POA GRAMINE^ 763 



bia and North Dakota. 



P. laerigata Soribn. P. Issvis Vasey, not Barb. Stems tufted, pale, 

 slender,' erect, smooth, 2-3 feet high, with 2 or 3 distant leaves ; sheaths 

 smooth: ligules acute : leaves of sterile shoots narrow, 5-8 inches long, 

 those of the stem shorter: paaicle narrow, rather loose 4-8 inches long, 

 sometimes interrupted below, its branches erect or appressed the lower in 

 twos or threes, unequal, the longest 1-2 inches long: spikelets linear, 3-5 

 lines long, about 5-Uo*ered : empty glumes nearly equal, linear-lanceolate, 

 acute, thin, pale and scarious except on the minuetly scabrous midrib: 

 flowering glumes 2-2% lines long, linear-oblong, subacute,5 nerved, minute- 

 ly scabrous, slightly pubescent on the keel and marginal nerves near the 

 base, the apex scabrous and yellowish-tinged in age, somewhat erose : palets 

 equalling the glumes, scabrous on the keels. Eastern Washington to 

 Brit. Columbia, Montana and Arizona. 



P. lOngilignla Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Cir. 9, 3. A 

 cespitose glaucous perennial : stems rather stiff, 16-20 inches high : basal 

 sheaths persistent and rather crowded : ligules conspicuous, 2-5 lines long : 

 leaves of sterile shoots erect or spreading, usually 6-10 inches long, flat or 

 conduplicate, with conspicuous decurrent ligules : cauline leavesshorter, the 

 upper ones sometimes reduced to a mere mucro, all rather rigid and mucron- 

 ate-pointed: panicle ovate in outline, 3-5 inches long, its lower branches 1-2 

 inches long: spikelets compressed, ovate-lanceolate, rather acute, 4-6-flow- 

 ered, 3-6 lines long : empty glumes unequal, more or less rough-hispid on 

 the back, the lower lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 1-nerved, 3 lines long; 

 the upper much broader, 3-nerved; flowering glumes ovate-oblong, obtuse, 

 5-nerved, more or less scabrous above, woolly-pubescent on the lower half 

 of the keel and marginal nerves, with broad hyaline margins, 2^-3 lines 

 long: paleta much shorter than the glumes, hyaline with green hispid- 

 pubescent keels. Oregon to South Dakota and Arizona. 



P. Lettermani Vasey Contrib. Nat. Herb, i, 273. j A dwarf densely 

 tufted perennial : stems 2-4 inches high : sheaths loose, longer than the 

 internodes: ligules rather conspicuous, acute : radicall^aves flat, 1-2 inches 

 long, yi-i line wide ; those of the stem 1 or 2, about 1 inch long : panicle 

 6,-12 lines long, oblong, rather dense, its b;fanches mostly in twos, short, 

 erect, with 1-3 spikelets at the extremities : spikelets .l}^r2 lines long, 2-4- 

 flowered, purplish: empty glumes nearly aglong a§ the spikelets, oblong- 

 lanceolate, acute, nearly equal, smooth; flowering gl'ii'tiles 1-1}4 lines long 

 ovate-oblong, acute, or subobtuse, obscurely nerved,: toiooth,' scarious at 

 the apex: palet nearly equalling the glume, acutely Smoothed at the apex. 

 On mount Rainier Washington at 9000 feet altitude, Ipmd Gray's peak Col. 



P. Pringlei Scribn. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club x, 31. Stems tufted, 5-10 

 inches high, slendet, wiry, with 1 or 2 leaves : ligule's conspicuous, 2 lines 

 long: leaves mostly basal, 1-2 inches long, convolute, rigid, those of the 

 stem with very short or nearly obsolete blades : panicle 6-12 lines long, 

 compact, oblong, the few branches mostly in pairs, erect, with 1-2 spikelets 

 each : spikelets 3 lines long, mostly 2-flowered, oblong, turgid, purplish : 

 empty glumes thin, membranous, ovate-lanceolate nearly as long as the 

 florets ; flowering glumes about 3 lines long, oblong-lanceolate, subulate, 

 scarious at the apex, smooth, obscurely 5-nerved, ; palets a little shorter, 

 acutely 2- toothed. On the high mountains, California to Washington. 



P. Leibergii Scribn. U. 8. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 8, 6, t. 11- 

 A densely cespitose fibrous-rooted glabrous perennial : stems slender, 2-6 

 inches high, the base clothed with loose scarious sheaths : ligules hyaline, 

 about 1 line long: radical leaves numerous, 1-2 inches long, about }4 'ine 

 wide, those ot the stem 6-12 lines long, conduplicate when dry, minutely 

 scabrous along, the margins and at the apex, otherwise srnooth: panicle 

 simple, of 1-7, spikelets, its lower branches usually in pairs, each branch 



