566 MISC. PUBLICATION 200, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



124. ERlCCHLOA H.B.K. Cupgrass 



Spikelets more or less pubescent, solitary or sometimes in pairs, 

 short-pediceled or subsessile, in two rows on one side of a narrow 

 rachis, the back of the fertile lemma turned from the rachis; lower 

 rachilla joint thickened, forming a more or less ringlike, usually dark- 

 colored callus below the second glume, the first glume reduced to a 

 minute sheath about this and adnate to it; second glume and sterile 

 lemma about equal, the lemma usually enclosing a hyaline palea or 

 sometimes a staminate flower; fertile lemma indurate, minutely 

 papiUose-rugose, mucronate or awned, the awn often readily decidu- 

 ous, the margins slightly inrolled. Annual or perennial, often branch- 

 ing grasses, with terminal panicles of several to many spreading or 

 appressed racemes, usually approximate along a common axis. 

 The species are called cupgrasses because of the tiny cup made by 

 the first glume at the base of the spikelet. Type species, Eriochloa 



distachya H.B.K. Name from Greek erion, 

 wool, and chloa, grass, alluding to the pubes- 

 cent spikelets and pedicels. 



A West Indian species, E. polystchaya H.B.K. 

 (E. subglabra (Nash) Hitchc), called malojilla 

 in Puerto Rico, is used for forage. This has 

 been tried along the Gulf Coast from Florida 

 figure 1181.— Distribution of t southern Texas and has given excellent re- 



suits m southern Honda and at Biloxi, Miss. 

 It is similar in habit to Para grass, producing runners but less ex- 

 tensively, is suited to grazing, and will furnish a good quality of hay. 

 It will not withstand either cold or drought. The name carib grass 

 has been proposed for it. In Arizona E. gracilis has some value for 

 forage in the national forests. 



Spikelets, including slender awns, 7 to 10 mm long 1. E. aristata. 



Spikelets not more than 6 mm, awnless or awn-tipped. 



Pedicels with erect hairs at least half as long as the spikelet; racemes dense, 

 erect or appressed. (See also E. gracilis var. minor.) 



Blades 2 to 3 mm wide, elongate 2. E. sericea. 



Blades 5 to 15 mm wide, not more than 15 cm long 3. E. lemmoni. 



Pedicels scabrous or short-pubescent. 

 Plants perennial. 



Rachis velvety to villous; spikelets narrowly ovate 8. E. michauxii. 



Rachis scabrous only; spikelets lanceolate 7. E. punctata. 



Plants annual. 



Rachis scabrous only; racemes slender. Introduced 4. E. procera. 



Rachis pubescent; racemes stouter. 



Blades glabrous; fruit apiculate 5. E. gracilis. 



Blades pubescent; fruit with an awn about 1 mm long. 



6. E. contracta. 



1. Eriochloa aristata Vasey. (Fig. 1182.) Annual; culms erect or 

 spreading at base, 50 to 80 cm tall; blades flat, mostly 10 to 12 

 mm wide, glabrous; racemes several, ascending, overlapping, 3 to 4 

 cm long, the rachis pilose, the pedicels bearing several long stiff hairs; 

 spikelets about 5 mm long, the glume and sterile lemma tapering into 

 awns (awn of the glume about as long as the spikelet), appressed- 

 villous on the lower half or two-thirds, the upper part scaberulous 

 only; fruit 3.5 mm long, apiculate. © — Open ground, Arizona 

 (Tucson) and California (Fort Yuma); northern Mexico. 



