152 MISC. PUBLICATION 200, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



densely flowered, o A common weed in fields and open ground, 

 Oklahoma and Texas to Nevada and southern California; introduced 



in Missouri, South Carolina, Alabama, 

 and Louisiana; Mexico (fig. 298). In 

 some specimens the spikelets are ascend- 

 ing rather than appressed, thus making 

 the panicle more open. 



19. Eragrostis tephrosanthos Schult. 

 (Fig. 299.) Annual, rather soft and lax; 

 culms branching at 

 base, erect to de- 

 cumbent-spreading, 

 5 to 20 cm tall, 

 sometimes taller; 

 blades flat, usually 

 5 to 10 cm long, 1 

 to 2 mm wide ; pan- 

 icle open, mostly 4 



to 10 cm long, about half as wide, the 

 branches ascending or spreading, naked 

 below, the spikelets appressed or ascend- 

 pectinacea Pani- ing along the upper part, the lower axils 

 de.^x i; floret, x 10. (v. H. chase p ii ose; spikelets 6- to 12-flowered, 4 to 7 



mm long, about 1.5 mm wide; glumes 



about 1 and 1.3 mm long; lemmas 1.5 to 2 mm long, the lateral nerves 

 distinct, o Open ground, fields, and waste places, Florida to south- 



FIGURE 296. Distribution or 

 Eragrostis pectinacea. 



FIGURE 2Q7. Eragrostis diffusa. Panicle, X 1; floret, X 10. (Reverchon 1614, Tex.) 



ern Texas and south through the lowland tropics to Brazil (fig. 300). 

 20. Eragrostis peregrina Wiegand. (Fig. 301.) Annual; re- 



FIGURE 298. Distribution of 

 Eragrostis diffusa. 



FIGURE 299. Eragrostis tephrosanthos. 

 Panicle, X 1; floret, X 10. (Curtiss 

 5930, Fla.) 



sembling E. tephrosanthos but the axils of the panicle glabrous; 

 panicle branches spikelet-bearing nearly to base; spikelets mostly 



