216 



Fig. 210. DACTYIiOCTENIXTM iEGYPTIUM (Linn.) WiUd. {Cunosiirusiegyp- 

 this Linn. Sp. PI. 72. 1753; Eleitsine nxinptica Desf. Fl. Atl. 1: 85. 1798; D. tegyp- 

 tiaciim Willd. Enum. 1029. 1809.) CROWFOOT-GRASS.— A low, tufted or 

 creeping grass, with ascending flowering stems rarely 3 dm. (1°) high, and 

 three to five digitate spikes 2-5 cm. (l'-2') long. Sheaths loose, overlapping, 

 glabrous; leaf-blades 15 cm. (6') long or less, 2-6 mm. (l"-3") wide, .smooth or 

 scabrous, sometimes pubescent. Spikelets (a) in pairs. 3 to 5 flowered, glumes 

 compressed, .scabrous on the keel, the second {d) awned; the flowering glumes 

 (6) acuminate-pointed.— Waste or cultivated ground, southern New York to 

 Illinois, south to Florida and Texas, we.st to California. (Widely distributed 

 in tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres. ) May to December. 



This species resembles Eleusine indica, from which it is at once distinguished 

 by its having the terminal spikes shorter, and each tipped with a sharp pro- 

 longation of the axis. It is sometimes cut for hay and in eastern countries 

 the seeds are u.sed as food in times of famine. In portions of Africa the seeds 

 are used for medicinal purposes. 



