ALOPECURUS. 



139 



4. Alopecurus alpinus, Sm. Alpine Foxtail. 



Root creeping, fibrous ; sterns erect, ten to fifteen inches 

 high ; leaves flat, acute, rather broad, somewhat rough at 

 the edges ; sheaths loose ; ligules obtuse ; panicle erect, 

 short, oblong, silky ; spikelets erect, numerous, closely im- 

 bricated ; outer glumes equal, acute, three-ribbed, hairy ; 

 flowering glume ribbed, awned ; aw T n often wanting, but 

 when present slender and extending one-third of its length 

 beyond the glume ; filaments hair-like, notched at each end ; 

 styles united, short ; stigmas long and feathered. 



The short panicle, scarcely measuring one inch in 

 length, distinguishes this 

 Mountain Foxtail from all 

 others of its family. Its 

 stems partake, in a slight 

 degree, the habit of the 

 Marsh Foxtail ; that is, they 

 incline to the decumbent 

 style of growth at first, and 

 then bend upwards at the 

 joints. But this species at- 

 tains the erect form much 

 more quickly than the other, 

 and the stems are never 

 prolonged to any consider- 

 able extent. 



Dr.Parnell observed, when 

 noticing this grass in its hillside homes, that the root- 

 leaves were often cropped by the mountain sheep, but 

 the culms were left standing ; and from this he naturally 

 inferred that the foliage pleased the taste of those ani- 

 mals much more than the stems. 



It flowers in July, and ripens its seed the following 



