72 



Enneafogon, etc. Eragrostis chloromelas, E. curvula, E. 

 chalcantfia, E. micrantha, E. ohtusa are the chief species of 

 this open type of Veld. E. curvula var. conferta (umRrepu- 

 Erepu) is one of the chief pioneer grasses throughout Natal. 

 E. chloromelas is also very common. Both the last-mentioned 

 species flower early. In autumn E. -plana (umTshiki) is more 

 conspicuous. It forms large associes with Sporobolus indicus 

 in primitive Veld, or as the result of grass burning. Its 

 xerophj'tic, deep-rooted habit is shown by the fact that the 

 early colonists, when on trek, used to look for a tuft of this 

 grass to which they might fasten the fore yoke, when they 

 wished to tether their teams of oxen. 



E. chalcantha, a smaller, more rigid species, is also an 

 early flowering pioneer in the High Veld of Natal and the 

 Transvaal. E. brizoides is larger and enters into the climax 

 stages of Grassveld as well. Another clim.ax species is E. 

 guimniflua, which is associated with Pogonarthria falcata (a 

 species sometimes included in the same genus) over the dolo- 

 mite areas of the Transvaal. Other species which enter into 

 the coinposition of climax Grassveld include E. wilmsii, E. 

 bicolor, E. aiherstonei, E. Japfula, E. caesia, E. patentissima. 

 Some of the species belong to the hydrosere, being found in 

 Vleis, e.g., E. nebulosa, E. superba. On the sand dunes or 

 by streams on the Natal coast, E. ciliaris and E. namaquensis 

 occur. E. major is an annual ruderal species, as is also 

 E. aspera in Natal. 



The genus Eragrostis is peculiarly rich in local endemic 

 species, especially in the Transvaal, e.g., E. barbinodis, E. 

 pallens, E. wilmsii, E. sporoboloides, E. aiherstonei, and in 

 the Free State, E. echinochloidea, E. m,argaritacea, and 

 Bechuanaland, E. dura. There is no genus which would 

 better repay attention from the systematic standpoint. E. 

 curvula, for instance, includes forms which are rather widely 

 different, and some of the other species, e.g., E. plana and 

 E. heteromera, seem hardly separate. 



Ecologically the great majority of the species are xero- 

 phytic, but there is greater variation in this respect than in 

 the case of the other great pioneer genus Aristida. Some of 

 the species as pointed out above are distinctly hygrophilous. 

 Most of the common species like E. plana and E. curvula are 

 rather poor grasses from the grazing standj)oint, but this rule 

 admits of exceptions, for the TefE grass is an Eragrostis {E. 

 abyssinica) and cattle are fond of several other species, e.g.. 



