196 



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



5. Melica geyeri Munro. Geyer 

 oniongrass. (Fig. 259.) Culms 1 to 

 1.5 m. tall, bulbous at base; sheaths 

 usually glabrous, sometimes slightly 

 scabrous or pubescent; blades sca- 

 brous (rarely puberulent), mostly less 

 than 5 mm. wide; panicle 10 to 20 

 cm. long, open, the branches slender, 

 rather distant, spreading, bearing a 

 few spikelets above the middle; spike- 

 lets 12 to 20 mm. long; glumes broad, 

 smooth, papery, the second about 6 

 mm. long; lemmas 7-nerved, sca- 

 berulous or nearly glabrous, narrowed 

 to an obtuse point, awnless. 01 — 

 Open dry woods and rocky slopes, 

 at medium altitudes, western Oregon 

 to central California in the Coast 

 Range; infrequent in the Sierras to 

 Placer County; Nevada; Yellowstone 

 Park, Wyo. 



Melica geyeri var. aristtjlata 

 J. T. Howell. Lemma with an awn 0.5 

 to 2 mm. long from a toothed apex. 

 % — Known only from Marin 

 County, Calif. 



Section 2. Eumelica Aschers. 



Spikelets broad; glumes broad, pa- 

 pery; lemmas awnless; sterile 

 lemmas small, aggregate in a 

 rudiment more or less hidden in 

 the upper fertile lemmas. 



6. Melica spectabilis Scribn. Pur- 

 ple oniongrass. (Fig. 260.) Culms 

 30 to 100 cm. tall, bulbous at base, 

 rarely with a short rhizome; sheaths 

 pubescent; blades flat to subinvolute, 

 2 to 4 mm. wide; panicle mostly 10 

 to 15 cm. long, narrow, the branches 

 appressed; spikelets purple-tinged, 

 rather turgid, 10 to 15 mm. long, the 

 pedicels capillary, flexuous; glumes 

 broad, papery; lemmas strongly 7- 

 nerved, obtuse, scarious-margined, 

 imbricate. % — Rocky or open 

 woods and thickets, Montana to 

 British Columbia, south to Colorado 

 and northern California. 



7. Melica bulbosa Geyer ex Port, 

 and Coult. Oniongrass. (Fig. 261.) 

 Culms 30 to 60 cm. tall, bulbous 

 at base, resembling M. spectabilis; 

 sheaths and blades flat to involute, 2 



Figure 259. — Melica geyeri. Plant, X 1; floret, X 5. 

 (Heller 11932, Calif.) 



usually 2 to 5 mm. wide, sometimes 

 wider; panicle usually narrow, mostly 

 10 to 20 cm. long, the branches ap- 

 pressed or sometimes spreading; spike- 

 lets narrow, 1.5 to 2 cm. long, loosely 

 flowered; glumes narrow, obscurely 

 nerved, the second about 8 mm. long; 

 lemmas prominently 7-nerved, ta- 

 pering to an acuminate point, awn- 

 less, the nerves more or less pilose- 

 ciliate. 01 — Meadows, banks, and 

 shady slopes, western Wyoming and 

 Montana to Alaska, south in the 

 mountains to Mount Tamalpais and 

 Lake Tahoe, Calif. 



