284 BOTANY. 



Muhlenbergia pungens, Thurb. (Proc. Acad. Phil. 1863, p. 78; 

 Synopsis of Flora of Colorado, p. 144). — Fort Garland, Colorado, 1873 

 (1088). 



Muhlenbergia gracillima, Torr. (Syn. of Flora of Colorado, p. 144). — 

 San Luis Valley, Colorado, 1873 (1091). 



Muhlenbergia gracilis, Trin. (Steudel, Cram. p. 179). — Root fibrous; 

 culm erect, slender, branching at the base, 8' to 1J or 2J° high, minutely 

 scabrous, as well as the sheaths; leaves erect, narrowly linear, 1-12' long, 

 plane or convolute, rigid, retrorsely scabrous; panicle contracted, 2-8' long; 

 branches solitary, appressed ; pedicels very short ; glumes ovate, the lower 

 1 -nerved and acuminate, the upper 3-nerved and 3-toothed, the teeth awl- 

 pointed; palets lance-oblong, 2" long, nearly equal, minutely scabrous, or 

 somewhat pubescent on the nerves below, the upper with an awn 2-6" 

 long. — Twin Lakes, Colorado, 1873 (1089). The species as here defined 

 embraces several varieties, two of which are represented in the collections. 



Muhlenbergia gracilis, Trin., var. breviaristata. — Caespitose, low 

 (8-12' high), often growing in ring-like patches; leaves very short, 1-3', 

 involute and rigid ; panicle short, 2-3', very close ; awn of the upper palet 

 about its own length. — Twin Lakes, Colorado, 1873 (1098). 



Muhlenbergia gracilis, Trin., var. major. — Culm tall, 2 to 2£°, slen- 

 der ; leaves 6 to 8' long ; panicle 6 to 8' long, lax, strict ; glumes half as 

 long as the palets ; palets equal, minutely scabrous ; awn 3-4 times as 

 long as the palet. — Mount Graham, Arizona, 1874 (744). These forms 

 seem to be sufficiently distinct for species, and may have been described 

 under other names. 



Muhlenbergia sylvatica, T. & C, var plexuosa, Vasey, perhaps 

 a new species. It is 731, C. Wright, New Mexico.— Culms about 2° long, 

 slender, branching from the base and the lower half of the culm, the 

 branches also floriferous ; leaves narrow, 3' long ; panicle graceful, droop- 

 ing, loose, somewhat contracted above, 3-5' long ; branches mostly single 

 (below somewhat distant), lower ones 1£' long, divided, and flowering to 

 the base; pedicels very short; glumes f to § the length of the flower, 

 scarious, lanceolate, acute, 1-nerved, shortly 2-toothed, or with 1 or 2 short 

 hairs (setae) at the apex, scabrous on the midrib; palets conspicuously 



