452 
when the white man plants himself upon our soil. It is highly nutritious ; 
cows which feed on it yield the richest milk and finest butter ; it is there¬ 
fore a very valuable grass, but is deficient in yield.* It springs up early 
in the season. It is hardly worth cultivating to the exclusion of other 
grasses, but’ could advantageously be mixed with them. 
GENUS 28. ERAGROSTIS. Beauvois. 
(Greek— Era the earth, and Agrosiis a genus of grass.) 
Spikelets paniculate 2 to 70-flowered; lower palea three-nerved, not 
webby at the base ; the upper persistent; culms often branching ; leaves 
linear, frequently involute ; ligule short, bearded ; glumes unequal. 
73. Eragrostis Reptans. Nees. 
Syn.—P oa reptans, Michx. 
Spikelets linear-lanceolate, flat, 10 to 30-flowered clustered, almost 
sessile ; flowers lanceolate, ovate, smooth, acute ; leaves short, almost 
awl-shaped, smoothish ; culms branched, prostrate and creeping. Annual; 
flowers in August. Culms 6 to 15 inches long. Ohio, Illinois, Michigan. 
74. Eragrostis Megastachya. Link. 
Syn. —Poa eragrostis, Linn. Briza eragrostis, Linn. Eragrostis ma¬ 
jor, Host. Megastachya eragrostis, Beauv. 
Branches of the panicles single, or in pairs, mostly naked in the axils, 
covered with the spikelets ; panicles oblong, crowded; spikelets 8 to 40- 
flowered, lead colored, on short petioles ; flowers ovate, obtuse or mu- 
cronate; leaves flat, smooth; culms low branched at the base, spreading. 
Annual; flowers in July and August. Culms 12 to 18 inches long. About 
gardens and waste places. Emits a disagreeable odor. Wisconsin, Illi¬ 
nois, Michigan, Ohio. 
75. Eragrostis Pilosa. Beauvois. 
Syn. —Poa pilosa, Linn. P. pectinacea, Michx. P. tenella, Ph. 
Panicle pyramidal, large, loose; branches, all but the lower, scattered, 
and naked in the axils, compound; spikelets 5 to 12 flowered, purplish, 
nearly linear, flattish, about equaling the pedicels, flowers ovate, acutish; 
leaves flat or involute, bearded with long hairs in the throat; culms low* 
\ 
* Darlington 
