282 BOTANY. 



there seem to be no good characters to distinguish this from Vilfa depau- 

 perata, Torr. 



Vilfa minima, Vasey. — Culms erect, 1-1£' high, branched at the base, 

 slender ; spikes simple, few-flowered, terminal and lateral, the lateral ones 

 partly enclosed in the loose sheaths ; flowers alternate, half a line long, 

 pointed ; glumes membranaceous, obtuse, about half as long as the flowers ; 

 palets nearly equal in length; leaves mostly radical, short (£-£')> strongly 

 nerved; lower sheaths inflated. This diminutive grass appears to be 

 annual, very slender and delicate. — On wet, sandy shores around Twin 

 Lakes, Colorado, 1873 (1077), appears somewhat like V. depauperata, var. 

 filiformis, but is distinct. — Plate XXVII. Fig. 7. Plant, natural size. 

 Fig. 8. Flower, magnified 15 diameters. Fig. 9. Cross-section of stem, 

 greatly magnified. 



Vilfa (Spoeobolus) cryptandra, Torr. — Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, 

 1871, and 1872 ; Arkansas Valley, 1873 (1078). Var. flexuosus, Thurb., 

 Nevada and Arizona, 1871 and 1872. In the variety, the panicle is longer 

 and more slender, and the branches are capillary and flexuous. 



Vilfa (Spoeobolus) airoides, Trin. (Watson's Botany 40th Parallel). — 

 Called salt-grass and used for pasturage. Grows in alkaline soil. Nevada, 

 1871 and 1872; Colorado, 1873 (1079); Deer Springs, Arizona, 1874 

 (185) ; Albuquerque, N. Mex., 1874 (122) ; Sulphur Springs, Arizona, 1874 

 (550). The leaves of this species and also of the preceding furnish a 

 strong fibre, which might be utilized in making paper or cordage. 



Vilfa (Sporobolds) aspeeifolia, N. & M. — Nevada and Utah, 1871 

 and 1872 ; Cottonwood Creek, Colorado, 1873 (1081; ; Saguache Creek, 

 Colorado, 1873 (1082) ; Sanoita Valley, Arizona, 1874 (692). No. 1082, 

 from Colorado, is a very luxuriant form, in which many of the specimens 

 have 2-3-flowered spikelets. Many of these have the grain affected with 

 a black smut. No. 692 is a long-stemmed, procumbent form. 



Vilfa (Sporobolus) eamulosa, H. B. K. (Watson's Botany of the 40th 

 Parallel). — Saguache Creek, Colorado, 1873 (1080). 



Vilfa tricholepis, Torr. (Synopsis of Flora of Colorado).— Mount 

 Graham, Arizona, 1874 (745); Sierra Blanca (801). Called bunch-grass 

 in Arizona, ; makes an excellent forage (Dr. Rothrock). 



