or perennial grasses with erect or decumbent 

 culms, usually flat leaves and spike-like inflorescence. 

 Spikelets 1-flowered, flattened. Glumes 3 ; the 2 outer 

 empty acute, sometimes short-awned, more or less united 

 below, compressed, keeled ; keel ciliate or somewhat 

 winged ; third glume truncate or obtuse, hyaline, acute, 

 sometimes wanting. Stamens 3. Styles distinct or 

 rarely united at the base. Stigmas elongated. 



1. A. geniculatus L. Perennial; culms decumbent and often 

 rooting from the lower nodes, 2-4 dm. high, smooth; sheaths 

 smooth, upper inflated; blades 1-3 mm. wide, the lowest often 

 nearly equaling the culm, the uppermost equaling or exceeding 



