18 Bulletin VII. 1. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



I. Spikelets naked at the base, 4-5 lines long . i. E. stkictus.. 



1, Spikelets very hairy at the base x 



2. Basal hairs not exceeding the spikelet 2. E. brlvibarbis. 



2. Basal hairs longer than the spikelet 3, 



3. Spikelet 3-4 lines long, awn twisted . . 3. E. contortus. 

 3. Spikelet 2 lines long, awn straight . 4. E. alopecuroides. 



1. Erianthus strictus Baldw. 



Plate I. Figure 2. 



An erect grass three to six feet high, with smooth stems, ver}^ 

 long, narrow leaves and close, narrow terminal panicles, six to- 

 twenty inches long. Nodes smooth or sometimes pubescent with 

 short appressed hairs. Ligule membranous, about one line long,, 

 irregularly ciliolate and distinctly auricled; leaf -blade one to two 

 feet long, scabrous on the margins, narrowed towards the base and 

 tapering into long filiform tips. Panicle linear-lanceolaie, rigidly 

 erect, the appressed and densely-flowered branches one to four 

 inches long; pedicels about one-half the length of the spikelets. 

 Spikelets about five lines long, narrow-lanceolate, naked or with 

 a few short hairs at the base; outer glumes more Ol' less scabrous,, 

 subciliate with short, stiff hairs on the keels above; first glume 

 subcoriaceous, lanceolate, strongly two-keeled, usually seven- 

 nerved, bicuspidate at the apex; second glume equalling the first, 

 lanceolate, and long acuminate-pointed or subarisiate; third glume 

 a little shorter than the outer ones, lanceolate acuminate, smooth, 

 two- to three nerved: fourth glume about the length of the third, 

 thin, membranaceous, smooth, lanceolate, briefly bifid at the apex, 

 three to fixve-nerved below, the nerves uniting above and extend- 

 ing into a stout, straight awn eight to ten lines long. Palea about 

 one and one-half lines long, ovate-lanceolate, acute, nerveless. Lo- 

 dicules truncate, smooth. The third and fourth glumes and palea 

 more or less tinged with purple. — September. Tuilahoma (A. Gat- 

 tinger); swamps near Jackson (S. M. Bain). 



2. Erianthus brevibarbis. Michx. 



Plate I. Figure 3. 



A stout, erect grass three to six feet high, with terminal hairy 

 and bearded panicles six to eighteen inches long. Culm usually 

 silky just below the panicle, with the nodes, at least the upper, 

 sometimes bearded. Sheaths hairy at the throat; ligule membra- 

 nous, lacerate; leaf-blade ten to twenty inches long, three to six 

 lines broad, somewhat scabrous, usually pilose near the base, long 

 attenuate-pointed. Spikelets three to four lines long, exceeding 

 the copious hairs at the base and twice as long as the pilose sub- 

 equal joints and pedicels. Sessile spikelet: first glume strongly 

 two-keeled, aculeolate scabrous towards the strongly bidentate 

 apex, seven-nerved; second glume broadly lanceolate, acuminate 

 pointed, scabrous above and ciliate on the infolded edges; third 

 glume a little shorter than the outer ones, lanceolate, ciliate nn 

 the margins above; fourth glume ciliate on the margins, three- 



