Muhlenbergia gigantea (E. Fourn.) Hitchc.

Muhlenbergia gigantea (Fourn.) Hitchcock
Epicampes gigantea Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 88. 1886.
Perennial; culms robust, glabrous, erect, 1-1.5 meters tall, the basal overlapping sheaths compressed-keeled; sheaths keeled, glabrous; ligule rather firm below, thin and delicate above and usually crumpled, 5-10 mm. long; blades elongate, mostly fiat, sometimes folded, longattenuate above, scabrous, 3-8 mm. wide; panicle somewhat open, erect, mostly ashy-purple, 30-50 cm. long, the axis angled, slightly scabrous, the branches appressed and naked below, somewhat spreading above, the lower 10-15 cm. long, puberulent around the somewhat enlarged base, the branches of the second order ascending, the short-pediceled spikelets crowded on the branches of the third or fourth order; glumes rather narrow, about equal, acute, scaberulous, 2-2.5 mm. long; lemma about as long as the glumes, acute, glabrous even at the base or very minutely roughened near summit, 3-nerved.
Type LOCALITY : Orizaba, Mexico {Bourgeau 3137).
Distribution: Rocky hills, southern Mexico (ZapotlSn, Hitchcock 7247; Bolanos, Rose 3002: Reyes, Oaxaca, Nelson 1779).

Muhlenbergia magna Hitchcock, sp. nov
? Epicampes Bourgaei Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 88. 1886. (I have not seen the type of Epicampes Boiirgaei Fourn. [Bourgeau 2973]. The specific name cannot be used because of Muhlenbergia Bourgaei Fourn.)
Epicampes Bourgaei var. muliea Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 88. 1886. (Type from Mirador. Veracruz.') Not E. mulica Fourn.
Perennial; culms robust, erect, glabrous, 1-2 meters tall, the basal tuft of sheaths compressed-keeled; sheaths keeled, glabrous; ligule thin, lacerate, 1-1.5 cm. long; blades elongate, flat, 3-8 mm. wide, sometimes folded, usually involute at the long-attenuate tip, somewhat scabrous, especially on the margin; panicle brownish, large and finally open, 0.3-1 m. long, the axis angled, nearly smooth, the branches nearly smooth, naked at base, 10-20 cm. long, rather distant on the axis, as much as 3 cm. apart, finally widely spreading, the branches of the second order also naked at the base, finally spreading, as much as 8 cm. long, the branches of the third order bearing the aggregate spikelets on short scabrous pedicels; glumes about equal, obtuse, or acutish, scaberulous, about 2 mm. long; lemma about as long as the glumes, oblong-linear, acutish, 3-nerved, glabrous even at the base, awnless.
Perennis; culmi robusti erecti 1-2 m. alti, vaginis inferioribus imbricatis compressis; vaginae glabrae carinatae; ligula tenuis 1-1.5 cm. longa; laminae elongatae planae interdum plicatae 3-8 mm. latae, summo involutae, scabrae praesertim margine; panicula magna denique patula 0.3-1 m. longa, ramis 10-20 cm. longis, basi nudis; glumae aequales obtusae vel acutiusculae scabriusculae 2 mm. longae; lemma glabrum acutiusculum muticum 2 mm. longum.
Type collected under cool cliffs of barranca near Guadalajara, Mexico. November 3, 1890, Pringh 3335 (U. S. Nat. Herb. no. 825177).
DtSTRiBUTiON: Rocky canyons, southern Mexico.

Muhlenbergia alta Hitchcock, sp. nov
? Epicampes expansa Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 88. 1886. (Type from Orizaba, Mexico.) Not Muhlenbergia expansa (DC.) Trin.
Perennial; culms robust, erect, glabrous, about 180 cm. tall, the basal tuft of sheaths imbricate, compressed-keeled ; sheaths glabrous, keeled ; ligule thin, 6 mm. long ; blades elongate, mostly flat, 5-8 mm. wide, scabrous, attenuate-pointed; panicle loose, ashy-purple, erect, about 60 cm. long, the axis angled, slightly .scabrous, the branches finally spreading, naked at base, minutely roughened, rather distant on the axis, the lower as much as 15 cm. long; glumes equal, acute, scaberulous, about 1.5 mm. long ; lemma slightly shorter than the glumes, acute, glabrous even at base.
A Muhlenbergia gigantea diiTert spiculis minoribus, 1.5 mm. longis. Culmi robusti erecti glabri circa 180 cm. alti; vaginae inferiores compresso-carinatae glabrae; laminae elongatae plerumque planae scabrae; panicula patula erecta pallido-purpurea 60 cm. longa, ramis patulis basi nudis; glumae acutae glaberulae; lemma quam glumae pauUo brevius glabrum.
Type collected on hills east of Zapotlan, Jalisco, Mexico, alt. 1500 m., September 25, 1910, Hitchcock 71S0 (U. S. Nat. Herb. no. 99S9S0).