MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



197 



County and the Yosemite National Park, Calif. A smaller form with 

 narrow involute blades has been called M. harfordii var. minor Vasey. 

 4. Melica subulata (Griseb.) Scribn. Alaska oniongrass. (Fig. 

 379.) Culms 60 to 125 cm tall, mostly bulbous at base; sheaths re- 

 trorsely scabrous, often pilose; 

 blades thin, usually 2 to 5 mm 

 wide, sometimes wider; panicle 

 usually narrow, mostly 10 to 

 15 cm long, the branches ap- 

 pressed or sometimes spread- 

 ing; spikelets narrow, 1 .5 to 2 cm 

 long, loosely flowered; glumes 

 narrow, obscurely nerved, the 

 second about 8 mm long; lem- 

 mas prominently 7-nerved, ta- 

 pering to an acuminate point, 

 awnless, the nerves more or less 

 pilose-ciliate. % —Meadows, 

 banks, and shady slopes, west- 

 ern Wyoming and Montana to 

 Alaska, south in the mountains 

 to Mount Tamalpais and Lake 

 Tahoe, Calif, (fig. 380); Chile. 

 5. Melicageyeri Munro. 

 Geyer oniongrass. (Fig. 

 381.) Culms 1 to 1.5 m tall, 

 bulbous at base ; sheaths usual- 

 ly glabrous, sometimes slightly 

 scabrous or pubescent; blades 

 scabrous (rarely puberulent), 

 mostly less than 5 mm wide; 

 panicle 10 to 20 cm long, open, 

 the branches slender, rather dis- 

 tant, spreading, bearing a few 

 spikelets above the middle; 

 spikelets 12 to 20 mm long; 

 glumes broad, smooth, papery, 

 the second about 6 mm long; 

 lemmas 7-nerved, scaberulous 

 or nearly glabrous, narrowed to an obtuse point, awnless. % — Open 

 dry woods and rocky slopes, at medium altitudes, western Oregon to 

 central California in the Coast Range; infre- 

 quent in the Sierras to Placer County ; Yellow- 

 stone Park, Wyo. 



Section 2. Etjmelica Aschers. 



Spikelets broad; glumes broad; papery; lem- 

 mas awnless; sterile lemmas small, aggre- 

 gate in a rudiment more or less hidden in 

 the upper fertile lemmas. 

 6. Melica spectabilis Scribn. Purple oniongrass. (Fig. 382.) 

 Culms 30 to 100 cm tall, bulbous at base; sheaths pubescent; blades 

 flat to subin volute, 2 to 4 mm wide; panicle mostly 10 to 15 cm long, 



Figure 378.— Mel- 

 ica harfordii. Pan- 

 icle, X 1; floret, X 

 5. (Yates 457, 

 Calif.) 



Figure 379.— Melica subulata. 

 Panicle, X 1; floret, X 5. (Hitch- 

 cock 11631, Wash.) 



Figure 380.— Distribution of 

 Melica subulata. 



