146 



MISC. PUBLICATION 200, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



sheaths long-pilose at the throat, the 

 foliage otherwise glabrous, the blades 

 flat, more or less involute in drying, 1 

 to 4, rarely to 5, mm. wide, tapering 

 to a fine point; panicle 5 to 25 cm. 

 long (mostly 10 to 15 cm.) of several 

 to numerous stiff, ascending or 

 spreading densely flowered branches, 

 approximate to distant, the spikelets 

 mostly aggregate on very short 

 branchlets; spikelets usually red 

 brown, strongly compressed, sub- 

 sessile, linear at maturity, mostly 10- 

 to 40-flowered, 8 to 15 mm. long; 

 lemmas closely imbricate, 3 mm. long, 

 abruptly narrowed to an acute apex, 

 the tip slightly spreading; palea 

 bowed out below, the keels promi- 

 nent; anthers 0.2 to 0.3 mm. long; 

 grain 1 to 1.2 mm. long. % — 

 Sandy soil, northern Florida to Colo- 

 rado, New Mexico, and California 

 (San Diego) ; eastern Mexico to Vera 

 Cruz. Has been confused with E. 

 secundiflora Presl, a rather rare spe- 

 cies of Mexico, which it closely re- 

 sembles, but the latter has less 

 strongly compressed spikelets and 

 grains only 0.4 to 0.5 mm. long. 



5. Eragrostis beyrichii J. G. Smith. 

 (Fig. 190.) Resembling E. oxylepis 

 and possibly only a variety of that 

 species; differing in the softer foliage 

 and panicle, the plant on the average 

 smaller, the panicle mostly smaller, 

 pale or slightly pinkish; spikelets 

 slightly larger; lemmas 3.5 to 4 mm. 

 long (the lower shorter), less firm, 

 tapering to an acuminate apex; palea 

 broader, less bowed out; anthers 0.4 to 

 0.5 mm. long, yellowish, grain 1 mm. 

 long. 91 — Sandy soil, Texas and 

 Oklahoma (Wichita Mountains) ; 

 Mexico. 



6. Eragrostis spicata Vasey. (Fig. 

 191.) Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 

 about 1 m. tall; blades flat, elongate, 

 more or less involute in drying, taper- 

 ing to a slender point; panicle pale, 

 slender, dense, spikelike, 10 to 30 cm. 

 long, 3 to 4 mm. thick; spikelets 

 strongly compressed, 2- or 3-flowered, 

 2 mm. long, the somewhat pubescent 

 pedicels less than 1 mm. long ; glumes 



rather broad, 

 second about 



obtuse, unequal, the 

 1 mm. long; lemmas 

 about 2 mm. long, all rising to about 

 the same height, the lateral pair of 

 nerves faint. % — Dry ground, 

 Laredo and Brownsville, Tex.; Baja 

 California; Paraguay, Argentina. 



Figure 190. — Eragrostis 

 beyrichii. Panicle, X 1 ; 

 floret, X 10. (Tracy 

 7924, Tex.) 



Figure 191. — Eragrostis 

 spicata. Panicle, X 1; 

 spikelet, X 10. (Swal- 

 len 1086, Tex.) 



7. Eragrostis ciliaris (L.) P. Br. 



(Fig. 192.) Annual; culms branching, 

 erect to spreading, slender, wiry, 15 

 to 30 cm. tall; blades flat to sub- 

 involute, mostly less than 10 cm. 

 long, 1 to 3 mm. wide; panicle often 

 purplish, condensed, interruptedly 

 spikelike, 3 to 10 cm. long, sometimes 

 looser with stiffly ascending short 

 branches; spikelets 6- to 12-flowered, 

 2 to 4 mm. long; glumes about 1 

 mm. long; lemmas oblong, 1 to 1.5 

 mm. long, obtuse, the midnerve 

 slightly excurrent; keels of the pa- 

 lea conspicuously stiffly long-ciliate, 

 the hairs 0.5 to 0.7 mm. long; grain 

 0.5 mm. long. O — Sandy shores, 

 rocky soil, and open ground, South 



