138 



GRAM1NEAE 



beyond the uppermost spikelets ; first glume narrow, setaceous ; second glume 

 acuminate, twice as long as first and equaling the floret, conspicuously tubercu- 

 late-hirsute on the back ; lemma pubescent, 3-cleft ; rudiment of 2 obtuse lobes 

 and 3 equal awns, not pilose at base. 



Mesas of San Diego Co. ( Jamacha, Canby] ; extends from British Columbia to 



South Dakota and Mexico. 



Bef. BOUTELOUA HIRSUTA Lag. Var. Cienc. 2 4 : 141. 1805. 



41. BECKMANNIA Host. 



Spikelets 1 or 2-flowered, broad, laterally compressed, articulated below the 

 glumes, closely imbricated in 2 rows along 1 side of the rachis. Glumes sub- 

 equal, inflated, boat-shaped, chartaceous, the margins scarious. Lemma lance- 

 olate, acuminate. Palea nearly as long as lemma. A tall perennial with flat, 

 blades and numerous short appressed spikes in a narrow terminal, nearly simple- 

 panicle. Species 1, cooler parts of the northern hemisphere. (Johann Beck- 

 mann, 1739 1811, professor of botany at Gottingen.) 



1. B. erucaef ormis Host. Plants light green ; culms 1 to 3 feet high ; pani- 

 cle 4 to 10 inches long; spikelets nearly circular, 1% lines long; glumes trans- 

 versely wrinkled, the acuminate apex of the lemma protruding. 



Swamps and ditches, San Francisco Bay north to Yreka and east to Honey 

 Lake Valley; also in the cooler parts of the northern hemisphere. 



Eefs. BECKMANNIA EEUCAEFORMIS Host, Gram. Austr. 3: 5. 1805; Thurb. in Wats. Bot.. 

 Cal. 264. 1880; Davy in Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Cal. 57. 1901. Phalaris erucaef ormis L. Sp. PU 

 55 1753 



42. ELEUSINE Gaertn. 



Spikelets several-flowered, sessile and closely imbricated in 2 rows on 1 side- 

 of -a continuous rachis, the latter not extending beyond the spikelets. Glumes. 

 2, unequal, shorter than the florets, compressed-keeled, obtuse. Lemmas, 

 broader, with a thickened 5-ribbed keel, the uppermost sometimes empty. 

 Coarse tufted annuals, with digitate or approximate, rather stout spikes. 

 Species about 6, tropical regions of the Old World, 1 species introduced in the- 

 warmer portions of the U. S. (Greek Eleusin, the town where Ceres, the god- 

 dess of harvests, was worshipped.) 



1. E. indica Gaertn. Culms flattened, decumbent at base or prostrate- 

 spreading; sheaths loose, overlapping, compressed; spikes 2 to 10, 1 to 3 

 inches long; spikelets appressed, 3 to 5-flowered, about 2y 2 lines long. 



A common roadside weed in the warmer parts of America, introduced from the 

 Old World. Los Angeles, Brauntou 1281. 



Refs. ELEUSINE INDICA Gaertn. Fruct. & Sem. 1 : 8. 1788. Cynosurus indicus L. Sp. PI. 

 72. 1753. 



43. LEPTOCHLOA Beauv. 



Spikelets 2 to several-flowered, the uppermost floret usually imperfect or 

 rudimentary, sessile or nearly so, more or less scattered along 1 side of the 

 rachis. Glumes keeled, 1-nerved. Lemmas keeled, 3-nerved, acute, awned or 

 awnless, sometimes 2 or 3-toothed. Annuals or sometimes perennials with 

 elongated simple panicles of slender spikes scattered along a main axis. Spe- 

 cies about 20, in the warm regions of both hemispheres. (Greek leptos, slender,, 

 and chloa, grass.) 



Glumes longer than first lemma; sheaths papillose-hispid 1. L. filiformis^ 



Glumes shorter tjjan first lemma; sheaths smooth. 



Lemmas awned . . 2. L. fascicularis, 



Lemmas awnless 3. L. imbricate 



