456 
GRAMINEiE. 
\_JEragrostis. 
stachya tenella, Bojer , Hort. Maur. 369. P. plumosa, Betz. ; Kunth , 
Enum. loc. cit. Eragrostis plumosa, Link. ; Steud. Gram. 266. 
Mauritius and Seychelles, common in dry soil at all elevations. Also Mada- 
gascar and Tropical Asia. 
4. E. laxa, Baker. Densely tufted. Stems very slender, ft. 
long, geniculate at the base. Sheaths with a dense tuft of hair at the 
throat; upper f-f in. long; blade narrow linear, glabrous, convolute, 
lf-2 in. long. Panicle 1J-2 in. long, lax, oblong-rhomboid ; branches 
erecto-patent ; pedicels sometimes 3-4 times the length of the spike- 
lets ; spikelets oblong, under T x ¥ in. long, 6-8-flowered. Elowering 
glume erecto-patent, dense, oblong, 3-nerved, glabrous, obtuse, 
like the pale, glabrous on both surface and edges. 
Seychelles, Perville , 118! Endemic. 
5. E. Mauritii, Steud. Gram. 272. Tufted. Stems slender, glabrous, 
ft. long. Sheaths densely pilose at the throat ; blade glabrous, 
narrow linear^ 1-lf in. long. Panicle lax, l|-3 in. long, the lower 
branches whorled ; pedicels longer than the spikelets ; spikelets 5-10- 
flowered. Elowering glume strongly ciliated. 
Mauritius, JD' Urville. Also Bourhon. I have not seen this. 
6. E. ciliaris, Link, ILort. Berol. i. 192. Annual, densely tufted. 
Stems trailing in the lower part, a foot or more long. Sheaths with a tuft 
of hairs at the throat ; upper 2-3 in. long ; blade narrow linear, glabrous, 
acuminate, 3-4 in. long. Panicle 3-4 inches long, narrow, dense ; 
branches erecto-patent, lower an inch or less long ; pedicels none or 
very short. Spikelets in. long and nearly as broad. Elower-glume 
-Jj in. long, densely ciliated with strong hairs, 3-nerved. Pale also 
ciliated. Poa ciliaris, Linn. ; Jacq. 1c. t. 304 ; Kunth, Enum. i. 337. 
P. Boryana, Willd. ; Kunth , loc. cit. Megastachya ciliaris and Boryana, 
Bojer, Hort. Maur. 369. 
Mauritius, frequent in dry soil at all elevations, Sieber, ii. 24, etc. Warmer 
zones of both hemispheres. 
7. E. interrupta, Beauv. Agrost. 71. Densely tufted, 1|— 2 feet high. 
Sheaths without a tuft of hairs at the throat ; upper 2-3 in. long ; 
blade narrow linear, glabrous, 3-4 in. long. Panicle narrow, J-l ft. 
long, with numerous short branches in distant ascending fascicles; 
pedicels usually very short ; spikelets oblong, in. long, 8-12- 
flowered. Elowering glume erecto-patent, oblong, obtuse, 
in. long, glabrous, like the pale, on the back and edges or the 
pale indistinctly ciliated. Poa interrupta, Lam. ; Kunth. Gram. ii. 
547. tab. 118. P. elongata, Kunth, Enum. i. 334. Megastachya 
elongata, Beam. ; Bojer , Hort. Maur. 369. Eragrostis propinqua, 
Steud. Gram. 271. P. nutans, Betz. ; Kunth, Enum. i. 332. 
Mauritius, in dry soil at all elevations. Spread through the tropics of the Old 
World. 
