Genus 84. 



GRASS FAMILY. 



247 



3. Melica Ported Scribn. Small Melic- 

 grass. Fig. 593. 



Melica mutica var. parvifiora Porter ; Porter & Coulter, 



Fl. Colo. 149. 1874. 

 Melica Porteri Scribn. Proc. Acad. Phila. 1885 : 44. pi. 



1. f. 17, 18. 1 88s. 

 M. parvifiora Scribn. Mem. Torr. Club 5 : so. 1894. 



Culms ii°-24° tall, erect, simple, smooth and 

 glabrous. Sheaths short, overlapping, more or less 

 rough; ligule 1" long; blades 5'-o long, i"-2" wide, 

 rough; panicle 5-7' in length, contracted, the 

 branches erect, the lower 1-2' long; spikelets few, 

 4-5-flowered, 5"-64" long, nodding, on somewhat 

 flexuous strongly pubescent pedicels; lower scales 

 obtuse or acutish, the first shorter than the second, 

 which is much exceeded by the spikelet; flowering 

 scales 3i"~4" long, acutish, scabrous. 



Cliffs and hillsides, Iowa to Missouri, Colorado, Ari- 

 zona and Texas. 



85. KORYCARPUS Zea, Act. Matrit. 1806. 

 [Diarina Raf. Journ. Bot. 2 : 169. 1809.] 

 [Diarrhena Beauv. Agrost. 142. 1812.] 



Erect grasses, with long flat leaf -blades and narrow paniculate or racemose inflorescence. 

 Spikelets 3-5-flowered, the rachilla readily disarticulating between the flowers. Upper scales 

 empty, convolute. Two lower scales empty, the first narrow, 3-nerved, acute, the second 

 broader, 5-nerved; flowering scales broader than the lower ones, acuminate or mucronate, 

 rounded on the back, finally coriaceous and shining, 3-nerved. Palet 2-keeled. Stamens 2, 

 rarely 1. Styles short, distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain beaked, free. [Greek, in allusion 

 to the beaked grain.] 



Two known species, the following North American, the other Japanese. Type species : Kory- 

 carpus arundinaceus Zea. 



i. Korycarpus arundinaceus Zea. American Kory- 

 carpus. Fig. 594. 



Festuca diandra Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 : 67. pi. 10. 1803. Not 



Moench, 1794. 

 Korycarpus arundinaceus Zea, Act. Matrit. 1806. 

 Diarrhena americana Beauv. Agrost. 142. pi. 25. f. 11. 1812. 

 Korycarpus diandrus Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 772. 1891. 



Culms ii°-4° tall, erect, simple, very rough below the 

 panicle. Sheaths overlapping, confined to the lower part 

 of the culm, smooth or a little rough at the summit, some- 

 times pubescent; ligule very short; blades 8'-24' long, 5"-o" 

 wide, long-acuminate at the apex, usually scabrous ; panicle 

 often reduced to a raceme, 2'-yY in length, the branches 

 erect, 1/-2' long; spikelets 3-5-flowered, 6"-8" long, the 

 lower scales unequal, the first shorter than the second, 

 which is much exceeded by the spikelet; flowering scales 

 somewhat abruptly acuminate; palets shorter than the 

 scales and exceeded by the beaked grain. 



In rich woods, Ohio to South Dakota, south to Georgia and 

 Texas. Aug.-Sept. 



86. PLEUROPOGON R. Br. App. Parry's Voy. 289. 1824. 



Erect grasses with flat leaf -blades and racemose inflorescence. Spikelets 5-14-flowered; 

 flowers perfect, or the upper staminate. Two lower scales empty, unequal, thin-membranous, 

 i-nerved, or the second imperfectly 3-nerved; flowering scales longer, membranous, 7-nerved, 

 the middle nerve excurrent as a short point or awn. Palet scarcely shorter than the scale, 

 2-keeled, the keels winged or appendaged. Stamens 3. Styles short. Stigmas plumose. 

 Grain free, enclosed in the sc.ale and palet. [Greek, side-beard, from the appendages to the 

 palets.] 



Three known species, the following arctic, the others Californian. Type species : Pleuropogon 

 Sabinii R. Br. 



