132 



MISC. PUBLICATION 200, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



flat or folded, shorter than the culms; 

 panicle oblong, dense and spikelike 

 or somewhat interrupted below, 2 to 

 6 cm. long; spikelets 6 to 8 mm. 

 long; glumes broad, acute; lemmas 

 3 to 4 mm. long, glabrous except for 

 a few short hairs on the nerves below. 

 % (P. pachypholis Piper.) — Cliffs, 

 bluffs, and rocky meadows near the 

 seashore, Washington (Ilwaco), Ore- 

 gon, and California (Humboldt Bay 

 to Monterey). 



Figuee 169. — Poa epilis. 

 Panicle, X 1; floret, X 10. 

 (Type.) 



56. Poa epilis Scribn. Skyline 

 bluegrass. (Fig. 169.) Culms com- 

 pressed, erect in rather loose to dense 

 tufts, 20 to 40 cm. tall; ligule about 

 3 mm. long; blades of the culm about 

 3, flat, 3 to 6 cm. long, 2 to 3 mm. 

 wide, of the innovations narrow, 

 longer and usually folded or involute; 

 panicle usually condensed, ovoid, 2 

 to 6 cm. long, long-exserted, usually 

 purple, the lower branches naked 

 below, ascending or appressed; spike- 

 lets 3-flowered, about 5 mm. long; 

 lemmas 4 to 5 or even 6 mm. long, 

 glabrous or minutely scabrous. % 

 — Mountain meadows, mostly above 

 timber line, Alberta to British Co- 

 lumbia, south to Colorado and Cali- 

 fornia. 



57. Poa vaseyochloa Scribn. (Fig. 

 170.) In small dense soft lax tufts; 



Figure 170. — Poa vaseyochloa. Plant, X 1; floret, 

 X 10. (Type.) 



culms erect, 10 to 20 cm. tall; ligule 

 acute, about 3 mm. long; blades lax, 

 mostly folded or involute, in a basal 

 tuft, mostly less than 5 cm. long, 

 with one or two short ones on the 

 culm, narrow or filiform; panicle 

 ovate, 2 to 4 cm. long, few-flowered, 

 open, the slender branches spreading, 

 bearing 1 or 2 spikelets; spikelets 

 purple, 3- to 6-flowered; glumes 2 to 



3 mm. long, rather broad; lemmas 

 smooth or minutely scabrous, 3 mm. 

 long. % — Rocky slopes, Cascade 

 Mountains of Washington and Ore- 

 gon in the vicinity of Columbia River, 

 and the Wallowa Mountains of Ore- 

 gon. 



58. Poa pringlei Scribn. (Fig. 171.) 

 Densely tufted; culms 10 to 20 cm. 

 tall; lower sheaths loose, papery; 

 blades mostly basal, involute, mostly 

 2 to 5 cm. long, sometimes longer, 

 glabrous on the exposed surface, pu- 

 berulent on inner surface; panicle 

 narrow, condensed, usually pale or 

 silvery, few- to several-flowered, 1 to 



5 cm. long; spikelets 3- to 5-flowered, 



6 to 8 mm. long; glumes equal, broad, 



4 to 5 or rarely 7 mm. long; lemmas 



5 to 6, rarely to 8 mm. long, smooth 

 or scabrous. % — Rocky alpine 

 summits, Montana to Washington, 



