22 BULLETIN 545, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
A species of the same common name, closely resembling Melica 
bella and nearly as widely distributed and as important economically 
in the region studied, is Melica spectaMlis. In habit of growth and 
general appearance the plants are very similar, both being bulbif erous 
and growing to practically the same height. In contrast with the 
rather dull spikelets of M. bella, however, those of M. spectaMlis 
are bright in appearance and the glumes are membranaceous; the 
pedicels of the former are stiff and erect, whereas those of the latter 
are slender and flexuous. The period of flower-stalk production 
and seed maturity is virtually the same as in the case of M. bella, 
and the viability of the seed crop is also very low. 
Little Bluegrass. 
(Poa sandbergii.) 
The genus Poa. is composed of about 150 species widely distributed 
in temperate and cold regions. In the western United States about 
75 species have been reported. The value of the bluegrasses for 
hay and forage is well known. Cultivated Kentucky bluegrass is 
closely related to little bluegrass. 
Little bluegrass is distinctly a plant of the Transition zone, though 
through its ability to adjust itself to more or less adverse conditions 
it succeeds remarkably well on upland ranges and furnishes an 
abundance of forage. While at higher elevations it often grows 
luxuriantly in rich clay loam soils, usually it inhabits inferior shallow 
soils. On typical scablands and rocky areas it is the most common 
and characteristic species. Owing primarily to its ability to with- 
stand drought and wide variation in temperature, the range of dis- 
tribution of little bluegrass in the region studied is unusually 
broad. It grows profusely in the lower Hmits of the Transition 
zone, about 2,000 feet, and is also common on ranges of 8,000 feet 
elevation. On such situations it is almost invariably confined to 
scablands and poorly disintegrated soils on the warmer south and 
west exposures. In the tests made to determine its drought resis- 
tance, little bluegrass did not show signs of complete wilting until 
the soil water was reduced to between 6.5 and 7.8 per cent. 
Little bluegrass is a perennial (Plate XVII) and grows in tussocks 
not usually exceeding 8 inches in diameter. It has coarse, deeply 
penetrating roots, which withstand trampling remarkably well; 
smooth culms, slightly decumbent at the base, 1} 'to 2 feet in height ; 
close erect panicles composed of spikelets of 3 to 5 florets; and a 
superabundance of narrow, short, and rather flat, or sometimes 
slightly folded, blue-green basal leaves. 
The flower stalks of little blue grass are among the earliest to appear 
on the range. This is due, first, to the character of the situations in 
