FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS OF ARIZONA 113 



Sometimes called Texas-timothy, a common and important forage 

 grass in Arizona. 



38. PHLEUM. Timothy 



Densely tufted perennials with flat leaf blades and dense cylindric 

 panicles; glumes equal, abruptly awned, keeled, the keels ciliate; 

 lemma much shorter than the glumes, hyaline, truncate; palea narrow, 

 a little shorter than the lemma. 



Common timothy (P. pratense) is a very valuable hay plant in the 

 northeastern United States. It has been demonstrated that, under 

 favorable conditions, this grass can be established on depleted western 

 ranges. 



Key to the species 



1. Culms mostly more than 50 cm. high, erect from a swollen bulblike base; 



panicle narrow, several times longer than wide 1. P. pratense. 



1. Culms 20 to 50 cm. high from a decumbent somewhat creeping base; panicle 



usually not more than twice as long as wide, bristly 2. P. alpinum. 



1. Phleum pratense L., Sp. PI. 59. 1753. 



Flagstaff (Coconino County), Pinal Peak (Gila County), Tucson 

 (Pima County), in wet ground. Escaped from cultivation throughout 

 the United States; introduced from the Old World. 



2. Phleum alpinum L., Sp. PL 59. 1753. 



Apache and Coconino Counties, wet meadows at high altitudes, 

 July to September. Greenland to Alaska, south to Xew Hampshire, 

 Michigan, and in the Western States to Xew Mexico, Arizona, and 

 California ; Eurasia . 



39. MUHLENBERGIA. Muhly 



Annuals or (usually) perennials, tufted or rhizomatous, with simple 

 or branching culms and narrow or open panicles; glumes usually much 

 shorter than the lemma, sometimes as long as the lemma in robust 

 species with narrow panicles; lemma firm, 3-nerved, with a very short, 

 usually minutely pilose callus, awned or sometimes only mucronate. 



This, the largest genus of grasses in Arizona, comprises several 

 species cf high forage value. Among the most important of these on 

 Arizona ranges are mountain muhly (M. montana). Xew Mexican 

 muhly (M. pauci flora), ring muhly (M. iorreyi), and spike muhly 

 (M. wrightii). Sandhill muhly (M. pungens) furnishes forage in sandy 

 areas in the valley of the Little Colorado River and is used by the 

 Hopi in making brushes. Bush muhly (M. porteri) seeks the protec- 

 tion of shrubs, and cattle utilize it mainly in winter when other grasses 

 become scarce. Aparejograss (M. utUis and M. repens) has been used 

 to stuff improvised pack saddles. 



Key to the species 

 1. Plants annual (2). 

 2. Panicles narrow, few-flowered, the branches appressed; culms usually 

 erect (3). 

 3. Lemma awned, the awn 2 to 10 mm. long; glumes as long as the body ot 

 the lemma, acuminate: culms 3 to 6 cm. high . 4. M. dbpauperata. 



3. Lemma awnless 5. M. piriformis. 



2. Panicles open, the branches ascending or spreading; culms usually widely 



decumbent-spreading at base (4 . 



4. Glumes pilose 3. M. texana. 



