THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 89 



Eeagrostis. 



Of this genus we liave abou t twenty siiecies in the United States. It is 

 characterized as follows : Spikelets numerous, usually in a loose, some- 

 times spreading and diffuse, panicle ; commonly many flowered (rarely 

 two or three only), sessile or pediceled, usually glabrous ; the outer 

 ginmes are unequal and rather shorter than the flowering ones, keeled 

 and mostly one-nerved ; the flowering glumes are membranaceous, acute 

 or obtuse, unawned, but rarely mucronate pointed, three-nerved, the 

 keel prominent, the lateral nerves sometimes very faint; the palet 

 shorter than its glume, with two prominent nerves or keels, often per- 

 sisting after the glume and grain have fallen away. 



Eragrostis po^oides var. megastachya. (Pungent meadow 



grass.) 



This is a foreign grass which has become extensively naturalized, not 

 only in the older States but in many jjlaces in the western and south- 

 western Territories. It is found in waste and cultivated grounds and 

 on roadsides, growing in thick tufts, which spread out over the ground 

 by means of the geniculate and decumbent culms. The culms are from 

 1 to 2 feet long, the lower joints bent and giving rise to long branches. 

 The sheaths are shorter than the internodes, the leaves from 3 to 6 inches 

 long. The panicle is frequently 4 or 5 inches Ion g, oblong or pyramidal, 

 somewhat open, but full-flowered; the branches irregularly single or in 

 pairs, branched and flowering nearly to the base. The spikelets are ob- 

 long or lanceolate one-fourth to one-half inch long, and ten to twenty 

 flowered when well developed. The empty glumes are smaller than the 

 flowering ones, rough on the keel, acutish. The flowering glumes are 

 one line long, ovate, rather obtuse, and strongly three-nerved. The 

 palets are shorter than their glumes, narrow, the sides reflexed and the 

 margin ciliate. This grass is said to have a disagreeable odor when 

 fresh. It produces an abundance of foliage, and is apparently an an- 

 nual, reaching maturity late in the season. We are not aware that its 

 agricultural value has been tested. (Plate 89.) 



Eragrostis purshii. 



This is a native grass, very widely diffused over the United States, 

 and extends into Mexico. In habit it is somewhat like the preceding 

 species {U, poceoides), growing in tufts, with the culms branching at 

 the base and the lower joints bent. The culms are smooth, slender, 10 

 to 20 inches high, the leaves narrow and sparse, with a tendency to 

 produce an abundance of flowering culms. The i)anicle is oblong, open 

 and spreading, 3 to 4 inches long, with the branches irregularly single 

 or in i)airs, and much subdivided. The spikelets are oblong, lanceolate 

 to linear, about two lines long, and usually from five to fifteen flowered. 

 The empty glumes are small, only about half the length of the flowering 

 glumes, ovate and acute. The flowering glumes are about half a line 



