154 



THE TRUE GRASSES. 



cles diffuse or contracted; spikelets narrow, pointed, 

 awnless. Perennial grasses with apparently uodeless 

 culms. 



Species one (M. ca'rulea Monch), with violet-colored 

 panicles and rigid leaves, grows in wet meadows in 

 Central Europe and temperate Asia. A poor grass for 

 fodder. [Sparingly introduced into North America.] 



223. (230) Eragrostis Host. (Fig. 

 79). Panicles various, generally open. 

 Spikelets usually densely many- 

 flowered ; flowering glumes awnless, 

 or at most rnucronate-poiuted, keeled ; 

 grain globose or ovate, uufurrowed. 



Species about one hundred, distrib- 

 uted throughout all warm countries. 



Sec. I. Ccdadastos. Each ilia articu- 

 late ; spikelets small ; flowering glumes 

 membranaceous. E. ciliaris Link 

 in the Southern United States and 

 throughout all tropical countries. 

 II Vtff jB' Macroblepliarus Philippi also belongs 



II n 7 m here - 



Sec. II. Petrocssa (Megastachya 

 Beauv.). Rachilla and usually also 

 F Ho?t~' a C'nia with the palere remaining after the fruit and 

 & a en e8e Germ A , ft ! r 55 N a e nd flowering glumes have fallen. Most 

 of the species belong here. E. Abys- 

 sinica Link, is an important food-plant in Abyssinia. 

 The various colored seeds have the appearance of grits, 

 and the flour made from these is baked into bread. 

 This grass is probably a cultivated form of E. pilom 

 Beauv. Many species (e.g., E. Mexicana Link) are culti- 

 vated for ornament. [E. oxylepis of the Southwestern 

 United States, is a particularly showy species.] 



Sec. III. Myriostachya. Like the preceding, but with 

 long-awued empty glumes. 

 Species one. 



Sec. IV. Platy stocky a. Bachilla articulate ; spikelets 

 large ; flowering glumes coriaceous. 



224. (231) Ipnum Philippi. Spikes short, standing 



