3. Eragrostis pilosa (L.) Beauv. India lovegrass. 



Loosely tufted annual; culms 1-5 dm. long, very slender, pronouncedly genicu- 

 late and sparingly or not branched near the base; sheaths much shorter than the 

 internodes, mostly glabrous except at the corners; blades short, 1-3 mm. broad, 

 often flat; panicles mostly pyramidal, long-exserted, very diffuse, 5—20 cm. long, 

 with a few widely spreading capillary branches which in turn bear the capillary 

 pedicellary branchlets that are mostly deflexed and 3-8 mm. long; spikelets linear, 

 3-6 mm. long, about 1 mm. broad, 3- to 10-flowered; lemmas about 1 mm. long, 

 gray with dark purple tip, falling individually from the slightly fractiflex intact 

 rachilla. 



On muddy or wet sandy banks along streams and wet meadows, a rare weed 

 in Okla. (LeFIore Co.) and n.-cen. and e. Tex., summer; nat. of s. Eur., now 

 scattered in warmer parts of the New World. 



4. Eragrostis cilianensis (All.) E. Mosher. Stinkgrass. Fig. 87. 



Loosely tufted annual, odoriferous when fresh; culms 5-50 cm. long, mostly 

 decumbent and geniculate basally, ascending distally, rarely branched, with an 

 obscure yellow glandular (often broken) ring shortly below each node; sheaths 

 mostly shorter than their internodes and often pilose -on the corners, with micro- 

 scopic glands along the keel and near the base also along the nerves; blades 3-7 

 mm. broad, mostly flat, often papillose-pilose along the margins basally; panicles 

 3-20 cm. long, 1-7 cm. broad, narrowly oblong or ovoid, rather dense (spikelets 

 touching), with a number of short ascending branches (glabrous in the axils) 

 bearing in turn the glomerules of spikelets on individual pedicels 0.5-1 mm. long, 

 the branches and pedicels often gland-dotted; spikelets 8- to 40-flowered, 5-15 

 mm. long, slightly tapering; lemmas 2-2.8 mm. long, membranous, suborbicular, 

 with conspicuous lateral veins and rounded apex, falling individually from the 

 intact rachilla, the keel scabrous and with a few glands toward the apex. E. 

 megastachya (Koel.) Link. 



Edge of playa lakes and pond margins, in wettish sandy alkali among Tamarix, 

 in Okla. (Alfalfa Co.) and in the Tex. Trans-Pecos and Plains Country, infre- 

 quent e. to n.-cen. Tex. and Rio Grande Plains, rare in s.e. Tex. to Ariz, 

 (rather wide-spread), spring-fall; nearly throughout the warmer parts of the 

 world, introd. from the Old World. 



5. Eragrostis pectinacea (Michx.) Nees. 



Loosely tufted diffuse annual; culms numerous, 15-30 cm. long, ascending or 

 usually spreading and geniculate in the lower part where also sparingly branched; 

 sheaths usually folded, softly keeled, pilose at the corners; blades 2-5 mm. broad, 

 mostly flat; panicles ascending or often nodding or even altogether inclined, 

 obovoid, usually open and diffuse when mature, 5-40 cm. long, with numerous 

 ascending branches bearing along the distal two-thirds of their length the ap- 

 pressed flexuous pedicellary branchlets (1-5 mm. long) or in larger specimens 

 the lower main branches with ascending secondary branchlets that in turn bear 

 the appressed pedicellary branchlets; spikelets mostly appressed or nearly so, 

 slightly tapered, plumbeous, 3-10 mm. long; lemmas 1.5-2 mm. long, blunt, 

 all plumbeous, eventually falling from the intact rachilla (the lowest lemma falling 

 first). E. diffusa Buckl., E. perplexa L. H. Harvey. 



Frequent in a variety of habitats, most abundant in disturbed loamy soil near 

 roads, fields and streams, in water and mud on edge of streams, p>onds and 

 lakes, in Okla. (Mayes Co.) and throughout Tex., spring-fall; essentially through- 

 out the U.S. and s. into Mex. 



6. Eragrostis hirsuta (Michx.) Nees. 



Tightly tufted perennial; culms 4-10 dm. long, erect, unbranched; sheaths 



196 



