ANDROPOGONE& 



167 



coarse grass with broad blades and a large woolly plume- 

 like panicle as much as 2 feet long. The unawned spike- 

 lets are similar to those of the preceding genus, but the 

 axis of the racemes is articu- 

 lated. The native country of 

 sugar-cane is not known, but it 

 is now cultivated in all tropical 

 countries. Although it produces 

 seed occasionally it is propa- 

 gated by cuttings of the stem. 



206. Erianthus Michx. The 

 inflorescence resembles that of 

 the preceding genus, but the 

 spikelets are awned. One species 

 (E. Ravennce Beauv.), a native 

 of the Mediterranean region, is 

 cultivated for ornament under 

 the name of plume-grass, wool- 

 grass, Ravenna-grass, or hardy 

 pampas-grass. It is a tall peren- 

 nial with narrow blades and a 



Fia. 14. Saccharum ofncinarum. 

 Plant much reduced; three joints 

 of the rachis (a), a spikelet (6), and 

 ,., . , , _ a flower (c), X3. (U.S. Dept.Agr., 



plume-like panicle, as much as 2 Div. Agrost., Bull. 20.) 



feet long. 



SUBTRIBE EUANDROPOGONE^E 



207. Spikelets not all alike, the sessile one of each pair 

 fertile, the pedicelled sterile, sometimes reduced to the 

 pedicel. The genera described below are included by 

 ?ome authors as sub-genera of the large genus Andro- 

 pogon. The axis of the raceme is articulated. The 

 awn is very large and strong in some genera (Hetero- 

 pogon, Chrysopogon), is geniculate and twisted, and 

 bears at the base of the spikelet a strong sharp hairy 



