54 Rhodora [March 



E. colonum is generally smaller and narrower-leaved than other 

 species of the genus. It varies slightly in size and bluntness of the 

 spikelets, and in extent of overlapping of the slender branches of 

 the panicle, hut is on the whole a clearly marked species. 



2. E. zelayensis (HBK.) Schult, Mant. ii. 2(59 (1824). Oplis- 

 menus zelayensis HBK. Nov. Gen. et Sp. 89 (1815). E. cmsgalli 

 zelayensis Hitchc., U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 772, 238 (1920).— Damp, 

 sandy soil, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and southern California, south- 

 ward through Mexico. Northern specimens examined were: Texas: 

 San Elizario, Bigelow; Big Springs, 1902, S. M. Tracy, no. 8,291. 

 Oklahoma: Olustee, 1913, 0. W. Stevens, no. 1,178; Hopeton, 1913, 

 Stevens, no. 1,091. Kansas: Grant County, 1895, A. S. Hitchcock, 

 no. 573. New Mexico: Mesilla, 1897, E. 0. Wooton, no. 30. Ari- 

 zona: Ft. Yuma, Major Thomas; Mule Mountains, 1910, L. N. 

 Ooodding, no. 920. California: New River near Rockwood, Salton 

 Basin, 1912, S. B. Parish, no. 8,240; Colorado Valley, J. 0. Cooper, 

 no. 2,227. 



Var. macera var. now, spiculis minoribus 2.5-3 mm. longis, 1.5 

 mm. latis, lemmatibus coriaceis 1.9-2.5 mm. longis. — Western Texas 

 to southern California and northern Mexico. Texas: western Texas, 

 Berlandicr, no. 1,009; Waco, 1910, ./. A. Miiiicr. California: 

 Tulare County, 1892, E. Palmer, no. 2,713; Talma Valley, Heerman. 

 Mexico: Matamoros, 1831, Berlandicr, no. 890 (type in Gray 

 Herb.). 



Var. subaristata var. nov., spiculis minoribus 2.5-3 mm. longis, 

 1.5 mm. latis nonullis spiculis breviaristatis. — Western Texas. Texas: 

 Pierce, 1901, S. M. Tracy, no. 7,743 (type in Gray Herb.); from 

 western Texas to El Paso, 1849, C. Wright, no. 794." 



The var. macera is clearly but a small form of E. zelayensis with 

 all the features of that species represented in miniature. The var. 

 subaristata has less the appearance of E. zelayensis, but the absence 

 of the lower palet and certain general resemblances would seem to 

 place it here. Possibly, when more material is at hand, this variety 

 may prove to be a distinct species. In all of the specimens of E. 

 zelayensis and its varieties from the United States the lower palet 

 was absent. This was the case in only about one-third of those 

 from Mexico and Central America, including the var. macera. 



3. E. frumentacea (Roxb.) Link, Hort. Berol. i. 204 (1827). 

 Panicum frumcntaceum Roxb. Hort. Beng. 7 (1814). E. cmsqaili 

 ediilis Hitchc. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 772, 238 (1920).— Widely 

 cultivated in the United States and southern Canada as Japanese 

 or Barnyard Millet, or Billion-dollar Grass; native of southeastern 

 Asia. E. crusgalli and E. frumentacea represent a group of Old 

 World forms characterized by the blunt coriaceous lemma and well- 

 developed setae of the panicle. 



