The Book of Grasses 



the spikes where the prolonged rachis ex- 

 tends beyond the uppermost spikelets. 



"Wire-grass. Goose-grass. Yard- 

 grass. Eleuslne indica (L.) Gaertn. 



Annual, tufted. Naturalized from Asia or 

 Africa. 



Stem 6'-24' tall, flattened, erect or spreading. 

 Sheaths loose. Ligule very short. Leaves 

 3'-io' long, i"-3" wide, flat, rather thick. 

 Spikes 2-8, i'-3' long, spreading from the sum- 

 mit of the stem. Spikelets 3-6-flowered, 

 i5"-2" long, in 2 rows on one side of the 

 rachis. Outer scales acute, about equal; 

 flowering scales acute. Stamens 3. 

 Cultivated grounds and waste places. June to 



September. 

 Southern New England to Ohio and Kansas, 

 south to Florida and Texas. 



SALT-MEADOW LEPTOCHLOA 



The salt marshes and beaches — what 

 wonderfully successful plants they contain, 

 securely anchored, though on drifting sands, 

 and braving the power of waves and winds! 

 The greater number of our seaside plants 

 bloom in late summer and spend their earlier 

 strength in developing strong roots, which 

 hold them firmly in place, and thick leaves 

 which are unwithering beneath burning skies. 

 Like other flowering plants of the shore, 

 all of the true salt-water grasses are late 

 in blooming and bear coarse leaves that 

 endure the lashing of storms. Salt-meadow 

 Leptochloa is a low grass that grows in tufts 

 in brackish marshes or meadows and also 

 on saline soil toward the interior of the 

 country. The stems are spreading, abund- 

 antly branched, and frequently send out 

 roots from the basal joints. The leaves are 

 long and narrow and the uppermost leaf encloses the base of the 

 long panicle which is composed of erect, nearly sessile spikelets. 



166 



Salt-meadow Leptochloa 

 Leptochloa fascicularis 



