247 





Fig. 241. ERAGROSTIS PURSHII s^chrud. Linn*a, 12: 451. 1838. SOUTH- 

 ERN SPEAR-GRASS.— An annual, 1-4 dm. (4'-16') high, with the erect or 

 ascending culms diffusely branching near the base, and diffuse panicles of 

 small, spreading spikelets. Spikelets (o, h, c) 5 to 10 flowered, 3-8 mm. (li"-4") 

 long; empty glumes ovate, acute, minutely hispid on the back, the second 

 nearly twice as large as the first; flowering glumes broadly ovate, convex, 

 scarious, about 1.5 mm. (f) long. Palea minutely pubescent on its two nerves, 

 persistent.— Sandy river banks, waste ground, etc., Maine and Ontario to South 

 Dakota and California, south to Florida, Texas, and Arizona. (Mexico.) 

 June to October. 



