GRASS FAMILY. 



49 



enclosing bractlet, sometimes terminated by a minute rudimentary 

 bractlet. Lower flower perfect; upper staminate. Bractlets shorter 

 than the bracts, 3-nerved; that of the lower flower awnless, of tin- 

 upper with a short, dorsal, somewhat twisted awn. Palea 2-nerved, 

 truncate, 3-toothed. Scales oblique, acuminate. Stamens 3. Ovary 

 glabrous; stigmas sessile. (Holkos, a classic Greek name for some 

 grass, perhaps derived from liolkos, attractive.) 



1. H. lanatus L. Mesqu it-grass. Perennial; rootstock creep- 

 ing, fibrous; stems tufted, ascending, 1 to 2 ft. high, slender, leafy; 

 sheaths densely soft-pubescent, the uppermost inflated; ligule short; 

 blades soft; panicle pyramidal 2 to 5 in. long, pale green or pinkish; 

 branches 2 to 3-nate; spikelets about 2 lines long, elliptic-oblong, the 

 awn erect before anthesis then incurved and scarcely or not at all 

 protruded; bracts acute, ciliate on the keels, nerves prominent; anthers 

 rich purplish-brown. 



A conspicuous, softly- woolly , pale-colored grass of moist bottom 

 lands. Naturalized from Europe. San Francisco, Bolander; Cobb 

 Mt., Leithold; Olema; Point Reyes; Guerneville. The closely related 

 species H. mollis should be looked for. It resembles H. lanatus, of 

 which it is considered by some only a variety, but differs in its more 

 slender habit, in being almost glabrous except at the nodes which are 

 conspicuously downy; the bracts are more scabrid and very acuminate, 

 and the awn of the upper bractlet is considerably protruded beyond 

 them. 



17. AIRA L. Hair-grass. 

 Slender, dwarf annuals. Leaf-blades setaceous. Panicle-branches 

 capillary, sub-erect. Spikelets less than 2 lines long, in ours strictly 

 2-flowered; bracts thinly scarious; rachilla not prolonged beyond the 

 insertion of the upper bractlet. Bractlets thin, scarious, not project- 

 ing beyond the bracts; awn dorsal, short, hair-like. Near to Avena 

 in technical characters, but spikelets much smaller. (Greek aira, the 

 name of a weed in wheat-fields, probably Lolium temulentum; 

 derived from Greek airein, to hurt, on account of its poisonous 

 qualities, Si/me. ) 



Panicle-branches much divided and bearing tnfts of spikelets at the ends; 



bractlet of each flower awned. . . 1. A. caryophyUea. 



Panicle more open; spikelets less numerous and not tufted, smaller; bractlet of 



the lower flower aAvnless, of the upper awned 2. A. capillaris. 



1. A. caryophyllea L. Silvery Hair-grass. Slender, grace- 

 ful, tufted grass, 8 to 10 in. high; sheaths scabrid, often pinkish at 

 the base; blades short, fine, ephemeral; panicle loose; branches long, 

 much divided, and bearing usually dense tufts of spikelets at the end?: 

 pedicels short, scabrid; spikelets 1\ lines long; bracts widely gaping 

 at the apex, shining above, thinly scarious, the flowers plainly discern- 

 ible through them; bractlet brownish, long-acuminate, 2-fid; that of 

 each flower awned; awns protruding £ line or more. 



Naturalized from Europe, now common on old cattle ranges in the 

 Bay Region: Lake Pilarcitos, Mt. Tamalpais, Olema, Point Reyes 

 and in Mendocino Co. May-Aug. 



