34 



No. 88. Eleusine coracana (L.) Gii-rtu. African Millet. 



An erect annual grass, 2 to 4 feet high, closely related to and much resembling out 

 common crowfoot (Eleusine hidica), but of rather stouter habit and with larger 

 spikes and seeds. It is cultivated in India, southern China, Japan, and in many 

 parts of Africa for the grain, which is used as food. It forms the principal food 

 of many African tribes. In spite of the bitter taste of the flour, a kind of 

 bread or unleavened cake is made of it. Beer is brewed from the grain in 

 Abyssinia. Said to yield good crops, even on very poor soil, and may be culti- 

 A^ated in the same way and for the same purposes as millet. The seeds are 

 marked with very line, comb-like lines. 



No. 89. Eleusine indica (Linn.) Gnertn. Goose-grass. (Fig. 38.) 

 A coarse, tufted annual, with erect or spreading stems, 6 inches to 2 feet high; spike- 

 lets arranged in a number of spikes which are clustered at the top of the stem. 



This grass is distributed throughout 

 the warmer countries of the globe, 

 and is particularly abundant in the 

 Southern States, growing in culti- 

 vated grounds about dwellings, etc. 

 It has somewhat wiry, flattened 

 stems, many springing from a single 

 root, and rather thick leaves. Some 

 authors have spoken of it as being 

 nutritious and good for grazing or 

 soiling and for hay, but it is more 

 generally regarded as a weed, and 

 often a troublesome one in door- 

 yards or lawns. 



No. 90. Elymus arenarius Linn. Sea 



Lyme-grass. (Fig. 39.) 



A stout, coarse grass, 2 to 8 feet high, 

 with strong, creeping rootstocks, 

 smooth stems, long, rigid leaves, and 

 dense terminal spikes 6 to 12 inches 

 long. The spikelets are about an 

 inch long and three- to four-flowered. 

 This grass is common along the sea- 

 coast of northern Europe, our north 

 Atlantic coast, and on our Western 

 shores from Santa Cruz, Cal., north- 

 ward to within the Arctic zone. It 

 is one of the best gnisscs known for 

 biniling the drifting sands of the 

 coast, and in northern Europe has been cultivated along with Beach-grass for this 

 l»ur]»osc. These two grasses when combined seem admirably adapted for the pur- 

 pose of forming a barrier to the encroachnient of the sea; the sand that Beach- 

 grass arrests and ((dlects about itself the Lyme-grass secures and holds fast. 

 The seeds are us(!d for food by the Digger Indians of the Northwest, and as the 

 grass springs up around their deserted lodges it is called by the settlers "Uanche- 

 ria " grass. This Lyme-grass is usually regarded as possessing little or no forage 

 value, but in very moist climates or under certain favorable conditions it may 

 yield a valuable fodder, for Avhen young the grass is tender and nutritions. 



No. 91. Elymus canadensis Linn. AVild Kye. 



A rather stout, smooth perennial, 3 to 5 feet high, with broad, flat leaves, 6 to 12 

 inches long. 'I'he bearded spikelets arr arranged in a terminal spike or " head," 

 which has some resemlilanco to a head of lye. Common in 1()W thickets and 



Fio. 38.— Goose-grass {Eleusine indica). 



