Tm; (iUASSKS ok ri:NNKS.SKK. 97 



5. Eragrostis Purshii Shrader. Southern S])car-^rass. 

 riatr XXXII. Fi^iin' 120. 



An annual live to ei^i^hteen inches hij^h, with the erect or ascend- 

 ini^- stems ditYusely branching near the base. Sheaths pilose at the 

 throat, otherwise smooth; li^ule a fringe of short hairs; leaf-blade 

 one to seven inches long, one-half to one and one-half lines wide, 

 conduplicate when dry. Panicle oblong-lanceolate to pyramidal, 

 three to eight or twelve inches long, the widely spreading primary 

 branches solitary or two to three together, the axils not pilose. 

 Spikelets narrow-lanceolate, two to four and one-half lines long, 

 three- to tittecn-llowered,ai)pressed to the branches, nearly equalling 

 or exceeding their capillary pedicels; empty glumes ovate, acute, 

 scabrous on the keel, the longer upper one about one-half a line 

 in length; flowering glume broadly ovate obtuse, distinctly three- 

 nerved, scal^rous on the keel, about three-fourths of a line long. 

 Palea scabrous on the keels. Grain oblong. 



Waste places, along side-walks and in sandy, open grounds, com- 

 mon. Of no agricultural value. 



<>. Eragrostis major Host. vStink-grass. 



Plate XXXI. Fi^nire 124. 



A rather showy, much branched annual, with erect or ascending 

 stems six inches to two or three feet high. Sheaths striate, smooth, 

 hairy at the throat; ligule a fringe of short hairs, leaf-blade flat, 

 three to ten inches long, one to three lines wide, somewhat scab- 

 rous on the upper surface. Panicle elliptical or oblong, the 

 branches usually spreading,spikelets ovate to linear,seven- to forty- 

 flowered, two to eight lines long, one and one-half to two lines 

 broad; empty glumes nearly equal, ovate lanceolate, a line or less 

 long; flowering glumes ovate obtuse, prominently nerved and 

 scabrous on the keel. Palea ciliate on the keels. 



Cultivated or waste grounds, especially in light soils. July — 

 September. When fresh this grass emits a strong unpleasant odor. 



Era^rostis minor Host, is very closely allied to and by some is re- 

 garded only as a variety of E. major. It is smaller throughout* 

 with the sheaths often hairy, the fiv^e- to fifteen-flowered spikelets 

 one line or less broad, and the floral glumes not prominently 

 nerved. Much less frequent than E. major. 



7 Eragrostis oxylepis Torr. 



Plate XXXIII. Fi^nire l.iO. 



A smooth, erect or ascending perennial, six to thirty inches 

 high, with rather broad, showy spikelets crowded in a narrow, 

 often interrupted panicle. Sheaths smooth, striate, pilose at the 

 throat; ligul^ a minute fringe of short hairs; leaf-blade one to two 

 lines wide, one and one-half to ten or twelve inches long, tapering 

 to a narrow sharp-pointed apex. Spikelets sessile, or nearly so, 

 very strongly compressed laterally, two lines wide, three to ten 

 lines long, eight- to twenty-five-flowered; glumes all very acute, 

 the empty ones about three-fourths of a line long, the flowering 



