QRAMINE^. (GRASS FAMILY.) 421 



7-flowered : outer glumes acute, rough on the back : flowering glume with a 

 broad! 1/ scarious irregularli/ erose apex, the lower half of the middle and marginal 

 nerves itsiialli/ sil/ci/-pubescent. — P. andina, Xutt., not of Trin. From California 

 to Wyoming, Colorado, and southward. 



2. P. tenuifolia, Xutt. Stems very slender, densely tufted, 1 to 2 feet 

 high, the foliage glabrous or scabrous : radical tufs 3 or 4 inches high, of ex- 

 ceeding! >/ narrow!// linear mucronate-pointed leaves ; stem-leaves scarcely wider: 

 panicle 2 to 6 inches long, the erect rarely spreading distant rays mostly in 

 threes; spikelets mostly 3-flowered : outer glumes very acute, rough on the 

 midnerve : flowering glume narrowli/ lanceolate, often erose at the apex, jmheru- 

 lent or with a few scattered hairs near the base. — From Colorado to California 

 and Oregon, (^ne of the most valuable of the " Bunch Grasses." 



§ 2. Flowering glume compressed-keeled, acute. 



* Low and spreading, or tufed alpine species, flaccid or rigid. 



-t- Root annual: branches of the short panicle single or in pairs. 



3. P. annua, L. Stems (3 to 6 inches high) flattened, geniculate below, 

 weak: leaves bright green, short, obtuse, sometimes wavy: panicle often 

 l-sided; spikelets very short-pedicelled, 3 to 7-flowered. — Everywhere in cul- 

 tivated and waste grounds, generally introduced, but probably indigenous on 

 our southern border in Arizona, New Mexico, W. Texas, etc. 



■t- H- Stems geniculate-ascending from a running rootstock, rigid, very much flat- 

 tened: panicle simple and contracted. 



4. P. compressa, L. Pale, as if glaucous : leaves short : panicle dense 

 and narrow, somewhat 1-sided, the sliort branches mostly in pairs ; spikelets 

 almost sessile, 3 to lO-flowered, flat. — Indigenous within our range at the 

 northeast, and common eastward in sterile soil. Known as *' Wire Grass." 



-!--»--(- Low mountain or alpine species, erect in perennial tufts. 

 •w. Leaves broadh] linear, short and flat, short-pointed ; ligule elongated. 

 5 P. alpina, L. Soft and flaccid, smooth or nearly so, even to the 

 branches of the panicle: stems rather stout, 6 to 18 inches high : stem-leaves 

 l^ to 2 inches long, 1^ to 3 lines wide: panicle short and broad; spikelets 

 broadly ovate, 3 to 9-flowered. — Frequent in the mountains and extending 

 northward and eastward. Extremely variable, some of the numerous forms 

 being described as varieties. 



++ ++ Leaves narrowlij linear or setaceous. 



6. P. laxa, Hoenke. Soft and smooth as in the last : stems slender, 3 to 

 10 inches higli : leaves narrowly linear; ligule elongafi'd : panicle somewhat 

 raceme-like, narrow, often 1-sided and nodding; S|)ikclets 2 to 4-flowered. — 

 In the Rocky Mountains and eastward in the mountains of New York and 

 New England. 



7. P. csesia, Smith. More strict and rigid, roughish, especially the panicle : 

 stems 6 to 20 inches high : leaves short, soon involute; ligule short: branches 

 of the panicle 2 to 5 together, very scabrous ; spikelets 2 to 5-flowered : outer 

 glumes ovate-lanceolate and taper-pointed. — In the Rocky Mountains and 

 eastward. 



Var. strictior, Gray, is 6 to 12 inches high, with a contracted grajriflb 

 «a»ivple panicle of smaller flowers. — Same range as the type. 



