Checklist » Poaceae » Melica fugax
Last updated 12/24/2023 by David Giblin.
Melica fugax Bol.[FNA24, HC, HC2]
small melic grass

Publication: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4: 104. 1870.

Origin: Native

selected vouchers: WTU

Notes: FNA24: "Melica fugax grows at elevations to 2200 m on dry, open flats, hillsides, and woods, from British Columbia to California and east to Idaho and Nevada. It is usually found on soils of volcanic origin, and rarely below 1300 m.

Melica fugax is often confused with M. bulbosa, but its rachilla internodes are unmistakable and unique among the species in the Flora region, being swollen when fresh and wrinkled when dry. One specimen, C.L. Hitchcock 15521 [WTU 114265] from Elmore County, Idaho, appears to be a hybrid. It has shrunken caryopses and combines the rachilla of M. fugax with the lemma pubescence, size, and overall appearance of M. subulata, but lacks corms."

References: (none)

Synonyms & Misapplied Names:
Melica fugax Bol. ssp. madophylla Piper
Melica fugax Bol. var. inexpansa Suksd.
Melica fugax Bol. var. macbridei (Rowland ex A. Nelson) Beetle