GENUS 65. GRASS FAMILY. 229 



i. Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. Wire-grass. Crab-grass. Yard-grass. Fig. 552. 



Cynosnnis indicus L. Sp. PL 72. 1753. 



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



Culms 6'-2 tall, tufted, erect, or decumbent at the 

 base, smooth and glabrous. Sheaths loose, overlap- 

 ping and often short and crowded at the base of the 

 culm, glabrous or sometimes sparingly villous ; ligule 

 very short; blades 3'-i2' long, i"~3" wide, smooth or 

 scabrous; spikes 2-10, i'-3' long, whorled or approxi- 

 mate at the summit of the culm or one or two some- 

 times distant ; spikelets 3-6-flowered, ri"-2" long ; 

 scales acute, minutely scabrous on the keel, the first 

 i-nerved, the second 3-7-nerved, the others 3-5-nerved. 



In fields, dooryards and waste places all over North 

 America except the extreme north. Naturalized from the 

 warmer regions of the Old World. Dog's-tail or Goose- 

 grass. Crop-grass. June-Sept. 



66. DACTYLOCTENIUM Willd. Enum. 1029. 1809. 



Annual grasses with flat leaf-blades and spicate inflorescence, the spikes in pairs or 

 digitate. Spikelets several-flowered, sessile, closely imbricated in two rows on one side of 

 the rachis which is extended beyond them into a sharp point. Scales compressed, keeled, the 



2 lower and the uppermost ones empty, the others subtending flowers. Stamens 3. Styles 

 distinct, short. Stigmas plumose. Grain free, rugose, loosely enclosed in the scale. [Greek, 

 referring to the digitately spreading spikes.] 



A genus of a few species, natives of the warmer parts of the Old World. Type species : Cyno- 

 surus aegyptius L. 



i. Dactyloctenium aegyptium (L.) Willd. 

 Crowfoot or Yard-grass. Egyptian Grass. 



Fig- 553- 



Cynosurus aegyptius L. Sp. PL 72. 1753. 

 Eleusine aegyptia Pers. Syn. i : 87. 1805. 

 Dactyloctenium aegyptiacuin Willd. Enum. 1029. 1809. 



Culms 6'-2 long, usually decumbent and extensively 

 creeping at the base. Sheaths loose, overlapping and 

 often crowded, smooth and glabrous ; ligule very short ; 

 blades 6' in length or less, i"-3" wide, smooth or 

 rough, sometimes pubescent, ciliate toward the base ; 

 spikes in pairs, or 3-5 and digitate, i'-2' long; spikelets 

 3-5-flowered ; scales compressed, scabrous on the keel, 

 the second awned, the flowering ones broader and 

 pointed. 



In waste places and cultivated ground, southern New 

 York, Pennsylvania and Virginia to Illinois and Cali- 

 fornia, south to Florida and Mexico. Widely distributed 

 in tropical America. Naturalized from Asia or Africa. 

 Crab-grass. Finger-comb-grass. July-Oct. 



67. LEPTOCHLOA Beauv. Agrost. 71. pi. 15. f. i. 1812. 



Usually tall annual grasses, with flat leaf-blades and numerous spikes forming a simple 

 panicle. Spikelets usually 2-many-flowered, flattened, alternating in two rows on one side of 

 the rachis. Scales 4-many ; the 2 lower empty, keeled, shorter than the spikelet; the flower- 

 ing scales keeled, 3-nerved. Palet 2-nerved. Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Stigmas plumose. 

 Grain free, enclosed in the scale and palet. [Greek, in allusion to the slender spikes.] 



About 12 species, natives of the warmer regions of both hemispheres. Besides the following, 



3 others occur in the southern United States. Type species : Cynosurus virgatus L. 



