68 GRAMINEAE. 



whorls of 2 to 5 below, capillary and flexuous, rough, erect, somewhat remote, 

 spikelet bearing above the middle, the longest about 3V> in. long; pedicels 

 short; Bpikelets oblong, 2 to 3 linos long, 4 to 6-flowered ; bracts less than 

 '._. the length of the nearest bractlet ; lower 1-nerved, acute; upper rounded, 

 3-nerved; bractlel about 1 Line long, prominently 5-nerved, scabrous, with a 

 purplish border below the scarious truncate-obtuse serrulate apex. — (Glyceria 

 paucifora Presl.) 



A common grass in fresh-water marshes of the (.'oast Ranges and Sierra 

 Nevada: Lake Pilarcitos; Olema; Guerneville and northward. Apr.-Aug. 



38. FESTUCA Tourn. Fescue-grass. 



Leaves and flowers often rather harsh to the touch. Panicle various, loose 

 and spreading or racemose and sometimes secund. Leaf-blades often auricled 

 at the base. Spikelots sub-terete, 2 to many (rarely by abortion only 1)- 

 flowered. Bracts 2 (rarely only 1), not equaling the nearest bractlet, mem- 

 branaceous, acute; lower 1-nerved; upper larger, 3-nerved. Rachilla jointed 

 below the bractlet. Bractlets not webby, convex, not keeled, chartaceous or 

 nearly coriaceous, 3 to 5-nerved, mucronate or awned at or near the tip. 

 uppermost sometimes empty; palea 2-toothed or 2-fid, nerves hairy. Scales 

 2, notched or 2-lobed. Stamens 1 to 3. Ovary usually glabrous; styles 

 short, terminal. (Latin festuca, a slender shoot or straw; also used by 

 Latin writers to designate some straw-like weed.) 



Perennials. — Eufestuca. 



Awns less than 2 lines long. 



Stems slender, J/ 2 to 3 ft. high; ligule and auricles glabrous; rootstock tufted, some- 

 times stoloniferous; lowest bractlet 2 l / 2 to 3 l /2 lines long 1. F. rubra. 



Stems stout, 3 to 4 ft. high; ligule and auricles villous 2. F. calif oriuca. 



Awns 4 to 6 lines long 3. F. denticulata. 



Slender annuals; inflorescence a racemose panicle or raceme; awns 2$4 to 7 lines long. — 

 VULPIA. 

 Branches and spikelets mostly spreading; the latter 1 to S-flowered; bracts sub-equal, 



the lower \ l / 2 to 2^4 lines long 4. F. microstachys. 



Branches and spikelets erect, appressed; spikelets 5 to 8 (rarely only 3)-flowered; bracts 

 often very unequal, sometimes subequal 5. F. myuros. 



1. F. rubra L. Red Fescue. Rootstock perennial, tufted and some- 

 times stoloniferous; stems slender, erect, 2 to 2V> ft. high, often 

 purplish; sheaths smooth; blades very narrow and slender, almost seta- 

 ceous, smooth, about 14. line wide, 4 to 10 in. long; ligule very short; 

 panicle 6 to 7 in. long, narrow, sparse or somewhat dense; rachis and branchlets 

 BCabrid, the latter erect, in pairs below, the longest about 3 in. long and 

 bearing 3 to 5 spikelets on the upper %; pedicels about 3 lines long; spikelets 

 6 to 7 lines Long, 6 to 8-flowered; bracts awnless, the lower 2, upper 2% lines 

 Long; bractlets 2% to 3% lines long, glabrous or minutely scabrous above, 

 with a slender awn 1 to 1 Vi> lines long; anthers 1% to 2 lines long. — (F. ovina 

 var. rubra Gray.) 



Common in dry, exposed places: Vaca Mts.; Los Guilucos Valley and 

 Hood's Peak; l't. Isabel; Olema; Ban Francisco. Apr.-. June. 



2. F. californica Vasey. California Fescue. Rootstock perennial, 

 forming large tufts; steins clothed with the dead sheaths below. :; to 4 ft. high. 



stout; foliage glaucous; sheaths often Lavender-colored ;it the base when 

 young, scabrous; Ligule and auricles villous without and within; panicle 

 »', to !• in. long, drooping; rachis scabrid; branches in pairs below, spiktdet- 

 bearing above the middle; spikelets about Vj in- long, 4 to 7-flowered; lower 



brad 2 \<> 3%, upper 2% to 4 lines long; bractlets cuspidate or with a short 



