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A TEXT-BOOK OF GRASSES 



palea, and a fertile floret, the latter all hyaline. The 

 staminate spikelets are in pairs on a slender rachis. The 

 spikelet consists of 2 coriaceous glumes and 2 florets with 

 stamens, the lemmas and paleas being hyaline. Besides 

 the terminal inflorescence there are usually in the axils 

 of the leaves others that may be reduced to a single spike. 

 One species, T. dactyloides L., a coarse perennial found 

 through eastern and southern United States, is an excel- 

 lent forage grass, sometimes called gama-grass. A few 

 other species are found in IVIexico. 

 201. Euchlaena Schrad.—Teo- 

 sinte. The staminate flowers are 

 in a terminal panicle while the 

 pistillate are in spikes in the axils 

 of the leaves. The staminate 

 spikelets are similar to those of 

 Tripsacum. The spike of pistillate 

 spikelets breaks up at maturity 

 into rhomboidal seed-like joints. 

 The styles are very long and 

 protrude from the top of the 

 inclosing leaf -sheath. The best 

 known species is E. mexicana 

 Schrad. (Fig. 11), a native of 

 Mexico. This is a coarse annual 

 resembling corn, cultivated in the 

 southern United States as a for- 

 age plant, chiefly for green fodder. 

 There are 1 or 2 other species in Mexico and Central 

 America. A hybrid between Euchlaena and Tripsacum is 

 described by Collins and Kempton. The pollen was fur- 

 nished by a variety of Euchlaena from Durango, Mexico 

 (Journ. Wash. Acad. Sci. 4: 114. 1914). 



Fig. 11. Euchlaena mexi- 

 cana. Portion of plant reduced; 

 a pistillate inflorescence, X l^, 

 and 4 fertile spikelets XI (U. S. 

 Dept. Agr. Div. Agroat. Bull. 

 No. 20). 



