78 GRAMINEAE. 



and those of the branches densely retrorsely scabrous and filiate on the mar- 

 gins, or glabrous; ligule regularly or somewhat obliquely truncate, y A line 

 long; blades flat, or involute when dry, 1% or rarely 2 1 /. lines wide, sparingly 

 pubescenl and scabrid on the upper surface, antrorsely scabrid on the lower, 

 muefa aarrower at tlie base than the sheath and strongly auricled; lowest 

 cauline blades 7 to 8 in, long, uppermost about 4 in. long; spike lanceolate- 

 linear, 2 1 /> to 4i£ in. long, 3 to 5 lines wide; rachis scabrous on the margins; 

 spikelets in pairs, ascending or appressed, 4% to 7 lines long excluding 

 awns, and slightly exceeding the internodes, 3 to 4-flowered, uppermost flower 

 imperfect or sterile; bracts narrow-lanceolate to linear, acute, 4% to 5 lines 

 long, 3 to 4-nerved and ribbed, scabrid on the nerves; bractlet 4 to 5y 2 lines 

 long excluding the awn, 5-nerved, scabrid; awn erect or somewhat spreading, 

 I 1 /* to 4 lines long, strongly scabrid; palea 4 to 4 1 / £ lines long, slightly 

 emarginate, ciliate, scabrous on the keels; stamens 3; scales 2, y A line long, 

 oblique or truncate notched or lobed on one side near the base, obtuse; 

 anthers 1% lines long; ovary clavate; stigmas 1 line long, plumose. — (E. 

 sibiricus Thurb., in Bot. Cal. in part, not of L.) 



Common on dry hillsides in the Coast Ranges: San Francisco; Berkeley. 

 Apr. -June. Near to E. glaucus var. tenuis Vasey, but distinguishable by its 

 more tufty and leafy habit, by the usually narrower leaf-blades and by the 

 shorter and relatively stouter spikes. Var. caespitosus Davy. Tufted Wild- 

 rye. Densely tufted perennial; rootstock not stolonif erous ; stems slender, 

 erect, densely clothed below with dead sheaths, 8 to 14 in. high; branches very 

 numerous from the base, the longest about 6 in. long; all the sheaths glabrous 

 throughout, the lowest minutely punctate, prominently striate; ligule reduced 

 to a narrow truncate ring; blades short, flat, or becoming somewhat in- 

 volute when dry, 1 line wide at the base, glabrous except on the scabrid mar- 

 gins; uppermost cauline 1 to 1% i n - long, lowest cauline 4i/> in. long; peduncle 

 glabrous, spike well exserted, 2 to 2 1 /> in- long, narrow; spikelets in pairs, 

 Bometimes one of them rudimentary, 2-flowered; bracts acute, 3i/> lines long, 

 1 •_. line wide, glabrous; bractlet 3% lines long, terminating in an erect, 

 minutely scabrid awn 2i/> to 4 .lines long; palea about equaling it in length; 

 achene 2*4 lines long. — Berkeley Hills. 



9. E. sitanion "R. & S. Steins 1 to 2 ft. high; sheaths smooth, spikes 4 to 

 7 in. long including the long awns, jointed at the nodes of the rachis 

 and readily breaking up at maturity; spikelets mostly in pairs; bracts mostly 

 1' parted to the base, rarely entire, the divisions again unequally 2-eleft, 



passing insensibly into awns 1 to 3 in. long. — (Sitanion elymoides Haf.) 



A very variable grass, often resembling and sometimes mistaken for Hor- 

 deum jubatum, but readily distinguishable by its divided bracts. 



45. ASPERELLA llumb. BOTTLE-BBUSH-GBASS. 



Leaf-blades broad, flat. Spike racemose, the spikelets resembling short, 

 fascicled branchlets owing to the exposure of the base of the rachilla 

 by the suppression of the bracts; spike at first cylindrical, in aestivation loose. 

 Spikelets 1 to 5 at each node of the more or less flattened and notched rachis, 



1 to i flowered. Bracts redu I to Bears, or small, deciduous spines. Rachilla 



jointed below each bractlet, terminating in a perfect or staminate flower. 

 Bractlet coriaceous, rounded on the back, 5-nerved above, terminating in a long, 

 stout awn. Palea 2-keeled. Scales 2, large, distinct, shortly and unequally 

 toothed above, acute, ciliate. Stamens 3 ; anthers large. Ovary hairy, especi- 



