FESTUCE^ 



225 



ditches from Texas to Cali- 

 fornia. 



248. Eragrostis Host. — 

 A large genus of over 100 

 species, found throughout 

 the warmer regions of the 

 world. Annuals or peren- 

 nials with open, narrow or 

 spike-like panicles; spike- 

 lets many - flowered, awn- 

 less; rachilla usually con- 

 tinuous, the paleas often 

 persistent after the fall of 

 the lemmas and fruits. Sev- 

 eral species are weeds intro- 

 duced from the Old World. 

 One of these, E. cilianensis 

 (All.) Link {E. megastachya 

 (Koel.) Link) (Fig. 51), 

 called snake-grass or stink- 

 grass, emits a disagreeable 

 odor from glands along the recklcedf ^^splkdlts! sh'J'wfirg'vaHibie 



number of florets; portion of rachilla from 

 which some of the florets have fallen, X3. 

 (U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Agrost., Bull. 17.) 



keels of the lemmas. Teff. 



E. abyssinica (Jacq.) Link, 



is an important food-plant in Abyssinia and has been 



tried in other countries as a forage plant. Several 



species are occasionally cultivated for ornament, the 



panicles being used for dry bouquets. 



249. Distichlis Raf. — Salt-grass. Low dioecious per- 

 ennials of seacoasts and alkaline flats. Only 1 species, D. 

 spicata (L.) Greene (Fig. 52), is found in the United 

 States. This is common in salt-marshes throughout the 

 country. The culms are erect fom extensively creeping 

 o 



