154 GRAMINEAE. 
g. Sporobolus Indicus (I.) R. Br. India Rush-grass. Smut-grass. 
(Fig. 349.) 
Agrostis Indica \,. Sp. Pl. 63. 1753. 
eee Indicus R. Br. Prodr, Fl. Nov. Holl. 1: 170. 
Glabrous and smooth throughout, culms 1°—4° 
tall, erect, tufted, simple or rarely sparingly 
branched. Sheaths few, long, shorter than the in- 
ternodes ; ligule a ring of very short hairs; leaves 
1/’-3/ wide, attenuate into a long slender point, the 
lower 8’~1° long, the upper shorter ; panicle 4/—15/ 
in length, usually elongated, narrow, spike-like ; 
spikelets 3(’/-1’’ long, the outer scales unequal, 
about half as long as the third, obtuse, smooth and 
glabrous, the lower one shorter and often erose- 
truncate; third scale acute, somewhat exceeding 
the obtuse or acutish palet. 
In meadows and waste places, Virginia to Florida, 
west to Arkansas and California. Naturalized from 
tropical regions; very abundant in Central and South 
America, July—Sept. 
1o. Sporobolus argutus (Nees) Kunth. Pointed Dropseed-grass. (Fig. 350. ) 
Vilfa arguta Nees, Agrost. Bras. 2: 395. 1829. 
Sporobolus argutus Kunth, Enum, I: 215. 1833. 
Culms 1° tall or less, erect, or somewhat decum- 
bent at the base, simple or sometimes branched, 
smooth and glabrous. Sheaths shorter than the 
internodes, their margins sometimes hirsute at the 
top; ligule a ring of short hairs; leaves 1/2’ long, 
1/’-2/’ wide at the base, acuminate, smooth and 
glabrous beneath, scabrous and often sparingly hairy 
at the base above; panicle 114/-3’ in length, the 
branches 14/-1/ long, verticillate, at first appressed, 
finally widely spreading; spikelets 3/’’ long; outer 
scales smooth and glabrous, the first rounded or 
obtuse, one-quarter the length of the acute second 
one; third scale about equalling the second, acute. 
Kansas, the Indian Territory and Colorado, south to 
Texas and Mexico. Also in the West Indies. July- 
Sept. 
11. Sporobolus junceus (Michx.) Kunth. 
Purple Dropseed-grass. Wire-grass. 
(Fig. 351.) 
Agrostis Juncea Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. I: 52. _ 1803. 
Sporobolus Junceus Kunth, Rev. Gram. 1:68. 1835. 
Glabrous and smooth throughout, culms 1°-2° tall, 
tufted, erect, slender, simple. Sheaths shorter than 
the internodes ; ligule very short ; leaves filiform or 
setaceous, the basal 6’-1° long, numerous, those of 
the culm few, 1/-3’ long; panicle 3/—7’ in length, 
open, the branches verticillate, the lower 1-2’ long, 
widely spreading; spikelets 14%’/-11%4’’, purple, the 
outer scales very unequal, the first obtuse or acutish, 
one-fourth to one-third the length of the acute second 
one; third scale subacute or blunt, equalling the 
second and the obtuse palet. 
Dry sandy soil, Virginia to Florida, west to Texas, Re- 
ported from Minnesota and Wisconsin. Aug.—Sept. 
