GRASS FAMILY. 75 



auricled at base, the auricle prolonged into a curved horn; spike 1U to 2 in. 

 long; rachis almost smooth; spikelets approximate, Yi > n - l° n g> 4 to 5-flowered; 

 bracts 5 to •"> ' j lines long, Long-acuminate, subulate-pointed, filiate, :> to 5- 

 nerved, coriaceous; bractlets broad, subulate-pointed, scabrid, coriaceous; palea 

 ciliate. 



A dwarf maritime species, apparently rare: type locality, sand-dunes at Pt. 

 Reyes, Davy ; Bodega Pt., Eastwood. 



44. ELYMUS L. Wild Rye. 

 Perennials; stems tall and rigid. Leaf-blades usually broad. Spikes 

 stout, cylindrical, usually dense. Spikelets 2 to 6 (sometimes only 1 above) 

 at each node of the more or less flattened and notched rachis, placed sidewise 

 to the rachis, usually sessile, 2 to 7 (rarely only 1) -flowered. Bracts persistent, 

 placed side by side in front of each spikelet so that those at a node together 

 resemble an involucre, rarely divided into several awns (E. sitanion), firm, 

 1 to 5-nerved, linear or narrowly lanceolate-subulate. Rachilla jointed below 

 the bractlets, terminating in a perfect or staminate flower or an empty 

 bractlet. Bractlets usually coriaceous, rounded on the back. Palea 2-keeled. 

 Scales large, usually ciliate. Stamens 3 ; anthers large. Ovary hairy ; stig- 

 mas sessile or nearly so, distant. Achene oblong, hairy at the apex, grooved 

 on the inside, adherent to the bractlet and palea. (Greek elumos, a kind 

 of grain.) 



Bractlet cuspidate or awn-pointed, but not long-awned. 



Spikelets ^ to 1 in. long; lowest bractlet 7 to 10 lines long; ligule about ]/i line long; 



stout grass of maritime dunes and sandy beaches 1. E. arenarius. 



Spikelets 54 in- long or less; lowest bractlet 5 to 6 lines long. 



Ligule about 1 line long; spike stout, usually dense, contracted; spikelets many; 



stout grass of moist places among the hills 2. E. condensatus. 



Ligule Yi line long or less; spike slender; spikelets few; plant usually glaucous with 

 a bluish bloom; slender grass of bottom lands in the warmer valleys. 3. E. triticoides. 

 Bractlet with an awn mostly equaling or longer than itself. 



Bracts entire, narrowly lanceolate-subulate, mostly acuminate or awn-pointed but not 

 long-awned. 

 Rootstock creeping. 



Awns erect; sheaths glabrous or retrorsely pubescent. 

 Ligule less than l / 2 line long, regularly truncate. 



Sheaths densely retrorsely pubescent 4. E. pubescens. 



Sheaths smooth or scabrid 5. E. glaucus. 



Ligule about 1 line long, rounded; bractlet hispidulous 6. E. hispidulus. 



Awns very divergent when dry, straight and erect when moistened; lower sheaths 



densely antrorsely pubescent I.E. divergent. 



Rootstock not creeping; stems leafy and tufted 8. E. angustifolius. 



Bracts divided into long, slender awns which surround the spikelets as with an involucre. 



9. E. sitanion. 



1. E. arenarius L. Rancheria-grass. Glaucous; rootstock stout, widely 

 creeping, stoloniferous; stems stout, erect, 3 to 6 ft. high; sheaths smooth, 

 channeled; ligule a narrow truncate ring; blades 13 to 18 in. long, 4 to (i 

 lines wide, flat or with more or less convolute margins below, attenuate, rigid, 

 auricled at the base, scabrous above, smooth below; spike ii to L2 in. long, 

 dense, erect; rachis broadly winged, pubescenl and ciliate; spikelets large, in 

 pairs or threes, imbricate, mostly appressed, :: i to 1 in. Long, about 6-flowered; 

 bracts sub-equal, 7 to 12 lines long, rather shorter than the nearest bractlet, 

 lanceolate-acuminate, 3 to 5-nerved, scabious, sparingly ciliate with long hairs 

 on the mid-nerve especially above; bractlet aboul i) lines long including tin; 

 long point, V/ 2 lines wide, 8 to 9-nerved, glabrous or scabrid or sparingly 

 pubescent; palea about G lines long, ciliate on the keels; anthers '■'> lines long. 



