70 GRAMINEAE. 



Spikelets 5 to many-flowered, laterally compressed or Bub-terete, oval to lanceo- 

 late, erecl or often drooping. Bracts aol reaching to the apex of the lowest 

 bractlet, membranaceous, acute, awnless; lower 1 to 5-nerved; upper 3 to 9- 

 aerved. Rachilla jointed below the bractlets. Bractlets rounded on the 

 hack below, Bomewhal keeled above, 5 to 9-nerved, awned or bristle-pointed; 

 awn mostly arising from a Little below the usually shortly 2-fid, hyaline apex. 

 Palea nearly as Long as the bractlet, 2-fid, with 2 prominent, usually pectinate- 

 ciliate keels. Ovary obovate or linear, crowned by a 2 to 3-lobed, hairy, mem- 

 branaceous appendage; styles very short, more or less lateral, plainly arising 

 below the apex of the ovary; stigmas feathery. Achene oblong or linear, 

 often more or less conduplicate, grooved, adhering to the palea or more or 

 less to the base of the bractlet. (Bronios. the ancient (ireek name for a kind 

 of oats, derived from broma, food. Closely allied to Festuca.) 



Lower hract 1 to 3-nerved. 



Perennial; spikelets narrow, sub-terete, acuminate before anthesis; awns l l / 2 to 2y 2 



lines long 1. B. laevipes. 



Annual. 



Bractlets 6 to 10; panicle contracted; awn slender, 6 to 9 lines long or less; 



ligule lacerate; panicle dense, obovate-cuneate,' 1 ^2 to 2 in. long 2. B. rubens. 



Bractlets 4 to 6; panicle lax; awn stout, rigid, over 1 in. long 3. B. maximus. 



Lower bract 5 to 9-nerved. 



Annual; panicle-branches short, erect 4. B. hordcaceus. 



Perennial; panicle-branches long, drooping at maturity. 



Stems 3 to 4 ft. high; panicle erect; awn 3^4 to 7 lines long; bracts unequal, lower 



4 to 6. upper 5 to 7 lines long; rachilla pubescent 5. B. Jiookeriaiius. 



Stems 1 ]/2 to 3 ft. high; panicle drooping; awn 2 to 2> l / 2 lines long; bracts sub-equal, 

 about 6 lines long; rachilla puberulent 6. B. carinatus. 



1. B. laevipes Shear. Nodding Brome. Perennial; stems slender, erect 

 from an arcuate base, - to 3 ft. high; sheaths smooth or scabrid; blades tlat. 

 Bcabrid, 2 to .", lines wide; panicle lax, drooping, 5 to S in. long; branches 

 bearing few spikelets; spikelets drooping, narrow, subterete, acuminate before 

 anthesis. ll* to Id lines long. 5 to 9-flowercd ; bracts smooth, 1 to 3 -nerved; 

 internodes of rachilla 1 1> to I 1 /* lines long; bractlets 5 to 7V> lines long, 

 7-nerved, the alternate nerves longer and more prominent, densely cilinte- 

 pubescenl on the margin nearly to the apex, and also on the back near the 

 base; apex nearly flat, entire; awn 1 \ ._. to •_!'._. lines long. 



Sai: Pablo Ridge; Hood's Peak, and northward in the ('oast Ranges, in 

 woodlands and among brush. May. 



2. B. rubens L. Red Bkome. Soft, densely tufted, Blender annual, 



8 to 16 in. high; ligule lacerate, 1 to 2 lines long; panicle obovate-cuneate, 



]'._. to 2 in. long, erect, dense, tinge. | with reddish-brown, branches bearing 

 1 to I spikelets; spikelets 6 to 9 flowered; lower bract ."> to 5 lines long, lanceo- 

 late. 1 nerved, upper 5 to 7 lines long, .".-nerved; bractlets 7-nerved. awn (5 to 



9 lines long. 



Naturalized from southern Europe: Solano Co.; Contra Costa Co. Apr.- 



Mav. 



3. B. maximus Desf. var. gussoni Pari. Broncho-grass. Annual; stems 



1 to L' ft. high; ligule l'_. to 2 or 3 lines long, truncate, lacerate; blades 2 



to :; lines wide. flat, bright green, Bparsely villous; panicle •"> to s in. long, 

 at ftrsl erect, then drooping; lowest whorls 4 to 5-branched; longest branches 



ban twice the length of the s|.ik«d«t ; spikelets solitary or in pairs, often 

 1 '•, in. long excluding the awns, linear lanceolate, very scabrous, often purplish; 



Bcarious excepl the nerves, very narrow, awn pointed. 1 to 3-nerved; 



lower 7 to In lines; upper 11 to 11 lines long, long acuminate ; bractlets 1 



