186 



POACEAE 



2. Eragrostis hypnoides (Lam.) 

 B. S. P. 



Creeping Eragrostis. Fig. 422. 



Poa hxpnoides Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 185. 



1791. 

 Eragrostis reptans Nees, Agrost. Bras. 514. 



1829. 

 Eragrostis hypnoides B. S. P. Prel. Cat. 



N. Y. 69." 1888. 



Annual, extensively creeping, more 

 or less dioecious ; culms slender, 20-40 

 cm. long, with short, erect or ascend- 

 ing, panicle-bearing branches, 5-10 cm. 

 tall; blades 1-3 cm. long; panicles 

 mostly simple, of rather few lanceolate- 

 oblong spikelets, the fertile inflores- 

 cence tending to be capitate; spikelets 

 10-35-flowered, 5-14 mm. long. 



Sandbars and wet shores of rivers and 

 lakes, throughout the United States and 

 south to Argentine. Aug.-Sept. Type lo- 

 cality: tropical America. 



3. Eragrostis cilianensis (All 

 Stink-grass, Candy-grass, 



1753, not Poa 

 1785. 



Fig 



Link. 

 423. 



eragrostis L. 



Briza eragrostis L. Sp. PI. 70. 



{Eragrostis eragrostis Karst). 

 Poa cilianensis All. Fl. Pedem. 2: 246. 

 Poa megastactwa Koel. Descr. Gram. 181. 1802. 

 Eragrostis major Host, Icon. Gram. Austr. 4: 14. pi. 24. 1809. 

 Eragrostis megastachya Link, Hort. Berol. 1: 187. 1827. 

 Eragrostis poacoides megastachva A. Gray, Man. ed. 2. 563. 



1856. 

 Eragrostis minor megastachva Davy in Jepson, Fl. West Mid. 



Calif. 60. 1901. 

 Eragrostis cilianensis Link; Vign. Lut. Malpighia 18: 386. 



1904. 



Annual, strong-scented when fresh ; culms erect or 

 ascending from a decumbent base, rather flaccid, 

 freely branching, 20-60 cm. tall ; blades 4-15 cm. long, 

 3-6 mm. wide; panicles greenish lead-color, 4-15 cm. 

 long, rather densely flowered; spikelets 5-14 mm. long. 

 3 mm. wide. 10-40-flowered, the florets closely imbri- 

 cate; pedicel; and keels of the acute glumes and lem- 

 mas sparingly glandular ; lemmas thin, the lateral 

 nerves prominent. 



Fields, roadsides, and waste places; a common weed through- 

 out the United States and Mexico, introduced from Europe; 

 infrequent in California and Oregon (Eugene, Nelson). June- 

 Aug. Type locality, European. 



Several species of Eragrostis have been cultivated at Experiment Station grounds on the Pacific Coast to 

 test their value as forage plants. The two species described below appear to have spread in the vicinity of 

 the testing plots, and others, especially E. chloromelas Steud., E. curvula (Schrad.) Nees, and E. plana Nees, 

 all of South Africa, are likely to spread from their original plantings. 



Eragrostis abyssinica (Jacq.) Link, Hort. Berol. 1: 192. 1827. (Poa abyssinica Jacq. Misc. 2: 364. 

 1781.) Annual, as much as 1 meter tall, smooth throughout; panicle large and spreading, glabrous in the 

 axils; spikelets 5-8 mm. long, several-flowered,' the florets turgid; lemmas 2-3 mm. long, acute. Kern 

 County (Leckenby). Becoming frequent in Arizona. A native of Abyssinia and cultivated in central Africa 

 as a cereal under the name of Teff. 



Eragrostis suaveolens Becker in Clous. Beitr. Pflanz. Russ. Reich. 8: 266. 1851. Annual, branching at 

 the base, geniculate and rooting at the lower nodes; glabrous throughout or with a few long hairs at the 

 mouth of the sheath; blades often elongate, 2-8 mm. wide; panicle one-third to half the entire height of 

 the plant, diffuse, many-flowered, the branchlets and . pedicels bearing minute glands; spikelets 5-10 mm. 

 long. Plant sweet-scented when fresh. Kern County, California (Lcckenby). A native of southeastern 

 Europe. 



