766 



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



tucky, southern California, and Ne- 

 vada; West Indies, Yucatan, Central 

 America. 



28. Andropogon elliottii Chapm. 

 Elliott beardgrass. (Fig. 1167.) 

 Culms tufted, erect, 30 to 80 cm. 

 tall, at first nearly simple, later 

 branching toward the summit; lower 

 sheaths keeled, rather narrow, com- 

 monly loosely pilose, those near the 

 summit inflated and spathelike, 

 crowded, the very short internodes 

 densely bearded; blades flat, 3 to 4 

 mm. wide; primaiy inflorescence of 

 few to several racemes, mostly in 

 pairs, rarely threes or fours, on 

 filiform, often strongly flexuous pe- 

 duncles, long-exserted from incon- 

 spicuous spathes, these on slender 

 branchlets borne in the axils of the 

 broad spathelike sheaths of the main 

 culm; secondary inflorescence of nu- 

 merous pairs of racemes on short 

 peduncles subtended b}^ broad spathes, 

 these on short, bearded, often fas- 

 cicled, branchlets borne in the axils 

 of the spathelike sheaths of the main 

 culm and short primary branches, 

 the whole forming a series of flabellate 

 tufts with conspicuous purplish to 

 copper-brown spathes, 5 to 10 mm. 

 wide, much exceeding the feathery 

 racemes; racemes flexuous, 3 to 4 

 rarely to 5 cm. long, the slender 

 rachis joints and pedicels long-villous; 

 sessile spikelets 4 to 5 mm. long, 

 those of the late enclosed racemes 

 cleistogamous, the awn loosely twist- 

 ed, 10 to 15 mm. long; pedicellate 

 spikelets obsolete or nearly so. % 

 —Open ground, old fields, and open 

 woods, mostly on the Coastal Plain, 

 New Jersey to Florida and Texas, 

 north to southern Missouri, Illinois, 

 Indiana, and Ohio; British Honduras. 

 The flattened ferruginous upper 

 sheaths are conspicuous in winter. 

 The characteristic plant is very 

 striking, but occasional individuals 

 occur with less aggregate upper 

 sheaths, and others with scarcely di- 

 lated sheaths, aggregate or scarcely 

 aggregate. This form, which has been 

 distinguished as A . elliottii var. graci- 



lior Hack., appears to merge into A. 

 subtenuis Nash. 



29. Andropogon subtenuis Nash. 

 (Fig. 1168.) Culms in small tufts, 

 slender, erect, 40 to 70 cm. tall, the 

 upper third sparingly branching; 

 foliage glabrous or nearly so, the 

 blades 1.5 to 2 mm. wide; inflores- 

 cence narrow, of few to several pairs 

 of racemes on elongate filiform pe- 

 duncles short-exserted from near the 



Figure 1168. — Andropogon subtenuis, X 1. (Tracy 

 4701, Miss.) 



summit of the elongate slender spathe, 

 the ultimate branches sometimes 

 long-villous toward the summit; ra- 

 cemes 2, flexuous, 2 to 3 cm. long, 



