No. 63. 

 MELICA BULBOSA Geyer. Hook. Jouru. Bot. & Misc. viii. 10 (1856). 



Plant perennial, tufted, bulbous at the base, witli rather coarse roots. 



Culms erect, simple, slender, smooth, 1 to 15 feet tall. 



Leaves of culm 3 to 6 ; sheaths retrorsely scabrid or nearly smooth, close, closed 

 to the throat, exceeding the internodes; blades flat or involute, attenuate pointed, 

 scabrous on both sides, mostly erect, 5 to 10 inches long ; ligule obtuse or often den- 

 tate, 2 lines long. 



Inflorescence an erect, strict, linear panicle 4 to 6 inches long ; rays mostly alter- 

 nate, erect, scarcely exceeding the intervals, £ to 1.J inches long, bearing 1 to 4 erect, 

 pedicellate spikelets scattered along the entire length. 



Spikelets rather turgid, lance-oblong, 4 to 5 lines long, 3- to 6-flowered, with a rudi- 

 ment; first empty glume oblong, obtuse, thin, 3- to 5-nerved, 3 lines long; second 

 empty glume oblanceolate, obtuse, minutely scabrid, 5- to 7-nerved, 3£ to 4 lines long; 

 floral glume broadly oblanceolate, obtuse or barely acute, scabrid, purple above, 

 7-nerved, 3£ to 4 lines long; palet oblanceolate, ciliate at the rounded apex and on 

 the two keels, which are nearly marginal and inarched above, 2£ to 3 lines long; inter- 

 node of rachilla nearly glabrous, |- line long. 



Plate LXIII ; a, spikelet with florets in natural position ; b, spikelet with florets 

 spread and opened to show the different parts; c, floral glume, dorsal view. 



California to Washington, mostly in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges. Its 

 bulbous, perennial character, slender culms, and abundant leaves indicate that it might 

 be of considerable value. It is a rather pretty and attractive grass, as is evidenced 

 by the amount of attention and the number of names that botanists have given it. 

 The species described as M. bulbosa in Botany of California is plainly something diff- 

 erent from Geyer's species. 



