HITCHCOCK AND CHASE GRASSES OF THE WEST INDIES. 387 



93. ERAGROSTIS Host. 



Splkelets few to many-flowered, strongly compressed ; glumes and lemmas 

 keeled, the lemmas 3-nerved ; rachilla often continuous, the paleas usually per- 

 sistent after the fall of the fruit. 



Palea ciliate on the keels, the cilia usually as long as the width of the lemma. 



Plants perennial ; cilia rather soft, approximate 3. E. leonina. 



Plants annual ; cilia stiif and somewhat distant. 



Spil<elets about 2 mm. long 1. E. amabills. 



Spike! ets usually 3 to 4 mm. long, sometimes many-flowered, mostly 

 subsessile; panicle close and spikelike or, in var. laxa, somewhat 



lax and open 2. E. ciliaris. 



Palea not ciliate on the keels. 



Spikelets dioecious; plants creeping 4. E. hypnoides. 



Spikelets perfect; plants not creeping. 

 Plants annual. 



Lemmas glandular on the keel 7. E. cilianensis. 



Lemmas not glandular. 



Margins of blades glandular 8. E. eragrostis. 



Margins of blades not glandular. 



Panicle elongate, contracted, the minute spikelets crowded 



or glomerate 10. E. glomerata. 



Panicle not elongate, at least half as wide as long, the 

 spikelets not crowded. 



Spikelets 1.5 mm. wide 5. E. pilosa. 



Spikelets 2 mm. wide. 



Spikelets ovate-lanceolate, mostly less than 5 mm. 

 long; panicle rather lax. 



6. E. tephrosanthos. 



Spikelets linear, mostly 8 to 10 mm. long ; panicle 



rather firm, the branches and branchlets 



somewhat stiffly and divaricately spreading. 



9. E. barrelieri. 

 Plants perennial ; spikelets 4 to 10 mm. or more long. 



Plants low, mostly not over 20 cm. high, the culms wiry. 



Inflorescence a strict raceme, the spikelets subsessile, rather 



remote 12. E. bahamensis. 



Inflorescence a narrow or open panicle. 



Panicle branches viscid 11. E. g'lutinosa. 



Panicle branches not viscid. 



Sheaths glabrous 13. E. cubensis. 



Sheaths sparsely pilose 14. E. berteroniana. 



Plants taller, often robust, over 30 cm. tall. 



Branchlets of panicle elongate, capillary, stiffly spreading, 



bearing mostly single terminal spikelets 15. E. elliottii. 



Branchlets of panicle bearing several mostly short-pediceled 

 spikelets. 

 Lemmas acuminate ; axils of panicle with a tuft of long 



hairs 16. E. acutiflora. 



Lemmas acute ; axils of panicle naked or but rarely bear- 

 ing a few hairs. 



