426 GRAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



lets 4 to 8-flowered, in an erect mostly rigid spike: glumes 5 to 7-nerved, 

 obtuse or notched, with a rigid short point or awn of variable length : flowering 

 glume similar, but nerved only above, with an awn nearly its own length or 

 awnless. — Tritlcum repens, L. Immensely variable ; its many perplexing 

 forms yielding numerous but confusing varieties. Across the continent, and 

 known by a great variety of names, such as " Couch," " Quack," and " Quitch 

 Grass," " Blue-joint," " Bunch Grass," " Lagoon Grass," etc. 



# * No running rootstock : flowering glume and sometimes the outer glumes long- 



awned. 



2. A. caninum, Reich. Stems 1 to 3 feet high, geniculate below : leaves 

 flat or loosely convolute, pubescent above and like the sheatlis smooth below : spike 

 more or less nodding, at least not strict ; spikelets 3 to 6-flowered : outer glumes 

 5 to 7-nerved, with long awns or merely acuminate : flowering glume 5-nerved 

 near the tip, with mostly spreading awns twice as long. — Tritlcum caninum, L. 

 T. cegilopoides, Gray, not Turcz. From California to Colorado and Nevada, 

 eastward to New England. Extremely variable. 



3. A. Scribneri, Vasey. Stems densely tufted, geniculate and usually 

 prostrate, 1 to l\ feet high: leaves very short (1 to 1^ inches long), smooth, rigid, 

 sometimes glaucous : outer glumes 3 to 5-nerved, extended into a long hispid 

 point : flowering glume with a strong, spreading or recurved hispid awn at 

 least twice as long: otherwise as in the last. — Torr. Bull. x. 128. Possibly 

 only a variety of the last. In the Sierras (Pringle), and Montana (Scribner). 

 High on the mountains, in crevices and among loose rocks. 



4. A. violaceum, Beauv. Stems slender, 1 to 2 feet high, and with the 

 short mostly convolutely-setaceous leaves and sheaths usually smooth : spike 1 to 3 

 inches long, slender, strict and rigid ; spikelets 3 to 5-flowered,' usually purple- 

 tinged : outer glumes with 5 strong rough nerves, short-pointed or short-awned : 

 flowering glume strongly 5-nerved and rough above, with an awn from half to 

 fully as long. — Tritlcum violaceum, Hornem. Rocky Mountains and Sierra 

 Nevada; also mountains of New York and New England. 



5. A. Strigosum, Beauv. Stems slender, 1 to 2 feet high, very densely 

 tufted, with setaceous radical leaves half as tall, glaucous throughout ; stem-leaves 

 3, all narrowly setaceously-convolute, strigose-pubescent on the upper surface, 

 below and with the sheaths smooth or pubescent : spike 2 to 6 inches long, very 

 slender ; spikelets 3 to 6-flowered : outer glumes strongly 3 to 5-nerved, some- 

 what acute .- flowering glume 5-nerved near the apex and bearing a longer strong 

 rough divergent awn. — Tritlcum strigosum, Less. T. cegilopoides, Turcz. In 

 the mountains of Colorado, Montana, and westward. 



47. HOEDEUM, L. Barley. 



Rather low grasses, with flowers in spikes and more or less prominent 

 bristle-form glumes. 



1. H. nodosum, L. Stems J to 3 feet high, often geniculate below: 

 leaves flat or convolute, varying from nearly smooth to hairy : spike 1 to 3 

 inches long, narrow and readily separating into joints; the lateral neutral 

 spikelets merely awn-pointed : glumes all, setaceous : perfect floret 8 lines long in- 

 cluding the awn. — H. pratense, Huds. H. pusillum, Nutt. From California 



