424 GRAM1NE.E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



4. O. pauciflora, Presl. Stems 1 to 3 feet high from a creeping root : 

 leaves 3 to 12 inches long, scabrous on the margins; sheaths split : panicle 6 to 

 8 indies long, loose, its capillary branches in threes below, in pairs above, 

 flower-bearing from near the middle ; spikelets 2 to 2 lines long, 4 to 6-flow- 

 ered : flowering glume 5-nerved, scabrous, its scarious tip serrulate or toothed, 

 more or less purplish. From Colorado and Utah northward and westward. 



44. FES TUG A, L. FESCUE GRASS. 



Includes both slender-stemmed annuals and perennials, the flowers, and 

 often the leaves, being rather dry and harsh. 



* Annuals or biennials with setaceous leaves : panicle contracted or spike-like. 



1. P. tenella, Willd. Stems often filiform, 6 to 18 inches high : the erect 

 leaves 1 to 3 inches long ; sheaths sometimes pubescent : panicle 2 to 3 inches 

 long, simple, often secund ; spikelets, including awns, 4 or 5 lines long, 7 to 

 \3-flowered: outer glumes subulate, very acute, the lower at least half the 

 length of the upper : flowering glume involute, rough, 2 lines long exclusive 

 of its awn, which is mostly shorter than the palet and often very short. Across 

 the continent. 



2. P. microstachys, Nutt. Stems 4 to 15 inches high, the filiform 

 leaves, sheaths, etc. smooth to strongly pubescent : panicle 1 to 5 inches long, 

 simple and racemose or spike-like ; spikelets 1 to 5-flowered, on short thickened 

 pedicels, from scabrous to smooth : outer glumes acute, the upper little ex- 

 ceeding or twice as long as the lower : flowering glume 2 or 3 lines long, 

 with an awn 3 to 5 lines in length: palet with 2 long setose teeth. From 

 N. E. Utah to Nevada and westward all along the coast. 



* * Perennials: the mostli/ short-owned spikelets in loose, or more or less open 



panicles. 



3- P. OVina, L. Stems 6 inches to 2 feet high, glaucous : leaves all seta- 

 ceous or the upper flat ; ligule 2-lobed and auriculate: panicle short, more or 

 less compound, somewhat one-sided, the branches mostli/ solitary; spikelets 3 to 

 8-flowered : flowering glume about 3 lines long, temate, mucronate or with an 

 awn less than half its own length. Mountains of Colorado and California and 

 northward, thence eastward across the continent. 



Var. durillSCllla, Gray. Taller, less densely tufted : stem-leaves often 

 flat and sheaths pubescent : panicle more open and spikelets larger. Same 

 range as the type. 



Var. rilbra, Gray. Less tufted, with running rootstocks : leaves some- 

 times flat, and with the spikelets often reddish or purplish. High alpine 

 form in the Colorado Mountains and far northward. 



Var. brevifolia, Watson. Stems 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, 1 to 2 inches long; 

 spikelets 1 to 4-flowered, the florets terete and twice the length of the awn. 

 Bot. King Exped. 389. Same range as the last. 



4. P. SCabrella, Torr. Stems I to 3 or 4 feet high, crowded below with 

 leafless sheaths, and twice longer than the numerous scabrous radical leaves : 

 stem-leaves rarely more than 2, long-pointed ; sheaths scabrous or rough-pubes- 



