204 ERIANTHUS. 



much value where better could be grown. Grows on 

 moist soils near the coast, New England to Pennsyl- 

 vania and Illinois, and common in Louisania, 



64. ERIANTHUS. WOOLLY BEARD GRASS. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Spikelets spiked in pairs upon each joint of the 

 slender rhachis one of them sessile, the other pedi- 

 celled otherwise both alike, with the lower flower 

 neutral, of one membranaceous palet, the upper per- 

 fect, of 2 hyaline palet s, which are thinner and shorter 

 than the nearly equal membranaceous glumes, the 

 palet awned from the tip ; stamens 1 to 3 ; grain free. 

 Tall and stout reed-like perennials, with the spikes 

 crowded in a panicle, and clothed with long, silky 

 hairs, especially in a tuft around the base of each 

 spikelet. 



Whence the name, from erion, wool, and anthos, 

 flower. 



1. E. Alopecuroides (Woolly Beard grass). 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



Culm 4 to 6 feet high, woolly bearded at the joints; 

 panicle contracted, the silky hairs longer than the 

 spikelets, shorter than the awn ; stamens 2. 



Wet pine barrens, New Jersey and southward 

 rare. Flowers in September and October, 



2. E. Brevibarbis (Short-awned Woolly Beard.) 



