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. RavenncB 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 

 plume-like panicle, as much as 2 

 feet long. 



Fia. 14. Saccharum oflBcinarum. 

 Plant much reduced; three joints 

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

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

 Div. Agrost., Bull. 20.) 



SuBTRiBE EUANDROPOGONEiE 



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 

 some 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 



