SpoMus. GRAMINE.E. 269 



Var flexUOSUS, Thurb. Panicle elongated, somewhat narrow but open, the 

 rhach ; vciT slender and flexuose, the shorter rather distant rays spreading and 

 sometimes /eflexed; spikelets usually much darker colored than in the normal form. 

 — Vasey, Bot. Wheeler's Expl. 282. 



no other dilleieiiec. , ,, i i 



2 S airoides, Torr. Culms forming large tufts, clothed below by the dead 

 sheatl^' m'?y branched at base, 2 to 3 feet high, somewhat rigid, smooth : leave 

 ve y - « ^^-'^^'^'^ ^^'^ ^^P""^"S '' ^ ^''''"" apex, those of the ^adu^a tut about 

 htlf e.,ua lin- the culm, those of the culm 4 or 5, the uppermost reduced to a mere 

 f^Mort^^^ endage to he sheath less than an inch long; hgule near y obsolete; 

 shea hs n ooth with a few long hairs at the throat, the lower two overlapping, the 

 ote si ter than the internodes, the uppermost dilated and loose : panicle broadly 

 pyramiSlsln exserted, 6 to 12 inches long, few-tlowered ; rays solitary or in 

 mirr lender spreading or reflexed, with rather distant branches which are naked 

 Teow s^^r^^^^^^^^^^ long, brownish, on rather longer pedicels: glumes rather 



S^; Z lower narrower a^d J to | the length of ^^^ ^PP^ -/^^^S LST 

 than the upper glume ; palets about equal - Marcy s Kep. 300 Ag^osUsaz^ o«/ , 

 Torr. in Ann. Lye. .^. York, i. 151. Vda a^-oides i^teu.l 8yn. ^^^^- 16-^ ' ^^^^^ 

 son 1. c. S. (Vilfa) dlffusisslmus, Buckl. Proc. Acad. Philad. 1862, 90. 



S . Joa,uin llx4iBoU.uUr) ; Fort Mohave, Coope^ ^^::^:J^'i^r\S^^ 



mmMmmms3BsB 



diuretic. 



.. .V Spikelets less than a line long : glumes nearly equal. 



3 S ramulosus, Kunth. Annual, the culms tufted, 3 to 8 inches high, very 

 sletleTaml bnxnched below: leaves from l to 2 inches long flat or involute sca^ 

 brou on the margins; ligule short, obtuse, often split; sheaths very loose mc^ty 

 ^^er than the internodes": panicle very long for the size of the plant, consti utuj. 

 three-fourths of its height, the capillary few-flowered most y - ;^-y ^^ t^ 



tint and spreading, the secondary branches 1-2- (rarely 3-) flowered ^pikelets ie^s 

 t^nlt long, on much longe'r pedicels : S^-- neaidy equal and mosly^^^^^^^ 

 fringed on the°margin, at least at the apex : floret l or i longer than the gW 

 pale^ts nearly equal, the lower somewhat acute and scabrous on ^^^ J^^f , - ^^^^^']' 

 Enum. i. 215, and Suppl. 172. Vilfa ramnlosa, HBK. Nov. Gen. i. 137, t. bbi. 

 Aqrostis minutissima, Steud. Syn. Gram. 171. ^ , , ^t at ,.,v. t.v.,« 



Mono Lake (Bolancler) ; banks of the Truck.-e River ( ^^^^J^-f^^o lorado^^^^^^^^ 



some specimens there is Uttle besides the panicle. 



4 S. asperifolius. Culms 6 to 15 inches long, branched, decumbent at base 

 and by taking root at the joints forming broad matted tufts : leaves «^^t 1 o 3 

 inche long, about a line broad, scabrous, especially on the margins and uppe 

 surface ; ligule very short, truncate ; sheaths smooth loose "J^^f ^^'.'^^-l^^^^^^^^^^^f^ 

 lapping befow and longer than the internodes : panicle included at 1^ e ope 3 to 5 



