164 



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



and sand barrens, Illinois and Ne- 

 braska to Louisiana and Texas. 



41. Eragrostis spectabilis (Pursh) 

 Steud. Purple lovegrass. (Fig. 226.) 

 Perennial, in dense tufts, rarely pro- 

 ducing short or slender rhizomes; 

 culms stiffly erect to spreading, 20 to 

 60 cm. tall; sheaths glabrous or pilose, 

 conspicuously hairy at the throat; 

 blades flat or folded, rather firm, 

 stiffly ascending, tapering to a fine 

 point, glabrous or rarefy pilose, 

 mostly 3 to 8 mm. wide; panicle at 

 first included at base, two thirds the 



Sandy soil, Maine to Minnesota, 

 south to Florida and Arizona; Mexico 

 (San Luis Potosi). This species was 

 formerly generally called E. pectin- 

 acea. 



42. Eragrostis elliottii S. Wats. 

 (Fig. 227.) Perennial; culms tufted, 

 stiffly erect or spreading, 40 to 80 cm. 

 tall; sheaths glabrous, pilose at the 

 throat; blades flat, elongate, scabrous 

 on the upper surface, 2 to 4 mm. wide; 

 panicle diffuse, fragile, usually more 

 than half the entire height of the 

 plant, branching 3 or 4 times, the 



Figure 225. — Eragrostis pilifera. Panicle, X 1; floret, X 10. (Rydberg 1831, Xebr.) 



entire height of the culm, diffuse, 

 bright purple, rarefy pale, branching 3 

 or 4 times, the axis stiff, the branches 

 stiffly spreading toward maturity, 

 rarefy pilose, strongly pilose in the 

 axils, the lower shorter than the mid- 

 dle ones, finally reflexed, the whole 

 panicle finally breaking away and 

 tumbling before the wind; spikelets 

 long-pediceled, short-pediceled toward 

 the ends of the branches, oblong to 

 linear, 6- to 12-flowered, 4 to 8 mm. 

 long; glumes acute, a little more than 

 1 mm. long; lemmas acute, about 1.5 

 mm. long, slightfy scabrous toward 

 the tip, the lateral nerves prominent 

 toward the base; palea somewhat 

 bowed out, exposing the rather promi- 

 nently short-ciliate keels; grain oval, 

 dark-brown, 0.6 mm. long. % — 



branches capillary, spreading; spike- 

 lets on long capillaiy spreading ped- 

 icels, linear, mostly 8- to 15-flowered, 

 5 to 12 mm. long, about 2 mm. wide, 

 pale or gray; glumes acute, 1 and 1.5 

 mm. long; lemmas closely imbricate, 

 acute, about 2 mm. long, bowed out 

 below, fitting into the angles of the 

 zigzag rachilla; grain oval, 0.7 mm. 

 long. % — Low ground, wet mead- 

 ows, and low pine woods, Coastal 

 Plain, North Carolina to Florida and 

 eastern Texas; West Indies and east- 

 ern Mexico. 



43. Eragrostis acuta Hitchc. (Fig. 

 228.) Perennial; culms erect, 40 to 60 

 cm. tall; sheaths glabrous, pilose at 

 the throat; blades flat, becoming 

 more or less involute, 2 to 4 mm. 

 wide; panicle diffuse, more than half 



