68 GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



Panicle lax or the spikelets spreading; stems not bulbous at base. 



Spikelets at leugta pendulous . . . . . . , , 1. M. parviflora. 



Spikelets ascending on the long lax branchlets of the panicle . , 2. M. Snaithii. 

 Panicle dense and narrow; stems with bulbous base. 



Second glume evidently shorter than the lemma . , , , 3. M. spectabilis. 



Second glume and lemma subequal . , . . . , . 4. M. bulbosa. 



1. Melica parviflora (Porter) Scribn. Mem. Terr. Club 5: 50. 1894. Culms 

 5-8 dm. high: leaves narrow, 2-3 dm. long: spikelets racemose, pendent on 

 the few slender branches, 8-12 mm. long, 2-4-flowered : glumes equal, about 

 one third shorter than the lower floret: gi'ain oblong, subacute, 2.5 mm. long. 

 M. Porteri. — Colorado to Arizona and Texas. 



2. Melica Smithii (Porter) Vasey, Beal's Grasses N. A. 2: 509. 1896. Culms 

 slender, 5-10 dm. high: leaves fiat, thin, scabrous, 15-20 cm. long, 6-8 mm. 

 broad: panicle open, 15-20 cm. long; the rays mostly single, distant, at length ! 

 spreading, bearing rather few spikelets mostly abo-^e the middle: spikelets' 

 2-5-flowered: glumes scabrous; lemma 7-nerved, 2-toothed; palet linear, 

 longer than its lemma. — Northern part of our range and thence eastward and , 

 westward. 



3. Melica spectabilis Scribn. Proc. Phila. Acad. 45. 1885. Panicle nod- 

 ding, loosely few-flowered, the slender branches erect-spreading: terminal 

 floret acute: lemma very broadly acuminate, obtuse or notched at the 

 tip. M. bulbosa of Bot. King's Exp. and FI. Colorado. This differs from 

 M. bulbosa Geyer in its usually taller and more slender stems, more open 

 and nodding panicle, more slender and fiexuose pedicels, shorter glumes, 

 and broader lemmas which taper abruptly to a rounded and usually two- 

 lobed summit. — In the mountains, from Colorado and Utah to Montana and 

 Idaho. 



4. Melica bulbosa Geyer, Hook. Journ. Bot. 8: 19. 1873. Stems single or 

 densely tufted, usually 4-5 dm. high, simple: sheaths and upper surface of the 

 leaves scabrous: panicle erect, the branches appressed, few-flowered: spikelets 

 10-12 mm. long, with 5-8 perfect flowers, the terminal floret acute; — Prom 

 Wyoming and Montana to Oregon and Washington. 



C3. DISTICHLIS Raf. 



Rather low rigid leafy grasses from perennial running rootstocks. Dioecious. 

 Spikelets 6-15-flowered, compressed, linear or narrowly oval, smooth, awnless, 

 in small subspicate panicles. Second glume slightly larger than the fii'st, but 

 shorter than the lower floret; lemma rather rigid, ovate, acute, indistinctly 7- 

 11-nerved, slightly larger than the thin palet. The pistillate spikelets more 

 turgid, otherwise alike. Grain oblong, oblique, subacute, opaque. 



1. Distichlis spicata (L.) Greene, Bull. Cal. Acad. 2: 415. 1887. Culms 

 erect, 2-4 dm. high: leaves usually crowded, distichous and rigid: panicle 

 4-8 cm. long: spikelets about 1 cm. long. — Common in saline soil throughout 

 our range and .far to the northwestward. 



54. DACTYLIS L. Orchard Grass 



Rather stout tufted perennial grasses with numerous rough leaves. Spike- 

 lets 2-4-flowered, with a glumiferous rudiment, perfect, compressed, sessile or 

 very short-pediceled in glomerate clusters in a rather dense branching panicle; 

 bracts all herbaceous, or the lower ones submembranaceous, cariiiate and 

 hispid-ciliate on the keel. Glumes lanceolate, acute, subequal, shorter than the 

 lower florets; lemma mucronate, 5-nerved, sUghtly exceeding the hyaline 

 palet. Grain linear, yellow, opaque, channeled or tiiquetrous. 



1. Dactylis glomerata L. Sp. PI. 71. 1753. Culms C-10 dm. high, simple: 

 leaves flat, hispid, 2^ dm. long: panicle 1-2 dm. lonij;, irregularly pyramidal; 

 spikelets 5-8 mm. long. — Introduced ; a valuable grass in cultivation. 



