538 EQUISETUM 



plants: E. arvense, hiemale (Fig. 768), limosum, pra- 

 tinse, robustum, scirpoldes, sylvdticum, variegatum. 



For descriptions, consult the manuals. They 



grow usually in moist or swale-like places. 



They are flowerless plants, allied to ferns and 



club-mosses. 



ERAGR6STIS (Greek, love and grass). 

 Graminece. LOVE GRASS. Annual or peren- 

 nial grasses, with herbaceous stems of various 

 habits, and from 6 in. to several feet tall. 

 Culms simple or often branched. Inflores- 

 cence composed of very variable panicles, 

 either close and narrow, or loose and widely 

 spreading: spikelets 2-many-fld., the upper- 

 most imperfect. Closely allied to Poa, from 

 which it can be distinguished by its 3-nerved 

 fl. -glumes, which are destitute of any woolli- 

 ness. The species are very variable and their 

 limits hard to define. About 100 species oc- 

 cur in the warm and temperate regions of 

 both hemispheres, few of which are of any 

 agricultural or horticultural value. The fol- 

 lowing are cult, as "ornamental grasses" in 

 flower gardens. 



Abyssinica, Link. A branching, leafy an- 

 nual, 2-4 ft. high, with widely spreading cap- 

 illary panicles of many spikelets: Ivs. 12-14 

 in. long, rough on the upper side, ligule a 

 mere ring : panicles slender, gracefully 

 drooping, grayish when in full bloom : spike- 

 lets 5-7-fld., one-fifth of an inch long. Africa. 

 In cult, as an ornamental grass for bou- 

 quets. Grain used as food in Africa. By 

 some referred to Poa. 



amabilis, Wight & Arn. (Pda amabilis, 

 Linn.). An erect grass 6 in. to 1 ft. high, 

 with inconspicuous linear - lanceolate Ivs., 

 ciliate at the base : spikelets very large and 

 broad, closely resembling quaking - grass 

 (Briza), 16-24-fld. India. In cult, as an orna- 

 mental grass. 



elegans, Nees. FEATHER LOVE-GRASS. An 

 erect grass 1-2 ft. high, with smooth cxilms 

 and rough Ivs.: panicles closely contracted, 

 dense: spikelets very small, 4-7-fld., numer- 

 ous, and presenting a feather-like appear- 

 ance in mass. S. Amer. In cult, as an orna- 

 768 mental grass. 



Equisetum maxima, Baker. LARGE LOVE-GRASS. A 



hyemale- tall, robust plant, 2-3 ft. high, with lanceolate 



Common acum i nat e Ivs., cordate at the base: panicles 



riTsh" ver y lax and br ad, 6-9 in. long: spikelets 



oblong, flattened, very large, %-% in. long. 



Madagascar. One of the most ornamental species of 



the genus. 



collina, Trin. (E. suaveolens, Becker). r Fig. 769. An 

 erect, leafy annual, 1-3 ft. high, with densely fld., spread- 

 ing panicles: spikelets 6-13-fld., numerous, one-fifth in. 

 long : pedicels of spikelets and branches of panicle 

 rough: Ivs. smooth beneath, rough above. Asia. The 

 species is very variable under cult., many different 

 forms being found. In cult, as an ornamental grass for 

 bouquets. 



E. mdjor, Host. STINK GRASS. A common species, growing 

 chiefly in cultivated or waste ground. When fresh it emits a 

 strong, unpleasant odor. Intr. from Eu. E. pectinacea, 

 Nees. MEADOW COMB-GRASS. A very pretty perennial grass! 

 with showy colored spikelets. A native of the eastern, south- 

 ern and middle states. It is often gathered for dry bouquets. 

 Should be int. into cult, for ornament. 



The seed sent out by a leading seedsman as containing five 

 different species (E. elegans, amabilis, maxima, suaveolens, 

 and Poa amabilis) , when grown proved to be one and the same 

 thing; viz., E. suaveolens. This statement is made from speci- 

 mens grown by Professor Tracy, of Starkville, Miss., in 1885, 

 and also observed by myself in 1897, both in the Hort. and the 

 Bot. Gardens at Cornell University. p B KENNEDY 



ERANTHEMUM (Greek, lovely flower). Acantha- 

 cew. Perhaps 30 species of tropical shrubs and sub- 

 shrubs, some of which are cultivated chiefly for their 

 foliage and others for their flowers. Lvs" entire or 



ERANTHEMUM 



rarely coarsely toothed: fls. white, lilac, rosy or red, 

 borne in various ways ; bracts and bractlets narrow, 

 small ; corolla tube long, slender, cylindrical throughout 

 or rarely with a short throat ; limb 5-parted ; stamens 

 2 : ovules 2 in each cell ; seeds 4 or fewer. The genus 

 Dsedalacanthus, although in a different tribe, is separated 

 only by a combination of technical characters, but the 

 garden forms of both genera described in this work are 

 all distinguishable at a glance. For culture, see Jus- 

 ticia. Consult Dcedalacanthus . 



A. Fls. purple. 



laxiflorum, Gray. Height 2-4 ft.: Ivs. on the same 

 plant varying greatly in size and shape, those near the 

 fls. 2-3%in. long, 8-15 lines wide; petioles 2-6 lines long, 

 widest below at or above the middle, more or less ovate- 

 oblong, obtuse, narrowed at the base: fls. in cymes; 

 stamens 2, perfect, sharp-pointed. Fiji. B.M. 6336. 



AA. Fls. pure white. 



tuberculatum, Hook. Easily told while growing by 

 the many small roundish and rough elevations on the 

 branches: Ivs. small, %- 5 /s in. wide, rarely if ever 1 in. 

 long, broadly ellipitical, obttfse or notched, almost ses- 

 sile : fls. numerous, borne singly in 'the axils, in sum- 

 mer ; corolla tube very long and slender, 1% in. long; 

 limb 1 in. across ; stamens scarcely exerted. Habitat 

 unknown. B.M. 5405. 



AAA. Fls. white, speckled with red-purple. 



B. Foliage netted with yellow. 



reticulatum, Hort. (E. Schdmburgkii, Linden). 

 Height 4 ft. : upper Ivs. 2-7 in. long, ovate-lanceolate, 

 characteristically netted with yellow ; lower Ivs. 6-10 

 in. long, not netted, but the veins prominent and yel- 

 low : fls. racemose ; corolla speckled with blood-red at 

 the mouth ; anthers reddish brown, exserted. Possibly 

 Australia. B.M. 7480. I.H. 26:349. 



769. Eragrostis collina (X 



BB. Foliage not netted with yellow. 



Anderson!, Mast. Lvs. lanceolate or elliptic, narrowe 

 into a short stalk: fls. in a spike 6 in. long; lower mid- 

 dle lobe of the corolla larger and speckled with purple. 

 Trinidad. Gn. 45:943. 



The following trade names belong to plants grown chiefly fc 



