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



and Texas, north to Tennessee and 

 Oklahoma. 

 3. Erianthus alopecuroides (L.) 



Ell. Silver plumegrass. (Fig. 1131.) 

 Culms robust, 1.5 to 3 m. tall, ap- 

 pressed-villous below the panicle, and 

 usually on the nodes; sheaths pilose 

 at the summit; blades 1.2 to 2 cm. 

 wide, scabrous, pilose on upper sur- 

 face toward the base; panicle 20 to 

 30 cm. long, silvery to tawny or 

 purplish; spikelets 5 to 6 mm. long, 

 pale, sparsely villous, shorter than 

 the copious basal hairs; awn 1 to 1.5 

 cm. long, flat, loosely twisted; rachis 

 joint and pedicel long- villous, % (E. 

 divaricatus Hitchc.) — Damp woods, 

 open ground, and borders of fields, 



Figure 1129. 



-Erianthus strictus, 

 6936, Fla.) 



X Y 2 . (Curtiss 



ginia to Florida and Texas, north 

 to Tennessee and southern Missouri. 

 2. Erianthus contortus Baldw. ex 

 Ell. Bent- awn plumegrass. (Fig. 

 1130.) Culms 1 to 2 m. tall, glabrous 

 or sometimes sparsely appressed- 

 pilose below the panicle; nodes gla- 

 brous or pubescent with erect de- 

 ciduous hairs; sheaths sparsely pilose 

 at summit or glabrous; blades 1 to 

 1.5 cm. wide, scabrous; panicle 15 

 to 30 cm. long, narrow, the branches 

 ascending but not closely appressed; 

 spikelets 6 to 8 mm. long, brownish, 

 basal hairs nearly or about as long 

 as the spikelet, awn about 2 cm. long, 

 spirally coiled at base; rachis joints 

 and pedicels villous. % — Moist 

 sandy pinelands or open ground, 

 Coastal Plain, Maryland to Florida 



Figure 1130. — Erianthus contortus, X H- (Amer. Gr. 

 Natl. Herb. 234, S. C.) 



Figure 1131. 



-Erianthus alopecuroides, X Yi- (Chase 

 4213, Fla.) 



