the touch in their upper part, immediately below the spikelets. Our plant, however, 

 is especially distinguished in the structure of the spikelets. The upper glume is gene- 

 rally somewhat longer than in the typical species, about 6 — 8 mm. long, thus attaining 

 about the same height as the pales; it is comparatively narrow, broadest about the 

 middle, and tapering towards the summit and towards the base, gradually narrowed 

 at the top, stubby and rounded or sometimes nearly truncate, not like the typical form 

 broadest about the upper third of the glume, from where, towards the summit, being 

 rather suddenly concavely emarginate, and prolonged into a fine point. It is, moreover, 

 broadly scarious-margined, 3-nerved, the nerves, the midrib as well, gradually vanish- 

 ing towards the summit, and never prolonged into a point, which is generally the case 

 in the typical form. This structure of the upper glume is especially characteristic of 

 this subspecies. 



The lower glume is about half as long as the upper one, one-nerved, tapering up- 

 wards from the base, and pointed, rough to the touch along the keel. The spikelets are 

 comparatively few-flowered, generally with 2 or 3 florets only, rather far apart on the 

 hairy axis. Length of the spikelets from 7 to 9 mm. The lower pale in subspecies 

 copiosum is considerably narrower than in the typical form, broadest below the middle, 

 and never above, tapering upwards, bicuspidate at the apex, never projecting as in the 

 ordinary form. The awn is slightly scabrous, its length varying to about the same length 

 as the pale itself. The upper pale is of about the same length as the lower one, com- 

 pletely membranous and transparent, 2-keeled, with scabrous keels, pointed at the top, 

 and slightly 2-toothed, with fine hairs along the margin. The caryops in all the speci- 

 mens collected are very young and small, but seemed to be completely glabrous. 



This variety resembles much the subspecies alpestre in its nearly glabrous panicle- 

 branches, and in having a smaller number of florets in the spikelets, moreover in having 

 the upper pale broadest about the middle, or more commonly, below the middle. 



It is, however, markedly distinguished from the above subspecies by its culms, 3 

 times as high, and, upon the whole, by its more vigorous growth, the leaves being lon- 

 ger and broader, the panicle far richer, and by the shape of the awns, etc. It seemed, 

 accordingly, in many respects, to be intermediate between the subspecies pratense and 

 alpestre. 



Specimens of this type gathered by me in several places in the territory explored, 

 at Kushabar and in subalpine regions about Ust Algiac, near Ust Sisti-kem, and at Ust 

 Kamsara. Taken with young flowers in July and August. 



Distribution: The species is distributed nearly all over Europe, except the 

 extreme north, Caucasia, Asia Minor and south-western Asia, the Thian-Shan, the 

 Himalayas, Siberia to 61° north latitude, and eastwards to Sakhalin, the Amoor Province, 

 Manchooria, introduced into North America. 



Trisetum subspicatum (L.) P. de Beauv. Ess. Agrostograph. (1812) p. 88; Kptia. ^k. 

 Ait. VII (1914) p. 1612. Trisetum airoides Roem. et. Schult. Syst. Veget. II (1817) p. 



126 



