GRASS FAMILY. 35 



uonjpact, from ovoid-oblong and 1 in. long, to oblong-cylindrical and 

 2J iji. long; about J in. wide; spikelete 2 to 3 lines long and 1 line 

 wid§, lanceolate-acuminate, with a narrow, thin keel above the mid- 

 dle, sometimes irregularly notched; keel and veins ciliate-scabrid ; 

 eiupty bra^tlet reduced to a single, short, arcuate-subulate bristle 

 with a distinct callus at the base, about J line long, closely appressed 

 to the back of the upper flower-enclosing bractlet; the latter IJ lines 

 long, acute, faintly 5-nerved, more or less pubescent and ciliate above 

 vyith silky hairs, pale brown, shining; anthers pale- or greenish- 

 yellqw. 



Inijigenous to the Mediterranean Kegion; now common in the 

 Coast Ranges and great valley: Southern California; " Roadsides near 

 win(}niill, Berkeley" about 1872, McLinn. Little Oak, Solano Co., 

 Jepsoii; common at Danville, near ilartinez and near Princeton. 



4. P. paradoxaL Gnawed Canary-grass. Stems erect, froiu 

 a geniculate base, 2J ft. high, often branched from the lower nodes; 

 sheati>s usually inflated; ligule 1^ to 2 lines long, obtuse and soon 

 lacerate; blades 3 to 7i in. long, IJ to 2 lines wide, flat, scabrous on 

 both surfaces, glaucescent: panicle oblanceolate, obtuse, appearing as 

 though gnawed below; usually only the primary branches bearing per- 

 fect spikelets, those of the secondary branches being abortive or imper- 

 fect; the pedicels of the spikelets in the lower one-third or one-half 

 of the thyrse are much reduced and their spikelets peculiarly aborted; 

 perfegt spikelets of lower part of thyrse about 2J lines long, their 

 bracts acuminate but not awned; those of the upper part about 1 line 

 longgr and awn-pointed; keel of bracts narrow, terminating in a long 

 or short horn at f from the base; staminate and neuter spikelets about 

 2 lines long, the keel running almost to the apex and shortly or barely 

 horned; empty bractlets 2, minute, about J line long, appressed to the 

 flower-enclosing bractlet like hornj'- calluses, each with 2 slender, 

 cilia^like hairs about their own length at or near the apex; flower- 

 enclosing bractlet about If lines long, obtuse, firm, sub-glabrous and 

 shining; achene brown, with a black apex. 



Native of the ilediterranean Region; introduced into the Coast 

 Ranges and Great Valley regions: Petaluma, 1896, Leakenby; plenti- 

 ful near Norman, Glenn Co.", 1898; Pinole Creek Valley, 1900, Davy. 

 JIay-July. 



5. P. Lemmoni Yasey. Lkmmoxs Canart-gkass. Annual; 

 stems slender, erect, IJ to 3 ft. high; sheaths scarcely inflated; ligule 

 conspicuous, 2 to 3 lines long; blades 3 to 7J in. long, 1 to 2 lines 

 wide, long-acuminate; thyrse IJ to 4 in. long, nearly cylindrical, 

 sometimes slightly interrupted below; spikelets spreading, 2 to 2i 

 lines long; bracts sub-equal, soabrid-keeled, not at all, or only 

 minutely winged, narrow and acuminate; empty bractlets 2, about J 

 line long, very narrow, shortly hairy below; flower-enclosing bractlet 

 IJ to 2 lines long, abruptly acuminate, pubescent. 



Apparently restricted to California, from Santa Cruz southward, 

 and very rare: Santa Cruz, Lemnwii. Anderson; also reported from 

 near Los Angeles by Dr. Anstruther Davidson. 



