180 



POACEAE 



47. ELEUSINE Gaertn. Fruct. & Sem. 1 : 7. pi. 1. 1788. 



Spikelets few- to several-flowered, compressed, sessile and closely imbricate in 2 rows 

 along one side of a rather broad rachis, the latter not prolonged beyond the jpikelets ; 

 glumes persistent, unequal, rather broad, acute 1-nerved, shorter than the first lemma ; 

 lemmas acute, with 3 strong green nerves close together, forming a keel, the uppermost 

 somewhat reduced ; seed dark brown, transversely minutely ridged. Annual grasses with 

 2 to several rather stout spikes digitate at the summit of the culms, sometimes with 1 or 

 2 a short distance below, or rarely with a single terminal spike. [Greek, Eleusine, the 

 town where Ceres, the goddess of harvests, was worshipped.] 



Species about 6 in the warm regions of the eastern hemisphere, one a common introduced weed in^ 

 America. Type species, Cyiiosiirus indicus L. 



1. Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. 



' '• ^'Goose-grass. 



Fig. 409. 



Cynosiiriis indicus L. Sp. PI. 72. 1753. 



Eleusine indica Gaertn. Fruct. & Sem. 1: 8. 1788. 



Culms flattened, decumbent at base or prostrate- 

 spreading; sheaths loose, overlapping, compressed; 

 spikes 2-10, 2-8 cm. long ; spikelets appressed, 3-5- 

 flowered, about 5 mm. long. 



A common roadside weed in the warmer jiarts of America, 

 introduced from the Old World. Rare on the Pacific Coast. 

 Linnton, Oregon {Nelson), Los Angeles (Braunton). July- 

 Aug. Type locality: India. 



Eleusine tristachya Lam., with shorter, broader spikes, has 

 been found at Linnton (Nelson). 



48. LEPTOCHLOA Beativ. Ess. Agrost. 71. pi 15. f. 1. 1812. 



Spikelets two- to several-flowered, sessile or short-pediceled, approximate or somewhat 

 distant along one side of a slender rachis; glumes persistent, unequal or nearly equal, awn- 

 less or mucronate, 1-nerved, usually shorter than the first lemma; lemmas 3-nerved, the 

 nerves sometimes pubescent, obtuse or acute, sometimes 2-toothed and mucronate or short- 

 awned from between the teeth. Our species annual, with flat blades and numerous spikes 

 or racemes, scattered along a main axis forming a long or sometimes short panicle. [Greek, 

 slender grass.] 



Species probably 20 in the warmer parts of the world. Type species, Cynoswus viygatns L. 



Glumes longer than first lemma; sheaths papillose-hispid. 1. -L. filtfonms. 

 Glumes shorter than first lemma; sheaths smooth. 



Lemmas awned. 2. L. fasciculans. 



Lemmas awnless. 3. L. unmeriia. 



1. Leptochloa filiformis (Lam.) Beauv. 

 Sprangle-top, Feather-grass. Fig. 410. 



Festuca filiformis Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 191. 1791. 

 Eleusine mucronata Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 63. 1803. 

 Leptochloa filiformis Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 71, 166. 1812. 

 Leptochloa mucronata Kunth, Rev. Gram. 1: 91. 1829. 



Culms 3-l(^ cm. tall, often depauperati; sheaths 

 sparsely papillose-hairy ; spikes numerous, spread- 

 ing, 3-10 cm. long, slender, usually purple, the spike- 

 lets rather distant, about. 3 mm. long; glumes more 

 or less mucronate, nearlv equaling the 3 or' 4 smal! 

 awnless florets. 



Open ground, fields, and moist depressions. Imperial 

 County (Colorado River) ; common in tropical America. 

 Sept.-Dec. Type locality: tropical America. 



