FESTUCEZ 225 
ditches from Texas to Cali- 
fornia. 
248. Eragrostis Host— 
A large genus of over 100 
species, found throughout 
the warmer regions of the 
world. Annuals or peren- 
nials with open, narrow or 
spike-like panicles; spike- 
lets many-flowered, awn- 
less; rachilla usually con- 
tinuous, the paleas often 
persistent after the fall of 
the lemmas and fruits. Sev- 
eral species are weeds intro- 
duced from the Old World. 
One of these, EF. cilianensis 
(All.) Link (EF. megastachya 
(Koel.) Link) (Fig. 51), 
called snake-grass or stink- TS 
grass, emits a disagreeable | 
odor from glands along the of {Sait Eragrostis cflianensis. Plant 
keels of the lemmas. Teff, {hich come of the florets have fallen, a. 
E. abyssinica (Jacq.) Link, (U.S. Dept. Agr., Div. Agrost., Bull. 17.) 
is an important food-plant in Abyssinia and has been 
tried in other countries as a forage plant. Several 
species are occasionally cultivated for ornament, the 
panicles being used for dry bouquets. 
249. Distichlis Raf—Salt-grass. Low dicecious per- 
ennials of seacoasts and alkaline flats. Only 1 species, D. 
spicata (L.) Greene (Fig. 52), is found in the United 
States. This is common in salt-marshes throughout the 
country. The culms are erect fom extensively creeping 
fe) 
