MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



387 



tall, erect, in dense tufts with hard 

 bulblike scaly bases; ligule minute; 

 blades flat or loosely involute, erect 

 or ascending, 1 to 2 mm. wide; pan- 

 icle narrow, somewhat spikelike, 5 

 to 10 cm. long, the short branches 

 appressed; spikelets about 3 mm. 

 long; glumes subequal, acuminate- 

 cuspidate, about two-thirds as long 

 as the spikelet; lemma acuminate- 

 cuspidate, minutely pubescent. % 

 — Prairies and gravelly or stony 

 slopes, Michigan and Wisconsin to 

 Alberta, south to Ohio, Kentucky, 

 and New Mexico. 



25. Muhlenbergia wrightii Vasey. 

 Spike muhly. (Fig. 544.) Culms 

 closely tufted from a hard crown, 

 erect, wiry, 20 to 60 cm. tall; sheaths 

 compressed-keeled; ligule 1 to 3 mm. 

 long, sometimes longer; blades flat, 

 1 to 3 mm. wide; panicle spikelike, 

 interrupted below, 5 to 10 cm. long; 

 spikelets about 2.5 mm. long, the 



Figure 542. — Muhlenbergia arsenei. Plant, X 1; Figure 543. — Muhlenbergia cuspidata. Plant, X 1; 

 glumes and floret, X 10. (Type.) glumes and floret, X 10. (Crattv, Iowa.) 



