A(iH()STii)E.i:, ^na 



tlowcriHl, SpikeU'ts sessile cr siibscssile: empty ^duiiies liiiKHMilate, 

 iieurly e^iual. I-iierved. about t\v(»-tliirtls asl(m<>' as tlie lloret, besides 

 tlie awns, wliieli ure 2-5 nun. long; floral glume luncc-ovate. niu- 

 croiiate, thinly pubeseent on the lower two-thirils, 3-nerveil. 2. '»-;{, 5 

 mm. long; palea obovate, laneeolate but little shorter than its 

 glume. 



Massachusetts, Cuoh'i/, lira? .')1; Ontario, Fowhr; Michigan, 

 r. >'. Ih'pt. Jfjrinil 3U, from ('. F. Wheeler, riarl' 1101, Coohy ; 

 Iowa, Ililrlivofk; Minnesota. Sitndhenj 42; Colorado, Citssidji ; 

 Montana, WiUiams; \ew Mexico, .hnivs 415S; liritish Columbia, 

 Mdcduii. 



Found in Avet ground from New England to Canada, Colorado, 

 Nevada, and Texas. Although the culms are hard and the leaves 

 thin, the grass is much prized I'or hay for horses. See \'ol. I. Fig. 

 81. 



Var. brevifolia Vasey, Coult. Bot. Gaz. 7:92 (1882). M. Cali- 

 foniira Vasey, Bull. Torr. Club, 13:53 (1880). Blades 4-8 cm. 

 long, 4-6 mm. wide, floral glume usually bearing an awn 1-2 mm. 

 long. 



California, ParisJi Brothers 1028. 



Var. ramosa Vasey, Contrib. U.S. Nat. Herb. 3:08 (1892). 

 A taller nuich-branehed plant, leaves longer, empty glumes about 

 as long as the floret, the awn shorter. 



Colorado, Tract/. 



Found from Illinois to Montana. 



29. M. microsperma (D C.) Trin. ITnifl. 193 (1824). Trirho- 

 chloa itiicrospenna DC. Cat. Ilort. ^[onsp. 151 (1813). Agroxtis 

 microsperma Lag. Gen. et Sp. 2 (1810). I'odoswmain dehile 11. B. 

 K. Nov. (Jen. 1:128 /. 081 (1815). Muhlenberg ia dehilis Trin. 

 Mem. Acad. St. Tetersb. (VI.) 0:295 (1841). Mahlenheryia pur- 

 purea Nutt. Jonrn. Acad. Phila. (II.) 1: 180 (1S48). 



Culms slender, ascending from a geniculate or stoloniferous 

 much-brancbcd base. Sheaths mostly shorter than the internodes, 

 inflated or often crowded from them by the shortly calloused, bulb- 

 like branches, the sheaths of Avhich firmly enclose the fertile floret: 

 ligule lascerate 1.5-2 mm. long; blades usually flat, often purple. 



