MANUAL OP THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



19; 



Section 1. Bromelica Thurb. 



Spikelets narrow; glumes usually narrow, scarious margined (papery 

 in M. geyeri)] sterile lemmas similar to the acute (obtuse in Al. 

 harfordii) or awned fertile lemmas. 



1. Melica smithii (Porter) Vasey. Smith melic. (Fig. 375.) 

 Culms slender, 60 to 120 cm tall; sheaths retrorsely scabrous; blades 

 lax, scabrous, 10 to 20 cm long, 

 6 to 12 mm wide; panicle 12 to 

 25 cm long, the branches soli- 

 tary, distant, spreading, naked 

 below, sometimes reflexed, as 

 much as 10 cm long; spikelets 

 3- to 6-flowered, 18 to 20 mm 

 long, sometimes purplish; 

 glumes acute; lemmas about 

 10 mm long, with an awn 3 to 5 

 mm long. % (Avena smithii 

 Porter.) — Moist woodlands, 

 western Ontario and northern 

 Michigan to British Columbia, 

 south to Wyoming (Teton Moun- 

 tains) and Oregon (Wallowa 

 Mountains) (fig. 376). 



2. Melica aristata Thurb. 

 (Fig. 377.) Culms erect or de- 

 cumbent below, 60 to 100 cm 

 tall; sheaths scabrous to pubes- 

 cent; blades 3 to 5 mm wide, 

 more or less pubescent; panicle 

 narrow, 10 to 15 cm long, the 

 branches short, mostly appressed 

 or ascending; spikelets, exclud- 

 ing awns, about 15 mm long; 

 glumes 10 to 12 mm long; lem- 

 mas 7-nerved, scabrous, awned, 

 the awn 6 to 10 mm long. <2[ 

 — Dry woods, meadows, and 

 open slopes, Washington to the central Sierras of California. 



3. Melica harfordii Boland. Harford melic. (Fig. 378.) Culms 

 tufted, 60 to 120 cm tall, often decumbent 

 below; sheaths scabrous to villous; blades 

 scabrous, firm, flat to subinvolute, 1 to 4 

 mm wide; panicle narrow, 10 to 15 cm long, 

 the branches appressed; spikelets 1 to 1.5 

 cm long, short -pediceled ; glumes 7 to 9 mm 

 long, obtuse; lemmas rather faintly 7-nerved, 

 hispidulous below, pilose on the lower part of the 

 margin, the apex emarginate, mucronate,or with 



an awn less than 2 mm long. % — Open dry woods and slopes, British 

 Columbia to the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, south to Monterey 



Figure 375.— Melica smithii. Panicle, X 1; floret, 

 X 5. (Robbins, Mich.) 



Figure 376.— Distribution of 

 Melica swnthii. 



