festucacea; 



297 



Eragrostis tremnla, Hochst. 



This is an elegant annual grass. Stems are tufted erect or 

 sometimes geniculately ascending, branching freely, 6 inches to 

 3 feet. 



The leaf-sheath is smooth, glabrous, shorter than the internodes, 

 becoming purplish when dry. The ligule is a ridge of short 

 hairs. 



The leaf-blade is linear-lanceolate, tapering to a fine point, rigid, 

 glabrous or sparsely hairy, but with prominent white hairs near 

 the mouth of the sheath at the base, I to 10 inches long and i 12 to 

 3 16 inch broad, the base is rounded and the margin eglandular 

 and very finely serrate. 



The inflorescence is a large, effuse, nodding, pyramidal or oblong 

 panicle, much branched, the peduncle being as long as the rest of 



' Fig. 220. — Eragrostis tremula. 



1. Spikelet ; 2 and 3. the first and the second glume ; 4 and 5. flowering glume and 

 its palea ; 6. stamens, ovary and lodicules. 



the plant ; branches are slender, solitary, suberect, drooping, rather 

 angled, scaberulous, 3 to 7 inches long with very fine capillary 

 branchlets; all the axils of the branches and branchlets have long 

 white hairs. 



The spikelets are linear, narrowed upwards, glabrous, flattened 

 pale green or purple tinged, few to 70-flowered ; pedicels are 

 slender and capillary, longer or shorter than the spikelets ; rachilla 

 is zigzag and glabrous. The first two glumes are subequal, ovate, 

 acute, one-nerved, keel obscurely scaberulous, membranous. The 



3* 



