Gl 



ERAGROSTIS. 



Spikelets several; usually many-flowered, pedicellate or sessile, in a loose and 

 spreading, or narrow and clustered panicle ; the rhacliis of the spikeleta nsuallv gla- 

 brous and articulate under the flowering glumes, but often tardily so, and somct inu-s 

 inarticulate. Outer empty glumes unequal, and rather shorter than the llowcrini; 

 ones, keeled, one-nerved ; flowering glumes obtuse or acute, uiiawned, three-nerved, 

 the keel prominent, the lateral nerves sometimes very faint ; palet shorter than the 

 glume, with two prominent nerves or keels, often persisting after the glume and 

 grain have fallen away. 



Eragrostis major. 



This is a foreign grass which has become extensively naturalizevl, 

 not only in the older States, but in many places in the Western and 

 Southwestern Territories. It is found in waste and cultivated grounds, 

 and on roadsides, growing in thick tufts, which spread out over the 

 ground by means of the geniculate and decumbent culms. The culms 

 are from 1 to 2 feet long, the lower joints bent and giving rise to 

 long branches. The sheaths are shorter than the internodes, the 

 leaves from 3 to 6 inches long. The pauicle is frequently 4 or 5 inches 

 long, oblong or pyramidal, somewhat open, but full-flowered; the 

 branches single or in pairs, branched and flowering nearly to its base. 

 This grass is said to have a disagreeable odor when fresh. It produces 

 an abundance of foliage, and is apparently an annual, reaching matu- 

 rity late in the season. We are not aware that its agricultural value 

 has been tested. (Plate 70.) 



Eragrostis Abyssinica. 



Eragrostis Abyssinica is a species which has been introduced from 

 Abyssinia, and cultivated in Florida and some of the Southern and 

 Southwestern States, and is said to be remarkably productive and val- 

 uable for hay. It is an annual grass, growing to the height of 2 to 3 feet. 



The native Abyssinian name of this grass is " teff," and from the 

 seeds the Abyssiniaus make their bread. It may be cultivated with 

 ease at a height of 6,000 or 7,000 feet above the sea-level, where maize 

 can hardly thrive. It comes to maturity in four months, yields forty 

 times its volume of seed, and, in the best variety, is said to make a 

 white, delicious bread. The traveler Bruce mentions teff with ap- 

 proval, and there is some account of it in other books. The Royal 

 Gardens of Kew obtained a quantity of seed, of which they sent a por- 

 tion to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and by the Department 

 it has been distributed to the agricultural stations for trial. There 

 are many other species, but none of much agricultural importance. 



DISTICHLIS. 



Distichlis maritima (Salt Grass; Akaline Grass). 



It has strong, creeping root stocks covered with imbricated leaf-sheaths, sending 

 up culms from 6 to 18 inches high, which are clothed nearly to the top with the 

 numerous, sometimes crowded, two-ranked leaves, The leaves are generally rigid 



