48 GRAMINEAE. 



dense, lobed, 2 to 4 in. long, 5 to 9 linos wide, rarely interrupted at the base; 

 brandies crowded, erect, whorled or the lowest in % whorls, all but the longest 

 densely crowded with spikelets from the base up; longest % to 1 in. long; 

 spikelets I 1 /* to 1% lines long; bracts sub-equal, narrow, acuminately-pointed, 

 1-nerved, scabrous especially on the nerve; callus with a tuft of minute hairs 

 at the base of each margin of the bractlet; bractlet 1 line long, glabrous, 

 minutely toothed at the apex, 5-nerved below, midnerve excurrent from a little 

 below the apex as a scabrid awn about 1 line long; palea obsolete or minute; 

 stamens 3. — (A mucronata Thurb. in Bot. Cal.) 



Along the coast from Santa Cruz to Fort Bragg. July- Aug. 



4. A. asperifolia Trin. Northern Red-top. Annual; stems tufted, 

 stiffly erect, stout, leafy, 1 to 2 ft. high; sheaths minutely scabrid, 

 margins scabrous; ligule 1 to 2 lines long, truncate or obtuse, more or less 

 decurrent; blades 3 to 6 in. long, 1% to 2% lines wide, acuminate or acute, 

 scabrous; panicle shortly exserted, linear, interrupted below, lobed and denst 1 

 above, 4 to 6 in. long, 3 to 4 lines wide; branches crowded, erect, densely 

 whorled and some at each node densely spikelet-bearing from the base, the 

 longest % to 1% in. long and naked below; spikelets 1V± to 1% lines long; 

 bracts subequal, narrow, acuminately 1-nerved, scabrous only on the nerve; 

 callus with a tuft of minute hairs at the base of each margin of the bractlet, 

 or apparently naked; bractlet % line long, glabrous, minutely toothed at the 

 apex, faintly nerved, awnless; palea obsolete or minute; stamens 3. — (A. 

 exarata Thurb. in Bot. Cal., in part.) 



Common in the San Francisco Bay Region in salt-marshes and othe^ wet 

 places: Berkeley; Lake Pilarcitos; San Francisco; Martinez. June. Appar- 

 ently near to A. densiflora, but at once distinguished from it by the taller stem, 

 longer and narrower leaves and panicle, and the absence of awns. 



5. A. diegoensis Vasey. San Diego Bent-grass. Rootstock perennial, 

 slender, stoloniferous; stems slender, erect, 2 to 2% ft. high; sheaths minutely 

 scabrid; ligule 2 to 4 lines long, acuminate, more or less lacerate, decurrent; 

 blades 2% to 7 in. long, y 2 to 1 line wide, antrorsely scabrous especially on 

 the margins; panicle narrow, lax, well exserted, 2 to 5 in. long; branches erect, 

 the longest 1 to 3 in. long, all but the longest spikelet-bearing to near the 

 base; spikelets 1% lines long; bracts acute, sub-equal, scabrid; callus with a 

 prominent tuft of hairs about % line long, at the base of each margin of the 

 bractlet; bractlet awnless or short-awned, 1 to 1% lines long, scabrid especially 

 on the margins above, 4-toothed, prominently 5-nervod, the mid-nerve not 

 reaching the apex, sometimes excurrent below the middle as a short awn % 

 line long or less ; palea minute or obsolete ; stamens 3 ; anthers 1 line long, 

 purplish. 



Abundant in the shade of bushes on dry hillsides of the Coast Ranges from 

 Ban Diego to Sonoma Co.: Berkeley Hills; Hood's Peak; Olema ; Point Reyes. 

 June-Aug. One of our most abundant native grasses. 



13. GASTRIDIUM Beauv. 

 Erect annual. Leaf-blades flat. Panicle spike-like, contracted, cylindric- 

 fusiform, shining. Spikelets small, 1-flowered. Bracts much exceeding the 

 bractlet. Bhining, gibbous at the base, obscurely keeled above. Baccate below, 

 acuminate or awa pointed, the lower much the longer. Rachilla prolonged be- 

 yond the insertion of the flower. I'-ractlel and palea equal, alike, minute, hyaline, 

 Bhortly Btipitate and with a tuft of very minute hairs at the base; bractlet trun- 

 cate, toothed, with or without a slender, twisted, dorsal awn which equals or 



