316 



GRAMINE.E. Briza. 



long, loosely pubescent all over with appressed hairs except near the tip, the hairs 

 on the keel and margins longer, closely appressed, forming silky lines : upper palet 

 l^ubescent. 



Island of Santa Ca.ta.\ina. (Gambd) ; Guadalupe Island, Dr. Palmer. Until its recent discovery 

 Ly Dr. Palmer, this was only known by the few speciuiens collected by Dr. Gambel over 30 years 

 ago. It appears to be confined to the islands otf the coast. Nuttall's description gives the lower 

 gtume as wider and 3-nerved, which is an oversight. 



53. BRIZA, Linn. Qcakixg-Grass. 

 Panicle diffuse with slender branches. Spikelets many-flowered, ovate or cordate, 

 flattish-tumid, the florets closely imbricated, mostly pendulous on capillary pedicels. 

 Glumes subequal, rounded on the back. Lower palet roundish, entire, flattened 

 parallel with the glumes, ventricose on the back, chartaceo-membranaceous and be- 

 coming dry, scarious-margined, many-nerved. Upper palet much smaller, ovate, 

 flat. Stamens 3, Scales 2, ovate-lanceolate. Ovary glabrous : styles short ; stigmas 

 plumose. Grain much flattened and adherent to the upper palet. 



A small genus widely spread in temperate countries. It includes both annuals and perennials, 

 with flat leaves, and showy spikelets on slender drooping pedicels. JB. maxima, from Asia, etc., 

 is often cultivated as Rattlesnake-Grass for the sake of its large showy spikelets. 



1. B. media, Linn. Perennial, its culms a foot high or more, often with much 

 shorter flowering branches from the base : leaves thin, scabrous : panicle 2 to 4 

 inches long, very loose with spreading branches ; spikelets 3 to 4 lines long, 5 - 

 9-flowered : glumes .shorter than the lowest floret, green or purplish. 



ilissiou Dolores, Bolandcr. Sparingly introduced, as it is iu some of the Eastern States. 



54. FESTUCA, Linn. Fescue-Grass. 

 Panicle loose and spreading or racemose and sometimes secund. Spikelets 2 -many- 

 flowered, the florets flattish or subcylindrical, not webby at base. Glumes shorter 

 than the lower florets, membranous, acute, the lower 1-nerved, the upper and longer 

 3-nerved. Lower palet convex, not keeled, chartaceous or nearly coriaceous, 3-5- 

 nerved, mucronate or awned from or near the tip. Upper palet 2-toothed, hairy on 

 the nerves. Scales 2, notched or 2-lobed. Stamens 1 to 3. Ovary mostly smooth. 

 Styles terminal ; stigmas feathery. Grain adnate to the inclosing palet. 



A genus of about 125 species, which have been arranged under several different genera ; natives 

 of arctic, cold and temperate countries, some of them of value in agriculture. It includes both 

 annuals and perennials, of which the flowers and often the leaves are rather harsh and dry. 



§ 1. Annuals or biennials ivith setaceous leaves : panicle contracted or sjnke-Uke : 

 stamens 1 or 2. — Vulpia. 



1. F. Myurus, Linn. Culms 1 or 2 feet high, slender and weak, smooth and 

 leafy: ligule very short: panicle 4 to 10 inches long, narrow, often flexuose and 

 one-sided, sometimes shining, branched at base, the branches appressed ; upper spike- 

 lets solitary, short-pedicelled ; spikelets 5 - 8-flowered, an inch long including awn : 

 florets rather distant ; lower glume very minute, the upper half as long as the next 

 palet : lower palet subulate, obscurely nerved, scabrous or often slightly ciliate-hairy 

 on the margins above, 3 lines long with a much longer awn : stamen mostly soli- 

 tary. — F. sciurea, Nutt. Fl. Ark. 147. F. megalura, Nutt. PI. Gamb. 188. Vulpia 

 Mi/urm, Nees, Icon. Gram, i, t. 71 ; Reichcnb. Icon. Fl. Germ. t. 130. 



Monterey and Livennore Pass {Brewer) ; San Francisco {Bolander) ; and northward to Oregon, 

 PiArrhu/,' Ben.net. Occurs in the Atlantic States and southward. Proba1)ly introduced. Very 

 varialde ; sometiuies tlie lower glume is barely maiiilVst, a mere point standing in its place. 



