MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



485 



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Figure 714. — Zoysia matrella. Plant, X l A\ spikelet and floret, X 10. (Whitford 1303, P. I.) 



than 1 mm. wide. The rhizomes are 

 underground. In Z. tenuifolia the 

 blades are involute-capillary, the 



spikelets much narrower than in Z. 

 japonica, and the stolons are at or 

 near the surface of the soil. 



95. HILARIA H. B. K. 



Spikelets sessile, in groups of 3, the groups falling from the axis entire, the 

 central spikelet (next the axis) fertile, 1-flowered (occasionally 2-flowered), 

 the 2 lateral spikelets staminate, 2-flowered (occasionally 3-flowered) ; glumes 

 coriaceous, those of the 3 spikelets forming a false involucre, in some species 

 connate at the base, more or less asymmetric, usually bearing an awn on one 

 side from about the middle (extension of the midnerve of the asymmetric 

 glume); lemma and palea hyaline, about equal in length. Perennials, with 

 stiff, solid culms and narrow blades, the groups of spikelets appressed to the 

 axis, in terminal spikes. Type species, Hilaria cenchraides H; B. K. Named 

 for Auguste St. Hilaire. 



All the species are important range grasses and resist close grazing. Curly 

 mesquite is the dominant "short grass" of the Texas plains. The larger species 

 are well known on the range in the arid and semiarid regions of the Southwest. 



