85 



39. P. sylvestris, Gray. New York to Wisconsin, and southward. 



40. P. tenuifolia, Nutt. Rocky Mountains to California. 



P. tenuifolia, var. Oregona, Vasey. (Festuca Oregona, Vasey.) 



Oregon and Washington. 

 P. tenuifolia, var. stenophylla, Vasey. California, Oregon to 



Montana. 



This species in several varieties is common in California, Oregon, 

 Montana, &c, and is one of the numerous bunch grasses referred 

 to in the accounts of the wild pasturage of that country. The 

 foliage of some forms is scanty, but of others the radical leaves are 

 long and abundant. It is stated that the Indians gather the seeds 

 of this grass for food. 



41. P. trivialis, Linn. Rough stalked Meadow grass. Introduced. 

 This species very much resembles the Poa pratensis. It is dis- 

 tinguished chiefly by its having rough sheaths, by its long, pointed 

 ligules, its fibrous roots, and the smooth marginal nerves of the 

 flowering glumes ; whereas, in Poa pratensis, the sheaths are 

 smooth, the ligules obtuse, the root-stock running, and the mar- 

 ginal nerves of the flowering glumes are hairy. It has been little 

 cultivated by itself in this country, but is sometimes found in low 

 meadows or on the banks of shaded streams. It flourishes best in 

 low or wet ground and in shaded situations, and is not so well 

 adapted to general cultivation as the blue grass. 



Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says : 



It is specially adapted to wood pastures, as it delights in shade, banks of streams, 

 and moist ground generally. It hears tramping, and is an excellent pasture grass . 

 It makes a good mixture with red top and orchard grass, or red top and tall oat 

 grass, and with other pasture grasses. 



P. trivialis ? var. oecidentalis, Vasey. 

 This grass, apparently a variety of P. trivialis, appears to be in- 

 digenous in Colorado and New Mexico. It has a larger, looser pan- 

 icle than the introduced plant. 



42. P. Wheeleri, Vasey. Mountains of Colorado. 



Prof. Scribner, in writing of the Poas of Montana, says : 



All the Poas, wherever growing in abundance, yield most excellent food for stock. 

 On the mountain tops we find P. alpina- and P. ccesia, which, though short, are 

 sweet and nutritious. P. Nevadensis is common along mountain streams, arid on the 

 slopes we find P. memoralis and P. serotina. P. pratensis is truly indigenous, and 

 grows abundantly along the streams and rivers. P. tenuifolia, in its various forms, 



