BHOMUS GEAMINE^ 771 



the lower ones softly pubescent : ligules 1-2 lines long : leaves 1-4 inches 

 long, 1-2 lines wide, softly pubescent: panicle 2-6 inches long, open, its 

 branches slender and drooping, somewhat one-sided : spikelets numerous, 

 5-8-flowered, on capillary recurved slender pedicels: empty glumes acu- 

 minate, usually rough or hirsute ; the first 1-nerved, the second longer, 

 3-nerved; flowering glumes 4-6 lines long, acuminate, 7-nerved, usually 

 rough or hirsute : awns 6-8 lines long. In fields and waste places : natur- 

 alized from Europe. 



§ 2 ZERNA Panz. Short-lived perennials, usually with a weak 

 drooping panicle and more or less pubescent flowering glumes. 



B. Paciftcns Shear U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 23, 38. Stems • 

 stout, leafy, pubescent at the nodes, 3-6 feet high : sheaths mostly retrorse- 

 ly pilose : ligules 1)^-2 lines long rounded above, somewhat lacerate-den- 

 tate : leaves 8-14 inches long, 4-7 lines wide, sparingly pilose above, scab- 

 rous beneath : panicle dense, drooping, its lower branches secund : spikelets 

 Ij^ inch long, 7-11-flowered, coarsely pubescent throughout : empty glumes 

 acute, the first 1-nerved, or rarely with 2 short lateral nerves, 3-4 lines 

 long, the second broader and 3-5-nerved ; flowering glumes inconspicuously 

 7-nerved, broadly lanceolate, emarginate, 6-7 lines long: awn straight, 

 2-3 lines long. In moist thickets near the sea, Clatsop County, Oregon. 



B. Orcuttianus Vasey Bot. Gaz. x, 223. An erect perennial 2-5 feet 

 high, sheaths pubescent: ligules J^ line long : leaves nearly smooth, 5-10 

 inches long, 3- 9 lines wide : panicle erect, thin, 5-7 inches long, its bran- 

 ches in twos and threes, bearing 2-3 spikelets each, spreading: spikelets 

 4-8-flowered the first empty glume linear, acute, 1-3-nerved : 4 lines long, 

 the second linear, almost acute, 3-nerved, 5-6 lines long, fiowering glumes, 

 scabrous, rounded on the back, lance-elliptical, 5-7herved, 6-7 lines long, 

 obtuse : awn 2-6 lines long : palets linear. On the high mountains Wash- 

 ington to lower California. 



B. vulgaris Shear 1. c. 43. Stems slender, erect, 30-40 inches high, 

 pubescent below the nodes, which are retrorsely bearded: sheaths pilose, 

 with spreading or reflexed hairs: ligules truncate, l-2>^ lines long: leaves 

 7-12 inches long, 2-6 lines wide, thinly pilose above, glabrous or sparsely 

 pilose beneath : spikelets covered with a short coarse pubescence, the first 

 narrow, very acute 3-4 lines long : 1-nerved, the second much broader and 

 longer, 3-nerved, scabrous on the back : fiowering glumes about 6 lines 

 long, sparsely pubescent, 5-nerved, awns slender, 5-6 lines long. In open 

 woods. California to Brit. Columbia and Montana. 



Var. eximins Shear 1. c. 44. More erect and robust : sheaths and 

 leaves glabrous : flowering glumes pubescent only on the midnerve and 

 near the base. Eastern Oregon and Washington. 



V. rqbustns Shear 1. c. 44. Tall and leafy : sheaths and leaves 

 sparingly pilose.; panicle larger. Along the coast, Oregon to Brit. Columbia. 



Bi ISBVipes Shear 1. c. 45. Stems 30-40 inches high, from short creep- 

 ing rootstocks, pubescent just below the nodes : sheatns glabrous : ligules 

 l>^-2 lines long; truncate, entire or lacerate-dentate ; leaves 6-12 inches 

 long, 2-4 lines wide: panicle lax, drooping, 7-10 inches long: spikelets 

 drooping, narrow, terete, 5-9-flowered : empty glumes smooth, the first 

 acute, 3-nerved, 3-6 lines long.the second broader, 5-nerved, 5-7 lines long : 

 flowering glumes obtuse, 7-nerved, 6-8 lines long, densely pubescent on 

 the margins and on the back at the base, hyaline and usually brownish- 

 yellow at the apex : awn straight 2)^-3 lines long : palets about 1 line long, 

 shorter than the glumes. In thickets, Washington to California, in the 

 Coast and Cascade Mountains. 



B. Suksdorfll Vasey Bot. Gaz. x, 223. An erect coarse tufted per- 



