84 POACEAE 



67. PUCCINELLIA Pad. MEADOW-GRASS. 



Perennials with rootstocks, ours tufted. Inflorescence paniculate. Spike- 

 lets 3-several-flowered; flowers perfect. Empty glumes 2, obtuse or acute, 

 unequal. Lemma rounded on the back, obscurely 5-nerved. Palet nearly 

 equalling the lemma. Styles wanting; stigmas sessile, plumose. Grain usually 

 adherent to the palet. 



Leaves mostly basal; panicle less than 1 dm. long. 1. P. Lemmoni. 



Leaves scattered on the stem; panicle usually more than 1 dm. long. 



Lemma 2-2.5 mm. long, distinctly nerved. 2. P. Nuttalliana. 



Lemma 2 mm. long or less, obscurely nerved. 3. P. tenuiflora. 



1. P. Lemmoni (Vasey) Scribn. Stem 1-4 dm. high; leaves smooth, fili- 

 form, involute, short, the cauline ones few and reduced; panicle 5-10 cm. long, 

 becoming open; branches short, spreading; empty glumes both 1-nerved, 2-3 

 mm. long; lemma 3 mm. long, smooth. Glyceria Lemmoni Vasey. Alkaline 

 flats: Calif. B.C. Sask. Plain Submont. Je-Jl. 



2. P. Nuttalliana (Schultes) Hitchc. Stem 3-12 dm. high, erect, strict; 

 leaf -blades 5-10 cm. long, 3 mm. wide or less, usually involute or the upper flat; 

 panicle open with spreading or ascending branches; spikelets scattered, 1-7- 

 flowered, 3-6 mm. long; empty glumes unequal, the first acute, 1-nerved, the 

 second obtuse or acute, 3-nerved. P. airoides (Nutt.) Wats. & Coult. G. distans 

 airoides Nutt. Saline soil: Man. Kans. N.M. Nev. B.C. Mack. Plain 

 Subalp. Je-Au. 



3. P. tenuiflora (Griseb.) Scrib. & Merr. Stems 4-6 dm. high; leaf-blades 

 6-9 cm. long, 1-2 mm. wide, involute; panicle 1-1.5 dm. long; branches capillary, 

 ascending or spreading, scabrous, often 1 dm. long; spikelets 3-4 mm. long, 3- 

 or4-flowered. Atropis tenuiflora Griseb. Alkaline flats: Alaska -Sask. Boreal 

 Plain Submont. Je-Au. 



68. FESTUCA L. FESCUE-GRASS. 



Perennials, or annuals, usually tufted. Inflorescence paniculate. Spike- 

 lets 2-several-flowered, the flowers perfect or the upper ones staminate, the 

 rachilla articulate between the flowers. Empty glumes 2, membranous, unequal, 

 keeled, acute, the first mostly 1-nerved, the second 3-nerved. Lemma rounded 

 on the back, at least below, acute, more or less awned, 3-7-nerved. Palet a 

 little shorter than the lemma, 2-keeled. Stamens 1-3. Styles very short, 

 distinct, terminal or nearly so; stigmas plumose, bilateral. 



Perennials; stamens 3. 



Leaf-blades of the innovations narrow, 3 mm. wide or less, involute. 



Innovations extra vaginal ; i. c., plants with creeping rootstocks and stolons; 



leaves smooth. 



Spikelets pubescent. 1. F. Kitaibeliana. 



Spikelets glabrous or scabrous. 



Body of the lemma 5-7 mm. long; leaf -blades rather flrm. 

 Stem-leaves with flat blades; innovations numerous. 



2. F. rubra. 

 Stem-leaves with filiform involute blades; innovations few. 



3. F. vallicola. 

 Body of the lemma about 4 mm. long; leaf-blades filiform, soft. 



4. F. Earlei. 

 Innovations intra vaginal ; plants bunch-grasses. 



Ligules short, truncate or rounded. 



Body of the lemma 3-8 mm. long; leaf-blades long, persistent on the sheaths; 



palet obtuse or 2-toothed at the apex. 

 Pulvini at the bases of the branches of the panicle none or obsolete; 



tufts easily separable. 



Lemma (without the awns) 3-4-mm. long, not half longer than the 

 first glume; plant 1-2 (rarely 3) dm. high; inflorescence 

 spike-like. 

 Lemma lanceolate, long-acuminate and long-awned; panicle 



dense; leaf-blades short, scarcely filiform. 

 Leaf-blades soft and sulcate, at least in age. 



5. F. brachyphylla. 

 Leaf-blades flrm and terete, even in age. 6. F. supina. 



Lemma oblong-lanceolate, abruptly contracted into a short awn ; 

 panicle lax; leaf-blades narrowly filiform and soft. 



7. F. minutiflora. 



