274 



GRAMINE.E. Agrostis. 



On the Upper Tuolumne, at 10,000 feet altitude, antl Mount Dana {Bolandcr) ; Calaveras 

 Grove Hillcbrand. The specimens from these localities, differing in the panicle, which is spread- 

 incrin'some and narrow in others, all agree with tlie Kocky JMonntain specimens (" llocky Mts., 

 21*7 Hooker") in Herb. Torr., which Trinius (juotes as the original of the species. According 

 to Trinius the uy)per palet is sometimes present. 



8. A. elata, Trin. Culm erect from a perennial root, rather stout, 2 or 3 feet 

 liii^li, sniouth : radical leaves 4 to 6 inches long, very narrow, those below becoming 

 involute, the upper ones flat, 3 to 6 inches long and 1 or 2 lines wide, scabrous 

 especially below ; ligules long, the upper 2 to 3 lines, acuminate ; sheaths nearly 

 ooth : panicle spreading, elongated (6 to 9 inches), green or purplish, the rays 



ibruus, about 2|- inches long, in clusters of 5 to 7 below and in pairs above. 



sm 



intervals on the axis of about~2 inches, branching above the middle: spikelets Ih 

 lines long, somewhat crowded on the branches, on pedicels shorter than or twice 

 their own length : glumes very acute, strongly roughened on the keel, the lower 

 slightly longer and a little exceeding the floret : lower palet with a few very minute 

 haTrs at base, obtuse; upper palet wanting. — Agrost. ii. 71; Gray, Manual, 611. 

 A. vulgaris, Bol. Cat. 34. 



Yosemite Valley {Bolandcr, n. 6103) ; near Wahoe Lake, Nevada, Dr. Torrey. On the Atlantic 

 coast Irom New Jersey southward. 



^ ++ Spikelets awnless or short-aiimed. 

 9. A. scabra, Willd. (Hair-Grass. Fly-away-Grass.) Culm slender, erect, 

 1 to 2 feet high : leaves short and narrow, mostly involute, the radical very slender, 

 the uppermost 1 to 3 inches long, scabrous ; ligule of the upper leaves nearly a line 

 long, the lower short ; sheaths slightly roughened : panicle mostly purplish, very 

 loose, 6 to 12 inches long or more; lower rays in clusters of 6 or more, the upper- 

 most' in pairs, all rough with minute bristles while the common axis is smooth, 

 capillary, branched above the middle, the subdivisions flower-bearing toward the 

 summit : spikelets a line long, mostly on longer pedicels : glumes unecpial, the lower 

 longer, very acute, scabrous and often greenish on the keel : lower palet shorter than 

 the°glumes, very thin, sometimes short-awned, the upper when present very minute. 

 — Trichodium laxiffortm, Michx. Flora, i. 42, t. 8. A. laxiflora, Kich. ; Kunth, 

 Gram. t. 130. a! Michauxii, Trin. Agrost. ii. 79. A. scabriuscida, Buckl. Proc. 

 Acad. Philad. 1862, 90. 



Occurs in all the collections, being common, and extending northward to Alaska, as well as 

 quite across the continent from east to west ; also in Siberia. This, which is probably a biennutl, 

 when youno- has its long rays erect and appressed, presenting a very ditierent appearance trom the 

 mature plant with the panicle fully developed and the branches divergently spreading ; when 

 ripe the panicles break away and are blown to long distances. 



++++++ Sjjikelet awned. 



10. A. canina, Linn. (Brown Bent-Grass.) Culms 6 to 24 inches high, 

 sometimes stoloniferous : radical leaves involute-setaceoijs, those of the culm flat, 

 a line broad or less ; ligule obtuse ; sheath mostly longer than the internodes, smooth : 

 panicle 2 to 6 inches long, spreading, the unequal rays in clusters of Ave below, in 

 pairs or solitary above, roughened, branching above the middle : spikelets purple or 

 brownish, 1 to U lines long, on shorter or longer pedicels : glumes slightly unequal, 

 very acute : lower palet one-third shorter than the glumes, bearing on the back at 

 or below the middle a more or less exserted and bent awn ; upper palet wanting or 

 very small. — Reichenb. Icon. Fl. Germ. i. 8, t. 74. 



Mendocino County {Bolandcr), and northward to Oregon and Alaska. A perennial species 

 found in nearly every part of the world and, especially the mountain forms, with many synonyms. 

 Of little or no agricultural value. 



11. A. virescens, HBK. Culm 1 to 2 feet high or more, perennial: leaves 

 erect, flat, alxait C niches long and 4 lines l)road, rough on both sides; ligule over 

 a line long, truncate : sheatlis much shorter than the internodes, mostly smooth : 



