MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



197 



to 4 mm. wide, glabrous, scabrous, or 

 pubescent; panicle narrow, rather 

 densely flowered, the branches short, 

 appressed, rather stiff, mostly imbri- 

 cate; spikelets papery with age, 

 mostly 7 to 15 mm. long, the short 

 pedicels stiff, erect; lemmas obscurely 

 nerved, obtuse or slightly emarginate. 

 % (M. bella Piper.) — Rocky woods 

 and hills, Montana to British Colum- 

 bia, south to Colorado and California; 

 western Texas (Jeff Davis County). 

 Specimens with pubescent foliage 

 have been differentiated as M . bella 

 intonsa Piper. 



8. Melica fugax Boland. Little 

 oniongeass. (Fig. 262.) Culms most- 

 ly 20 to 60 cm. tall, in loose tufts, 

 the bulbs prominent; sheaths re- 

 trorsely scabrous; blades 1.5 to 4 mm. 

 wide, scabrous, usually pubescent on 

 the upper surface; panicle 8 to 15 cm. 

 long, the branches stiffly spreading or 



Figure 260.- 



-Melica spectabilis. Plant, X 1 ; floret, 

 X 5. (Tweedy 85, Wyo.) 



Figure 261. — Melica bulbosa. 

 Plant, X 1 ; floret, X 5. (Tide- 

 strom 1252, Utah.) 



reflexed at anthesis, the lower 2 to 4 

 cm. long; spikelets 8 to 14 mm. long, 

 the florets somewhat distant, usually 

 purple-tinged, the rachilla soft, wrin- 

 kled in drying, often brownish ; second 

 glume nearly as long as the lower lem- 

 ma; lemmas obscurely nerved, obtuse 

 or emarginate. % — Dry hills and 

 open woods, Washington to Nevada 

 and central California. 



9. Melica inflata (Boland.) Vasey. 

 (Fig. 263.) Culms 60 to 100 cm. tall, 

 bulbous at base; sheaths glabrous or 

 pubescent; blades flat, 2 to 4 mm. 



