A NEW FOSSIL GRASS FROM THE MIOCENE OF 
FL^U^ISSAXT. COLORADO. 
By Charles T. axd Beirxe B. Brues. 
The occurrence of fossil Graminese in the Pliocene shales of 
Florissant was first noted by CockerelP who described Stipa iami- 
jiarum from these deposits. 
In the present note we have the pleasure of describing a second 
species, referable to the genus Mclica, also collected by Professor 
T. D. A. Cockerell and very kindly loaned to us by him for study. 
Through the efforts of Lesquereux, Cockerell and others the fossil 
flora of the wonderfully rich deposits of this region have been 
quite thoroughly worked out and many species have been des- 
cribed, but so far only two species of grasses have been brought 
to light. 
Like Stipa, the genus to which the new form belongs is at the 
present time widely distributed throughout temperate and sub- 
tropical regions where it is represented by a considerable number 
of species. 
Melica primaeva sp. nov. 
The specimen shows a detached pair of secund spikelest viewed 
from the inner, or side nearest the rachis. The spikelet which is- 
Fig. 1. Melica pnmceia sp. nov. Shaded portions indicate lower laminae 
of the shale. 
best preserved is about 12 millimeters long and shows five glumes : 
the lower of these, presumably one of the empty glumes is visible 
only at the base, its apical portion extending under the shale be- 
* Bull. Amer. Mus. Xat. His., Vol. 24, p. 79 (1908). 
170 
