532 POACl'LE. 



mm. long, second lineav-lanceolate or oval-lanceolate, 3-nerved 2.5- 

 3 mm. long; floral glume 'ZJy-'.i mm. long, sparingly webbed at the 

 base, the lower half of the keel thinly pubescent or nearly smooth, 

 nerves conspicuous, the lateral oues usually smooth, oval, acute; 

 palea a little sliorter, keels nearly sniootii. Anthers 1.5 mm. long. 

 Nearly allied to J\ prafen.sis. Hentluim in liis Handbook of the 

 British Flora says: ''There are no creeping scions; the stems 

 4ire usually taller and more slender than those of P. pratensis ; 

 the ligule of the leaf longer; the panicle more slender, with slender 

 spreading branches; the spikelets have seldom more than 3 flowers, 

 and usually only 2; the lateral nerves of the flowering glumes are 

 much more conspicuous.*' 



.Massachusetts, Horsfon/, Beat I'll; IVnnsylvania, Svribner for 

 U. S. 073; Michigan, Clark 'ZmS. 



Prominent in pastures of Europe and sparingly cultivated in 

 the older northern States. 



Yar. filiculmis Scribn. ined. 



Culms more slender: ligule shorter; panicle 4-7 cm. long. 

 Perhaps only a slender plant of tlie si)ecies. 



Vaucouvor Island, Macoitn 2S'3 in 1893. 



4. P. Vaseyana Scribn. ined. 



An erect robust perennial, OO-TO cm. higli. Loaves 3-4, scabrid 

 throughout; sheaths about the length of the internodes; upper 

 ligule broad, abruptly pointed, 5 mm. long, the lower shorter; 

 blades flat or conduplii-atc, tliose of sterile shoots 20-30 cm. long, 

 4-5 mm. broad, the tips acute, rather firm, those of the culm 7-10 

 nun. long. I'anicle ovoid, 12-15 cm. long, rays in threes and fours, 

 2.6-;) cm. distant, the longest G-8 cm. long, bearing 5-10 s})ikelets 

 on tlu! outer half or three-fifths. Sj)ikclets tinged with purple, 

 linear to broadly oval, 4-0-llowered, about 10 mm. long; empty 

 glumes ovate, a(!ute, first one-nerved, 4-5 mm. long, second three- 

 nerved, 4-5.5 1 .m. long; floral glume 5.5-0.5 mm. long., tlic keel 

 and lateral nerves hairy on the lower third, ovate wiion sp'read, 

 the apex usually obtuse; palea incurved, 4-5 mm. long linear 

 before spreading, ciliate on the keels, two-tootlied. 



Colorado, Patterson in 1885 in herb. U. S, Dept. Agricul. 



