410 GRAMINE^. (GRASS FAJVIILY.) 



* * Panide loose and open. 



6. M. pungens, Thurb. Stems erect, from 1 to U feet high: leaves very 

 pale green, hard and rigid, terminated h\j a hardened point: panicle very open, 

 its solitary rays fasciculately branched just above the base into long 1-fiowered 

 divisions • outer glumes half as long as the floret, pointed by a distinct bristle : 

 flowering glume acute, the awn a line long or less : palet with 2 setose teeth, which, 

 nearly equalling the awn, give the appearance of an undtveloped Aristida. — 

 Proc. Philad. Acad, 1863, 78. From S. California to Arizona, Colorado, and 

 Nebraska. 



7. M. graeillima, Torr. Cespitose, 5r/a6ro2(s ; stem simple, 6 to 12 inches 

 high: leaves very narrow, involute, short, mostiy in radical tufts: panicle 5 to 

 6 inches long, j)]pamidal, capillary ; branches sub-solitary, widely spreading : 

 spikelets lanceolate, mostly purplish : outer glumes acute, scarcely twice shorter 

 than the palets : flowering glume glabrous, 3-nerved, minutely bifid, ivith a straight 

 awn of equal length : callus naked. — Whipple, Pacif . E. Rep. iv. 155. Colorado 

 and southward. 



8. M. Texana, Thurb. Stems geniculately decumbent, branching: panicle 

 few-flowered, rays solitary or in pairs, naked below, at last widely spreading - 

 outer glumes shorter than the floret, 1-nerved, setaceously mucronate: flowering 

 glume and palet pilose, the former terminated by an aivn thrice its length and 

 equalled or exceeded by the latter : callus conspicuous, glabrous. — Gram. 

 Mex. Bound, ined. From Colorado to Arizona and Texas. 



9. M. debilis, Trin. Stems 3 to 18 inches high, ascending from a genicu- 

 late base, branching from the loicer nodes: leaves mostly flat, acuminate, puberu- 

 lent on both surfaces, and with the whole plant purple tinged or dai'k purple 

 throughout : panicle 2 to 6 inches long, the few mostly solitary rays spreading, 

 distant, a little longer than the interspaces, included below by the upper 

 sheath ; floret very early deciduous : outer glumes ^ to J its length, equal or 

 the lower slightly shorter, the upper or both eroded at the obtuse or truncate apex : 

 flowering glume scabrous throughout, terminated by a slender awn \ to\^ inches long. 

 — S. California to Northern Mexico and extending into S. Colorado and 

 eastward. 



17. PHLEUM, L. Cat's-tail Grass. Timothy. 



Perennials, with spikes very dense and harsh.i 



1. P. alpinuni, L. Culms 1 to 2 feet high : sheaths of the upper leaves 

 very loose or inflated, the lower ones close ; ligule short : spike ovoid or ob- 

 long, rarely more than an inch long, usually purplish : outer glumes strongly 

 fringed on the back, bearing an awn about their own length. — In alpine 

 regions throughout N. America, Europe, and Asia. 



18. S P O R O B O L U S, R. Rr. Drop-seed Grass. Rush Grass. 



Stems wiry or rigid. Leaves usually involute and bearded at the throat, 

 their sheaths often enclosing the panicles. Includes T7//a, Beauv. 



1 P. pratense, L., the cultivated "Timothy" and frequently naturalized, can be distin- 

 guished from P. aJpinum by its close sheaths, long Iigule, much longer spike (1 to 6 inches), 

 and glumes with scavious margins and green keel, which is ciliate with stiff hairs and pro- 

 longed into a rigid rough awn .shorter than itself. 



