204 EKIANTHUe. 



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 Beaed Grass. 



GEKEEIC CHARACTEE. 



Spikelets spiked in pairs upon each .joint of the 

 slender rhachis — one of them sessUe,^ the other pedi- 

 celled — otherwise both alike, with the lower flower 

 neutral, of one membranaceous palet, the upper per- 

 fect, of 2 hyaline palets, which are thinner and shorter 

 than the nearly equal membranaceous glumes, th.e 

 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 anlhos, 

 flower. 



1. E. Alopecuroides (Woolly Beard grass). 



SPECIFIC CHAEACTEE. 



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, IS'ew Jersey and southward ; 

 rare. Flowers in September and October, 



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



