124 FLORA. 



membranous; palet hyaline, 2-keeled. Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Stigmas plu- 

 mose. Grain oblong, free, enclosed in the scale and palet. [In honor of Johann 

 Beckmann, 1739-1811, teacher of Natural History at St. Petersburg.] A mono- 

 typic genus of the north temperate zone. 



I. Beckmannia erucaeformis (L.) Host. BECKMANNIA. (I. F. f. 414.) 

 Glabrous. Culms 4.5-9 dm. tall, erect, simple, smooth ; sheaths longer than the 

 internodes, loose; leaves 7.5-22.5 cm. long, 4-8 mm. wide, rough; panicle 1-2.5 dm. 

 in length, simple or compound, the spikes about 1.25 cm. long; spikelets 2-3 mm. 

 long, i-2-flowered, closely imbricated in two rows on one side of the rachis; scales 

 smooth, the outer saccate, obtuse or abruptly acute ; flowering scales acute, the lower 

 generally awn-pointed, the upper rarely present. In wet places, western Ont. to 

 Br. Col., south to Iowa, Colo, and Cal. July-Sept. 



62. ELEUSINE Gaertn. 



Tufted annual or perennial grasses, with flat leaves and spicate inflorescence, the 

 spikes digitate or close together at the summit of the culm. Spikelets several-flow- 

 ered, sessile, closely imbricated in two rows on one side of the rachis, which is not 

 extended beyond them; flowers perfect or the upper staminate. Scales compressed, 

 keeled; the 2 lower empty; the others subtending flowers, or the upper empty. 

 Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain loosely enclosed in the scale 

 and palet. [From the Greek name of the town where Ceres was worshipped.] 

 Species 6, natives of the Old World. Besides the following, two others have been 

 found in ballast fillings about the eastern seaports. 



i. Eleusine Indica (L.) Gaertn. WIRE-GRASS. CRAB-GRASS. YARD-GRASS. 

 (I. F. f. 415.) Culms 1.5-6 dm. tall, tufted, erect, or decumbent at the base. 

 Sheaths loose, overlapping and often short and crowded at the base of the culm, 

 glabrous or sometimes sparingly villous; leaves 7.530 cm. long, 2-6 mm. wide, 

 smooth or scabrous; spikes 2-10, 2.5-7.5 cm. long, whorled or approximate at the 

 summit of the culm or one or two sometimes distant; spikelets 3-6-flowered, 3-4 mm. 

 long; scales acute, minutely scabrous on the keel, the first I -nerved, the second 3-7- 

 nerved, the others 3-5 -nerved. In fields, dooryards and waste places all over N. 

 Am. except the extreme north. Naturalized from the warmer regions of the Old 

 World. June Sept. 



63. DACTYLOCTENIUM Willd. 



An annual grass, with flat leaves and spicate inflorescence, the spikes in pairs or 

 digitate. Spikelets several-flowered, sessile, closely imbricated in two rows on one 

 side of the rachis, which is extended beyond them into a sharp point. Scales com- 

 pressed, keeled, the 2 lower and the uppermost ones empty, the others subtending 

 flowers. Stamens 3. Styles distinct, short. Stigmas plumose. Grain free, rugose, 

 loosely enclosed in the scale. [Greek, referring to the digitately spreading spikes.] 

 A monotypic genus of the warmer parts of the Old World. 



i. Dactyloctenium Aegyptium (L.) Willd. EGYPTIAN GRASS. (L F. f. 

 416.) Culms 1.5-6 dm. long, usually decumbent and extensively creeping at the 

 base. Sheaths loose, overlapping and often crowded, smooth and glabrous; leaves 

 1.5 dm. in length or less, 2-6 mm. wide, smooth or rough, sometimes pubescent, 

 ciliate toward the base; spikes in pairs, or 3-5 and digitate, 1.25-5 cm. long; 

 spikelets 3-5 -flowered; scales compressed, scabrous on the keel, the second awned, 

 the flowering ones broader and pointed. In waste places and cultivated ground, 

 southern N. Y., Penn. and Va. to 111. and Cal., south to Fla. and Mex. Widely 

 distributed in tropical America. Naturalized from Asia or Africa. July-Oct. 



64. LEPTOCHLOA Beauv. 



Usually tall annual grasses, with flat leaves and numerous spikes forming a 

 simple panicle. Spikelets usually 2-many-flowered, flattened, alternating in two 

 rows on one side of the rachis. Scales 4 to many; the 2 lower empty, keeled, shorter 

 than the spikelet; the flowering scales keeled, 3-nerved. Palet 2-nerved. Stamens 

 3. Styles distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain free, enclosed in the scale and palet. 

 [Greek, in allusion to the slender spikes.] About 12 species, natives of the warmer 

 regions of both hemispheres. Besides the following, 3 others occur in the 

 southern U. S. 



