Manual of the Grasses of the United States, Volume Two

MANUAL OF

THE GRASSES OF THE

UNITED STATES

A. S. Hitchcock

Second Edition

Revised by AGNES CHASE

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOLUME TWO

DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.

NEW YORK

This Dover edition, first published in 1971, is an unabridged republication of the second revised edition, as published by the United States Government Printing Office in 1950 as U. S. Department of Agriculture Miscellaneous Publication No. 200. The first edition of the work was published in 1935.

For convenience in handling, the text is published in two volumes in this paperback edition.

International Standard Book Number: 0486-22118-9

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 70-142876

Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation 22718917

www.doverpublications.com

MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE

UNITED STATES

VOLUME I

Introduction

Uses of grasses

Distribution of grasses

Morphology of grasses

Classification of grasses

Nomenclature

Common names

Scope of the manual

Gramineae (Poaceae), the grass family

Descriptions of the subfamilies and keys to the tribes

Subfamily 1. Festucoideae

Subfamily 2. Panicoideae

Descriptions of the tribes and keys to the genera

Tribe 1. Bambuseae

Tribe 2. Festuceae

Tribe 3. Hordeae

Tribe 4. Aveneae

Tribe 5. Agrostideae

Tribe 6. Zoysieae

Tribe 7. Chlorideae

Tribe 8. Phalarideae

Tribe 9. Oryzeae

Tribe 10. Zizanieae

Tribe 11. Melinideae

Tribe 12. Paniceae

Descriptions of the tribes and keys to the genera—Continued

Tribe 13. Andropogoneae

Tribe 14. Tripsaceae

Descriptions of genera and Species

Tribe 1. Bambuseae

Tribe 2. Festuceae

Tribe 3. Hordeae

Tribe 4. Aveheae

Tribe 5. Agrostideae

Tribe 6. Zoysieae

Tribe 7. Chlorideae

Tribe 8. Phalarideae

Tribe 9. Oryzeae

Tribe 10. Zizanieae

Tribe 11. Melinideae

VOLUME II

Tribe 12. Paniceae

Tribe 13. Andropogoneae

Tribe 14. Tripsaceae

Synonymy

Unidentified names

Persons for whom grasses have been named

Glossary

Appendix

Addenda

Index

MANUAL OF

THE GRASSES OF THE

UNITED STATES

TRIBE 12. PANICEAE

127. ANTHAENÁNTIA Beauv.

Spikelets obovoid; first glume wanting; second glume and sterile lemma about equal, 5-nerved, the broad internerves infolded, densely villous, the sterile lemma with a small palea and sometimes with a staminate flower; fertile lemma cartilaginous, brown, with narrow pale hyaline margins, boat-shaped, 3-nerved, subacute. Erect perennials with short creeping rhizomes, narrow, firm, flat blades, the uppermost much reduced, and narrow panicles, the slender branches ascending or appressed. Type species, Anthaenantia villosa. Name from Greek anthos, flower, and enantios contrary. (Beauvois misinterpreted the structure of the spikelet.)

In pine barrens A. rufa may be an important element in the natural pasture.

Blades erect or spreading, rather blunt or rounded at the apex, linear, folded at base; panicle usually purple 1. A. RUFA.

Blades ascending or spreading (on the average shorter and broader than in A. rufa), tapering to the apex, rounded at base; panicle usually pale 2. A. VILLOSA.

1. Anthaenantia rúfa (Ell.) Schult. (—Moist pine barrens, Coastal Plain, North Carolina to Florida and eastern Texas.

2. Anthaenantia villósa (Michx.) Beauv. (Fig. 822.) Differing from A. rufa —Dry pine barrens, Coastal Plain, North Carolina to Florida and Texas.

FIGURE 821.—Anthaenantia rufa, X 1. (Amer. Gr. Natl. Herb. 290, N. C.)

128. TRICHÁCHNE Nees

(Valota Adans., inadequately published)

Spikelets lanceolate, in pairs, short-pediceled, in 2 rows along one side of a slender rachis; first glume minute, glabrous; second glume and sterile lemma about as long as the fruit, 3- to 5-nerved, copiously silky; fertile lemma cartilaginous, lanceolate, acuminate, usually brown, the flat white hyaline margins broad. Perennials with slender erect or ascending racemes, approximate to rather distant along a slender main axis, forming a white to brownish silky panicle. Type species, Trichachne insularis. Name from Greek thrix (trich-), hair, and achne, chaff, alluding to the silky spikelets.

Trichachne insularis is not relished by cattle, hence the name sourgrass by which it is called in the West Indies; T. californica is a constituent of the ranges of the Southwest, and furnishes fair forage.

Fruit 4 mm. long; spikelets tawny-villous       1. T. INSULARIS.

Fruit 3 mm. or less long (rarely 3.5 mm.); spikelets white-villous.

Spikelets long-silky, the hairs exceeding the spikelet; fruit 3 to 3.5 mm. long.

Panicle branches stiffly ascending or spreading, comparatively few-flowered; fruit oblong-lanceolate, gradually pointed              3. T. PATENS.

Panicle branches appressed, densely flowered; fruit obovate, abruptly pointed, the point scarcely indurate       2. T. CALIFORNICA.

Spikelets short-silky, the hairs not exceeding the spikelet; fruit 2.4 mm. long.       4. T. HITCHCOCKII.

1. Trichachne insuláris (L.) Nees. SOURGRASS. (—Low open ground and waste places, Florida, Alabama (Mobile), southern Texas, and southern Arizona; Mexico; West Indies to Argentina.

FIGURE 822.—Anthaenantia villosa. Plant, X ½; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Chase 4605, N. C.)

FIGURE 823.—Trichachne insularis. Plant, X ½; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Baker and Wilson 602, Cubal)

2. Trichachne califórnica (Benth.) Chase. COTTONTOP. ((T. saccharata Nash.)—Plains and dry open ground, Texas and Oklahoma to Colorado, Arizona, and Mexico; South America.

3. Trichachne pátens Swallen. (—Dry fields, prairies, and roadsides, Texas.

4. Trichachne hitchcóckii (Chase) Chase. (—Dry plains, Texas; northern Mexico.

FIGURE 824.—Trichachne californica, X 1. (Hitchcock 13608, Tex.)

129. DIGITÁRLA Heister. Crabgrass

(Syntherisma Walt.)

Spikelets in twos or threes, rarely solitary, subsessile or short-pediceled, alternate in 2 rows on one side of a 3-angled winged or wingless rachis; spikelets lanceolate or elliptic, nearly planoconvex; first glume minute or wanting; second glume equaling the sterile lemma or shorter; fertile lemma cartilaginous, the hyaline margins pale. Annual or perennial, erect to prostrate, often weedy grasses, the slender racemes digitate or approximate on a short axis. Type species, Digitarla sanguinalis. Name from Latin digitus, finger, alluding to the digitate inflorescence of the type species.

The species are in the main good forage grasses. Digitaria sanguinalis, the common crabgrass, is a weed in cultivated soil. In the Southern States, where it produces an abundant growth in late summer on fields from which crops have been gathered, it is utilized for forage and is sometimes cut for hay. This species and D. ischaemum, are common weeds in lawns. They form a fine green growth at first but start late and die in the fall.

FIGURE 825.—Trichachne patens. Plant, X 1; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Reed 11, Tex.)

1a. Rachis winged or flat-margined, the margin as wide as the central rib; plants annual, creeping at least at base.

Rachis bearing scattered long fine hairs (these rarely wanting); spikelets narrow, acuminate, nearly glabrous 2. D. HQRIZONTALIS.

Rachis not bearing hairs; spikelets elliptic, acute, pubescent.

Plants perennial, stoloniferous 7. D. LONGIFLORA.

Plants annual. Culms erect or decumbent spreading.

Sheaths glabrous; fertile lemma brown.

Spikelets 2 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, the hairs or most of them capitellate. 3. D. ISCHAEMUM.

Spikelets 1.5 to 1.7 mm. long, about 0.6 mm. wide, the hairs not capitellate.

Sterile lemma with 5 distinct nerves; spikelets sparingly pubescent, 1.7 mm. long; fertile lemma light brown; racemes, if more than 2, not digitate. 4. D. FLORIDANA.

Sterile lemma with 3 distinct nerves; spikelets distinctly pubescent, 1.5 mm. long, fertile lemma dark brown, racemes usually all digitate. 5. D. VIOLASCENS.

Sheaths pilose or villous; fertile lemma pale.

Spikelets 1.5 to 1.7 mm. long; pedicels terete, glabrous 6. D. SEROTINA.

Spikelets 2.5 to 3.5 mm. long; pedicels angled, scabrous 1. D. SANGUINALIS.

1b. Rachis wingless or with a very narrow margin (see also D. horizontalis), triangular; plants not creeping (except in D. texana), annual or perennial,

2a. Fertile lemma pale or gray.

Plants annual, decumbent and rooting at base. Spikelets 3 mm. long, glabrous or nearly so 8. D. SIMPSONI.

Plants perennial.

Spikelets densely or sparsely villous; racemes 5 to 10.

Spikelets 2.8 to 3.5 mm. long, sparsely to densely villous 14. D. RUNYONI.

Spikelets 2 to 2.5 mm. long, rather sparsely villous 13. D. TEXANA.

Spikelets glabrous to obscurely appressed-pubescent on the internerves; racemes 2 to 5, some of them naked at base for 1 to 1.5 cm.

First glume broad, hyaline, minute but obvious; spikelets 3.2 mm. long, glabrous. 15. D. PAUCIFLORA.

First glume obsolete or nearly so; spikelets 2.5 to 2,8 mm. long, obscurely to obviously appressed-pubescent.

Racemes 2 to 4; culms ascending from a curved base; sheaths papillose-pilose. 16. D. SUBCALVA.

Racemes 5 to 10; culms erect; sheaths conspicuously villous. 17. D. ALBICOMA.

2b. Fertile lemma dark brown. Plants erect or at least not rooting at the decumbent base; annual or sometimes apparently perennial.

Second glume and sterile lemma glabrous (see also D. laeviglumis under D. filiformis). 12. D. GRACILLIMA.

Second glume and sterile lemma capitellate-pubescent.

Spikelets 2 to 2.5 mm. long 10. D. VILLOSA.

Spikelets 1.5 to 1.7 mm. long.

Blades folded or involute, flexuous 11. D. DOLICHOPHYLLA.

Blades flat 9. D. FILIFORMIS.

1. Digitaria sanguinális (L.) Scop. CRABGRASS. (Fig. 827.) Plant branching and spreading, often purplish, rooting at the decumbent base, the culms sometimes as much as 1 m. long, the flowering shoots ascending; sheaths, at least the lower, papillose-pilose; blades 5 to 10 mm. wide, pubescent to scaberulous; racemes few to several, 5 to 15 cm. long, rarely longer, digitate, with usually 1 or 2 whorls a short distance below; spikelets about 3 mm. long; first glume minute but evident; second glume about half as long as the spikelet, narrow, ciliate; sterile lemma strongly nerved, the lateral internerves appressed-pubescent, the hairs sometimes spreading at maturity (D. fimbriata —Fields, gardens, and waste places, a troublesome weed in lawns and cultivated ground throughout the United States at low and medium altitudes, more common in the East and South; temperate and tropical regions of the world. Native of Europe. A specimen with nearly glabrous sheaths and inflorescences of 2 racemes collected by Tracy in Mississippi, said to be introduced, has been erroneously referred to Syntherisma barbatum (Willd.) Nash (Digitaria barbata Willd.).

FIGURE 826.—Trichachne hitchcockii. Plant, X 1; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Type.)

DIGITARIA SANGUINALIS Var. CILIÁRIS (Retz.) Parl. Sterile lemma, pectinate-ciliate, the stiff cilia 1.5 mm. long. Along railroad, Berks County, Pa. Waif from Asia.

2. Digitaria horizontális Willd. (Fig. 828.) Resembling D. sanguinalis(Syntherisma setosum Nash; S. digitatum Hitchc.)—Waste places, southern and central Florida; ballast, Mobile, Ala.; tropical regions of North America and South America.

3. Digitaria ischaémum (Schreb.) Schreb. ex Muhl. SMOOTH CRABGRASS. (Fig. 829.) Erect or usually soon decumbent-spreading, resembling D. sanguinalis (Syntherisma humifusum —Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia.

4. Digitaria floridána Hitchc. (—Sandy pine woods, Florida (Hernando County). The inflorescence resembles that of D. filiformis, but the rachis is winged; the spikelets are smaller than those of D. ischaemum.

5. Digitaria violáscens Link. (—Open pineland in sandy soil, Indiana and Kentucky; Georgia and Florida to Arkansas and Texas; tropical America; tropical Asia.

FIGURE 827.—Digitarla sanguinalis. Plant, X ½; two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Norton 566, Kans.)

FIGURE 828.—Digitaria horizontalis. Plant, X 1; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Nash 996, Fla.)

FIGURE 829.—Digitaria ischaemum. Plant, X 1; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Jones 1761, Vt.)

6. Digitaria serótina (Walt.) Michx. (—Pastures and waste places, Coastal Plain, Pennsylvania to Florida and Louisiana; Philadelphia (ballast); Cuba.

FIGURE 830.—Digitaria floridana. Plant, X 1; spikelet and fertile floret, X 10. (Type.)

7. Digitaria longiflóra (Retz.) Pers. (—Ditches and sandy ground, southern Florida; tropical regions of the Old World; introduced in the American Tropics.

8. Digitaria simpsóni (Vasey) Fer-nald. (Fig. 834.) Resembling D. sanguinalis —Sandy fields, Florida, rare; Isla de Pinos, Cuba.

FIGURS 831.—Digitaria violascens. Panicle, X 1; two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Silveus 5394, Ala.)

9. Digitaria filifórmis (L.) Koel. (Fig. 835, A—Sandy fields and sterile open ground, New Hampshire to Iowa and Oklahoma, south to Florida, Texas, and Mexico. A form with glabrous spikelets from Manchester, N. H., has been described as D. laeviglumis Fernald (835, B.).

FIGURE 832.—Digitaria serotina. Plant, X 1; two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Tracy 4653, Miss.)

FIGURE 833.—Digitaria longiflora, Plant, X ½. Stolon and panicle, X 1; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Silveus 4405, Fla.)

10. Digitaria villósa (Walt.) Pers. (Fig. 836.) Perennial at least in the Southern States, in large tufts, purplish at base; culms 0.75 to 1.5 m. tall, rarely branching; sheaths, at least the lower, grayish villous, sometimes sparsely so; blades elongate, 3 to 6 mm. wide, often flexuous, from softly pilose to nearly glabrous; racemes 2 to 7, narrowly ascending, rarely somewhat spreading, very slender, usually 15 to 25 cm. long, rather distant, often naked at base, sometimes interrupted; spikelets 2 to 2.5 mm. long, usually densely pubescent with soft capitellate hairs, the hairs longer than in D. filiformis, and sometimes only obscurely capitellate, the spikelets otherwise very like those of D. filiformis—Sandy fields and woods, Maryland to Missouri, south to Florida and Texas; Cuba, Mexico. This species and D. filiformis seem to intergrade to some extent. Plants from peninsular Florida with less strongly pubescent sheaths, 2 to 4 elongate racemes, and spikelets with longer hairs have been distinguished as D. leucocoma (Nash) Urban.

11. Digitaria dolichophýlla Henr. ((Has been confused with D. panicea (Swartz) Urban.)—Moist pine barrens and open ground, southern Florida; Cuba, Puerto Rico.

12. Digitaria gracíllima (Scribn.) Fernald. (—Sandy soil, high pineland, peninsular Florida, rare. A tall plant from Grasmere with 3 to 5 racemes, the spikelets having second glumes about two-thirds as long as the fertile lemma, has been differentiated as D. bakeri (Nash) Fernald.

FIGURE 834.—Digitaria simpsoni. Plant, X 1; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Curtiss 6422, Fla.)

FIGURE 835.—A, Digitaria filiformis. Plant, X 1: spikelet and floret, X 10. (Bissell, Conn.) B, D. laeviglumis. Spikelet, X 10. (Type coll.)

FIGURE 836.—Digitaria villosa. Plant, X 1; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Curtiss 5300, Fla.)

FIGURE 837.—Digitarla dolichophylla. Plant, X 1; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Tracy 9058, Fla.)

13. Digitaria texána Hitchc. (—Sandy oak woods or sandy prairie, southern Texas.

14. Digitaria runyóni Hitchc. (—Sand dunes and sandy prairies along the coast, southern Texas.

FIGURE 838.—Digitaria gracillima. Plant, X 1; two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Type.)

15. Digitaria pauciflóra Hitchc. (—Pinelands, southern Florida.

FIGURE 839.—Digitaria texana. Plant, X 1; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Type.)

FIGURE 840.—Digitaria runyoni. Plant, X 1; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Type.)

16. Digitaria subcálva Hitchc. (—Known only from Plant City, Fla.

17. Digitaria albicóma Swallen. (—Open sandy woods. Known only from Chinsegut Hill Sanctuary, Brooksville, Fla.

FIGURE 841.—Digitaria pauciflora. Plant, X 1; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Type.)

—Introduced from South Africa. On trial as a pasture grass in the Southern States.

DIGITARIA DECUMBENS Stent. Similar to D. pentzii—Introduced from South Africa, and grown as a pasture grass in Florida and southern California. This and the preceding are not known to set seed and are planted by cuttings.

FIGURE 842.—Digitarla subcalva. Plant, X l; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Type.)

FIGURE 843.—Digitaria albicoma. Spikelet and floret, X 10. (Type.)

—Introduced from South Africa. Grown at experiment stations, Tif-ton, Ga., and Gainesville, Fla.

130. LEPTOLÓMA Chase

Spikelets on slender pedicels; first glume minute or obsolete; second glume 3- to 5-nerved, nearly as long as the 5- to 7-nerved sterile lemma, a more or less prominent stripe of appressed silky hairs down the internerves and margins of each, the sterile lemma empty or enclosing a minute nerveless rudimentary palea; fertile lemma cartilaginous, elliptic, acute, brown, the delicate hyaline margins enclosing the palea. Branching perennials with brittle culms, felty-pubescent at base, flat blades, and open or diffuse panicles, these breaking away at maturity, becoming tumbleweeds. Type species, Leptoloma cognatum. Name from Greek leptos, thin, and loma, border, alluding to the thin margins of the lemma.

Spikelets 2.5 to 3 mm. long; culms spreading from a knotty, often densely hairy, base. 1. L. COGNATUM.

Spikelets 4 mm. long; plants branching at base, producing long slender rhizomes. 2. L. ARENICOLA.

1. Leptoloma cognátum (Schult.) Chase. FALL WITCHGRASS. ((Panicum cognatum Schult., Panicum autumnale Bosc.)—Dry soil and sandy fields, New Hampshire to Minnesota, south to Florida, Texas, and Arizona; northern Mexico. A fairly palatable grass.

2. Leptoloma arenícola —Sand hills, Kennedy County, Tex.

131.STENOTÁPHRUM Trin.

Spikelets embedded in one side of an enlarged and flattened corky rachis tardily disarticulating toward the tip at maturity, the spikelets remaining attached to the joints; first glume small; second glume and sterile lemma about equal, the latter with a palea or staminate flower; fertile lemma char-taceous. Creeping stoloniferous perennials, with short flowering culms, rather broad and short obtuse blades, and terminal and axillary racemes. Type species, Stenotaphrum glabrum Trin. Name from Greek, stenos, narrow, and taphros, trench, referring to the cavities in the rachis.

1. Stenotaphrum secundátum (Walt.) Kuntze. ST. AUGUSTINE GRASS. (—Moist, especially mucky soil, mostly near the seashore, South Carolina to Florida and Texas; American Tropics. Cultivated as a lawn grass in the coastal cities; also in Marin County, Calif., and escaping. The lawns have a coarse texture but are otherwise satisfactory. Propagated by cuttings of the stolons. A variegated form with leaves striped with white is used as a basket plant. Called by gardeners var. variegatura.

FIGURE 844.—Leptoloma cognatum. Plant, X ½; two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Tracy 8223, Tex.)

FIGURE 844A.—Leptoloma arenicola. Base and panicle, X ½; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Type.)

132.ERIÓCHLOA H. B. K. CUPGRASS

Spikelets more or less pubescent, solitary or sometimes in pairs, short-pediceled or subsessile, in two rows on one side of a narrow rachis, the back of the fertile lemma turned from the rachis; lower rachilla joint thickened, forming a more or less ringlike, usually dark-colored callus below the second glume, the first glume reduced to a minute sheath about this and adnate to it; second glume and sterile lemma about equal, the lemma usually enclosing a hyaline palea or sometimes a staminate flower; fertile lemma indurate, minutely papillose-rugose, mucronate or awned, the awn often readily deciduous, the margins slightly inrolled. Annual or perennial, often branching grasses, with terminal panicles of several to many spreading or appressed racemes, usually approximate along a common axis. The species are called cupgrasses because of the tiny cup made by the first glume at the base of the spikelet. Type species, Eriochloa distachya H. B. K. Name from Greek erion, wool, and chloa, grass, alluding to the pubescent spikelets and pedicels.

A West Indian species, E. polystachya H. B. K. (E. subglabra (Nash) Hitchc), called malojilla in Puerto Rico, is used for forage. This has been tried along the Gulf Coast from Florida to southern Texas and has given excellent results in southern Florida and at Biloxi, Miss. It is similar in habit to Para grass, producing runners but less extensively, is suited to grazing, and will furnish a good quality of hay. It will not withstand either cold or drought. The name carib grass has been proposed for it. In Arizona E. gracilis has some value for forage in the national forests.

Spikelets, including slender awns, 7 to 10 mm. long               1. E. ARISTATA.

Spikelets not more than 6 mm., awnless or awn-tipped.

Pedicels with erect hairs at least half as long as the spikelet, racemes dense, erect or appressed; spikelets relatively blunt (see also E. gracilis).

Blades 2 to 3 mm. wide, elongate               2. E. SERICEA.

Blades 5 to 15 mm. wide, not more than 15 cm. long               3. E. LEMMONI.

Pedicels scabrous or short-pubescent; spikelets acuminate or acute. Plants perennial.

Rachis velvety to villous; spikelets narrowly ovate               8. E. MICHAUXII.

Rachis scabrous only; spikelets lanceolate               7. E. PUNCTATA.

Plants annual.

Rachis scabrous only; racemes slender. Introduced               4. E. PROCERA.

Rachis pubescent; racemes stouter.

Blades glabrous; fruit apiculate               5. E. GRACILIS.

Blades pubescent; fruit with an awn about 1 mm. long               6. E. CONTRACTA.

1. Eriochloa aristáta Vasey. (—Open ground, Arizona and California (near Yuma); northern Mexico.

2. Eriochloa serícea (Scheele) Munro. (—Prairies and hills, Texas and Oklahoma.

FIGURE 845.—Stenotaphrum secundatum. Plant, X ½; two views of spikelet, and fertile floret, X 10. (Tracy 1408, Miss.)

3. Eriocbloa lemmóni Vasey and Scribn. (—Canyons, southern Arizona and northern Mexico.

4. Eriocbloa prócera (Retz.) C. E. Hubb. ((E. Ramosa Kuntze.)—Introduced on the university campus at Tucson, Ariz.; Cuba; tropical Asia.

FIGURE 846.—Eriochloa anstaia. Plant, X 1; floret, X 10. (Thornber 98, Ariz.)

FIGURE 847.—Eriochloa serìcea. Plant, X 1; floret, X 10. (Reverchon 1170, Tex.)

FIGURE 848.—Eriochloa lemmoni. Plant, X 1; floret, X 10. (Peebles and Harrison 4703, Ariz.)

FIGURE 849.—Eriochloa procera, X 10. (Griffiths 1516, Ariz.)

5. Eriochloa grácilis (Fourn.) Hitchc. (—Open ground, often a weed in fields, Oklahoma and western Texas to southern California, south through the highlands of Mexico. (This species has been referred to E. acuminata (Presi) Kunth, an unidentified species of Mexico.)

—Open ground, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona; Mexico.

6. Eriochloa contracta Hitchc. PRAIRIE CUPGRASS. (—Open ground, ditches, low fields, and wet places, Nebraska to Colorado, Louisiana and Arizona; introduced in Missouri and Virginia. Differing from E. gracilis in the pubescent foliage, subcylindric panicle, and the awned fruit.

7. Eriochloa punctáta (L.) Desv. (—Marshes, river banks, and moist ground, southwestern Louisiana and southern Texas; American Tropics.

8. Eriochloa michaúxii (Poir.) Hitchc. ((E. mollis Kunth.)—Brackish or fresh meadows and marshes and sandy prairies, southeastern Georgia and Florida. A form with narrow blades and relatively few racemes, the axis and rachis puberulent, has been described as E. mollis var. longifolia Vasey. It grades into the typical form with broader blades and more numerous racemes; the sterile floret contains a staminate flower.

FIGURE 850, —Eri ochloa gracilis, Plant, X ½ ; two views of pikelet, and floret, X 10. (McDougal, Ariz.)

FIGURE 851.—Eriochloa contrada. Panicle, X 1; floret, X 10. (Hitchcock 13420, Tex.)

FIGURE 852.—Eriochloa punctata. Panicle, X 1; floret, X 10. (Hitchcock 9661, Jamaica.)

FIGURE 853.—Eriochloa michauxii. Plant, X 1; floret, X 10. (Amer. Gr. Natl. Herb. 297, Fla.)

—Moist places, Fort Myers to Cape Sable, Fla.

—Ballast, near Portland, Oreg., occasionally cultivated; adventive in Colorado. Eastern Asia. (Had been confused with E. nelsoni Scribn. and Smith of Mexico.)

133. BRACHIÁRIA (Trin.) Griseb.

Spikelets solitary, rarely in pairs, subsessile, in 2 rows on one side of a 3-angled, sometimes narrowly winged rachis, the first glume turned toward the rachis; first glume short to nearly as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile lemma about equal, 5- to 7-nerved, the lemma enclosing a hyaline palea and sometimes a staminate flower; fertile lemma indurate, usually papillose-rugose, the margins inrolled, the apex rarely mucronate or bearing a short awn. Branching and spreading annuals or perennials, with linear blades and several spreading or appressed racemes approximate along a common axis. Type species, Brachiaria erucaeformis: Name from Latin brachium, arm, alluding to the armlike racemes.

Spikelets densely silky-pubescent; plants perennial               1. B. CILIATISSIMA.

Spikelets glabrous; plants annual.

Spikelet flat-beaked beyond the fruit               2. B. PLATYPHYLLA.

Spikelet not beaked beyond the fruit               3. B. PLANTAGINBA.

FIGURE 854.—Brachiaria ciliatissima. Panicle, X 1; two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Type.)

1. Brachiaria ciliatíssima (Buckl.) Chase. (—Open sandy ground, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas (Benton County).

2. Brachiaria platyphýlla (Griseb.) Nash. ((B. extensa Chase.)—Low, sandy, open ground, Georgia, Florida; Missouri; Arkansas, southern Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma; Cuba.

3. Brachiaria plantagínea (Link) Hitchc. (Fig. 856.) Resembling B. platyphylla—Open, mostly moist, ground, Metcalf, Ga.; ballast, Philadelphia, Pa., and Camden, N. J.; Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil.

Brachiaria erucaefórmis (J. E. Smith) Griseb. (—Has been cultivated in grass gardens, occasionally escaped. Old World.

Brachiaria subquadripára —Occasionally planted in southern Florida, thriving in dry weather and showing some promise as a forage grass. Asia.

FIGURE 855.—Brachiaria platyphylla. Plant, X ½; two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Nealley, Tex.)

FIGURE 856.—Brachiaria plantaginea. Panicle, X 1; two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Pringle 3904, Mex.)

FIGURE 857.—Brachiaria erucaeformis. Panicle, X 1; two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Cult.)

134. AXÓNOPUS Beauv.

Spikelets depressed-biconvex, not turgid, oblong, usually obtuse, solitary, subsessile, and alternate, in 2 rows on one side of a 3-angled rachis, the back of the fertile lemma turned from the rachis; first glume wanting; second glume and sterile lemma equal, the lemma without a palea; fertile lemma and palea indurate, the lemma oblong-elliptic, usually obtuse, the margins slightly inrolled. Stoloniferous or tufted perennials, rarely annuals, with usually flat or folded, abruptly rounded or somewhat pointed blades, and few or numerous, slender spikelike racemes, digitate or racemose along the main axis. Type species, Axonopus compressus. Name from Greek axon, axis, and pous, foot.

One of the species, A. affinis, is a predominant pasture grass in the alluvial or mucky soil of the southern Coastal Plain. It is of little importance on sandy soil and does not thrive on the uplands. Axonopus compressus is used as a lawn grass, for which purpose it is propagated by setting out joints of the stolons.

Spikelets 4 to 5 mm. long, glabrous; midnerve of glume and sterile lemma evident. 1. A. FURCATUS.

Spikelets 2 to 3 mm. long, sparsely appressed-silky; midnerve of glume and sterile lemma suppressed.

Second glume and sterile lemma scarcely, if at all, pointed beyond the fruit; blades 2 to 4 mm., rarely to 6 mm., wide; nodes glabrous               3. A. AFFINIS.

Second glume and sterile lemma distinctly pointed beyond the fruit; blades mostly 8 to 10 mm. wide; nodes often bearded               2. A. COMPRESSUS.

FIGURE 858.—Axonopus furcatus. Plant, X 1; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Combs 1205, Fla.)

1. Axonopus furcátus (Flügge) Hitchc. (—Marshes, river banks, and moist pine barrens, on the Coastal Plain, southeastern Virginia to Florida, Texas, and Arkansas. (The name Anastrophus pas-paloides has been misapplied to this species. Digitaria paspalodes Michx., upon which it is based, is Paspalum distichum L.)

2. Axonopus compréssus (Swartz) Beauv. (—Moist ground, roadsides, and waste places, southern Florida and Louisiana; Mexico and the West Indies to Bolivia and Brazil.

3. Axonopus affínis Chase. (—Moist mucky or sandy meadows, open woods and waste places, North Carolina to Florida and west to Oklahoma and Texas; Cuba and southern Mexico; Venezuela and Colombia to Argentina. Naturalized and common in Australia.

135. REIMARÓCHLOA Hitchc.

Spikelets strongly dorsally compressed, lanceolate, acuminate, rather distant, subsessile, and alternate in 2 rows along one side of a narrow, flattened rachis, the back of the fertile lemma turned toward it; both glumes wanting, or the second sometimes present in the terminal spikelet; sterile lemma about equaling the fruit, the sterile palea obsolete; fertile lemma scarcely indurate, faintly nerved, acuminate, the margins in-rolled at the base only, the palea free nearly half its length. Spreading or stoloniferous perennials, with flat blades and slender racemes, these subdigitate or racemose along a short axis, stiffly spreading or reflexed at maturity. Type species, Reimaria acuta Flügge (Reimarochloa acuta Hitchc). Named for J. A. H. Rei-marus, and Greek chloa, grass.

FIGURE 859.—Axonopus compressus. Plant, X ½; two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Combs 413, Fla.)

FIGURE 860.—Axonopus affinis. Two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Type.)

1. Reimarochloa oligostáchya (Munro) Hitchc. ((Reimaria oligostachya Munro.)—In water or wet soil, Florida; Cuba. In general aspect resembles Paspalum vaginatum Swartz.

FIGURE 861.—Reimarochloa oligostachya. Plant, X 1; two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Curtiss 3596A, Fla.)

136. PÁSPALUM L.

Spikelets planoconvex, usually obtuse, subsessile, solitary or in pairs, in 2 rows on one side of a narrow or dilated rachis, the back of the fertile lemma toward it; first glume usually wanting; second glume and sterile lemma commonly about equal, the former rarely wanting; fertile lemma usually obtuse, chartaceous-indurate, the margins inrolled. Perennials in the United States (except P. boscianum and P. convexum), with one to many spikelike racemes, solitary, paired, or several to many on a common axis. Type species, Paspalum dissectum. Name from Greek paspalos, a kind of millet.

Several species inhabiting meadows and savannas furnish considerable forage. Paspalum dilatatum is valuable for pasture, especially for dairy cattle in the Southern States, where it has been cultivated under the name water grass and recently Dallis grass. In the Hawaiian Islands, Australia, and some other countries, where it is called paspalum or paspalum grass, it is valuable as a pasture grass. P. pubiflorum var. glabrum is rather abundant in some regions and is considered a good forage grass. Vasey grass, P. urvillei, is used to a limited extent for hay and, when young, for pasture; the panicles, after the spikelets have fallen, also make excellent whisk brooms for brushing lint. In the Southern States (Virginia to Florida and even to California) P. distichum, because of its extensively creeping stolons, is useful for holding banks of streams and ditches.

1a. Rachis foliaceous, broad and winged.

Racemes falling from the axis, rachis extending beyond the uppermost spikelet. 3. P. FLUITANS.

Racemes persistent on the axis; rachis with a spikelet at the apex.

Spikelets 2 mm. long, obovate-oval               1. P. DISSECTUM.

Spikelets more than 3 mm. long, pointed               2. P. ACUMINATUM.

1b. Rachis not foliaceous nor winged (slightly winged in P. boscianum).

2a. Racemes 2, conjugate or nearly so at the summit of the culm, rarely a third below. Spikelets elliptic to narrowly ovate.

Plants with creeping rhizomes or stolons.

Second glume and sterile lemma glabrous; spikelets flattened 4. P. VAGINATUM.

Second glume pubescent; spikelets relatively turgid               5. P. DISTICHUM.

Plants in dense tufts, without creeping rhizomes               11. P. ALMUM.

Spikelets suborbicular, broadly ovate or obovate.

Spikelets concavo-convex, sparsely long-silky around the margin; plant stoloniferous. 31. P. CONJUGATUM.

Spikelets plano-convex, not silky-margined; plants not stoloniferous.

Spikelets 3 to 3.5 mm. long               9. P. NOTATUM.

Spikelets 2 to 2.5 mm. long               10. P. MINUS.

2b. Racemes 1 to many, racemose on the axis, not conjugate.

3a. First glume developed on at least one of the pair of spikelets (often obsolete in some pairs in Nos. 22 and 23).

Spikelets turgidly biconvex               48. P. BIFIDUM.

Spikelets plano-convex.

Plants without rhizomes; culms tufted; spikelets pubescent               24. P. LANGEI.

Plants with stout scaly rhizomes; culms mostly solitary; spikelets glabrous.

Blades flat, 8 to 15 mm. wide               22. P. UNISPICATUM.

Blades folded at base, terete above, not more than 2 mm. wide. 23. P. MONOSTACHYUM.

3b. First glume normally wanting (occasionally developed on 1 to few spikelets in a raceme).

4a. Racemes terminal and axillary, the axillary sometimes hidden in the sheaths and perfecting grains cleistogamously, terminal inflorescence of 1 to 3, rarely to 6 racemes (see also P. unispicatum and P. monostachyum).

5a. Spikelets not more than 1.8 mm. long (or sometimes 1.9 in P. debile and P. propinquum), usually 1.5 to 1.7 mm. (see also exceptional P. ciliatifolium).

Blades conspicuously ciliate, otherwise nearly glabrous.

Blades relatively short, rounded at base and recurved-ascending; foliage aggregate toward the base, the upper culm relatively naked; spikelets glabrous, mostly 1.5 to 1.6 mm. long               12. P. LONGEPEDUNCULATUM.

Blades mostly elongate, suberect, not aggregate toward the base; spikelets pubescent, 1.7 to 1.9 mm. long               20. P. PROPINQUUM.

Blades and sheaths conspicuously pubescent throughout.

Culms slender, erect or suberect; foliage not aggregate at base; blades sub-erect, usually not more than 5 mm. wide               13. P. SETACEUM.

Culms stouter, mostly spreading; foliage more or less aggregate at base; blades spreading, usually more than 5 mm. wide               14. P. DEBILE.

5b. Spikelets 2 to 2.5 mm. long (or 1.8 to 1.9 mm. in P. ciliatifolium and P. propinquum).

Foliage, except margins, glabrous as a whole or nearly so (sparsely pubescent in exceptional P. ciliatifolium and lower sheaths usually pubescent in P. rigid-ifolium).

Blades stiff, usually not more than 6 mm. wide; spikelets mostly 2.2 to 2.4 mm. long               21. P. RIGIDIFOLIUM.

Blades from lax to rather firm, if firm more than 6 mm. wide; spikelets not more than 2.1 mm. long.

Spikelets mostly 2 mm. long, rounded at summit; blades mostly more than 8 mm. wide               19. P. CILIATIFOLIUM.

Spikelets 1.8 to 1.9 mm. long, slightly pointed; blades not more than 8 mm. wide               20. P. PROPINQUUM.

Foliage conspicuously pubescent (or sparsely so in exceptional specimens of P, pubescens).

Culms erect or nearly so.

Blades from sparsely to rather densely pilose, rather thin. 18. P. PUBESCENS.

Blades puberulent on both surfaces with long hairs intermixed or the lower surface nearly or quite glabrous except for a few long hairs along midrib and margin, usually rather firm               17. P. STRAMINEUM.

Culms widely spreading or prostrate.

Foliage coarsely hirsute; plants commonly relatively stout. 15. P. SUPINUM.

Foliage finely puberulent; plants usually grayish olivaceous. 16. P. PSAMMOPHILUM.

4b. Racemes terminal on the primary culm or leafy branches, no truly axillary racemes.

6a. Spikelets conspicuously silky-ciliate around the margin, the hairs as long as the spikelet or longer.

Racemes commonly 3 to 5; culms geniculate at base               32. P. DILATATUM.

Racemes commonly 12 to 18; culms erect               33. P. URVILLEI.

6b. Spikelets not ciliate.

7a. Fruit dark brown and shining.

Plants perennial; spikelets 2.2 to 2.8 mm. long, elliptic or obovate-oval.

Spikelets obovate, turgid, the sterile lemma wrinkled; culms erect, densely cespitose               43. P. PLICATULUM.

Spikelets elliptic, depressed, not turgid; culms decumbent or floating at the base.

Plants terrestrial, culms decumbent at base               44. P. TEXANUM.

Plants aquatic, lower part of culms floating               45. P. HYDROPHILUM.

Plants annual; spikelets 2 to 3 mm. long, suborbicular or broadly obovate.

Spikelets suborbicular, 2 to 2.2 mm. long, glabrous               46. P. BOSCIANUM.

Spikelets broadly obovate, 2.2 to 3 mm. long, pubescent. 47. P. CONVEXUM.

7b. Fruit pale to stramineous (brown but not shining in P. virgatum).

8a. Plants robust, 1 to 2 m. tall.

Spikelets pubescent at least toward the summit; fruit brown at maturity. 42. P. VIRGATUM.

Spikelets glabrous; fruit pale.

Culms ascending; leaves crowded toward the base               39. P. DIFFORME.

Culms erect or suberect, leafy throughout.

Glume and sterile lemma slightly inflated and wrinkled, green. 40. P. FLORIDANUM.

Glume and sterile lemma not inflated and wrinkled, rusty-tinged. 41. P. GIGANTEUM.

8b. Plants not robust, if more than 1 m. tall, culms relatively slender.

9a. Spikelets suborbicular or broadly obovate or broadly oval.

Spikelets turgidly plano-convex, 3.5 to 4 mm. long               39. P. DIFFORME.

Spikelets depressed plano-convex or lenticular, 2.2 to 3.4 mm. long.

Spikelets solitary; glume and sterile lemma firm.

Spikelets orbicular, 3 to 3.2 mm. long, scarcely one-third as thick; blades usually equaling the base of the panicle or overtopping it. 36. P. CIRCULARE.

Spikelets longer than broad, more than one-third as thick; panicle usually much exceeding the blades.

Sheaths and blades pilose, mostly conspicuously so. 35. P. LONGIPILUM.

Sheaths and blades from glabrous to sparsely pilose. 34. P. LAEVE.

Spikelets paired and solitary in the same raceme (rarely all solitary or all paired).

Spikelets 2.2 to 2.5 mm. (rarely to 2.8 mm.) long; foliage not conspicuously villous               37. P. PRAECOX.

Spikelets 2.7 to 3.4 mm. long; lower sheaths and blades mostly conspicuously villous at least at base               38. P. LENTIFERUM.

9b. Spikelets elliptic to oval or obovate.

Culms decumbent at base, rooting at the lower nodes (occasional plants in dry situations erect), branching.

Spikelets turgidly plano-convex, 3 to 3.2 mm. long; culms rather stout. 6. P. PUBIFLORTJM.

Spikelets depressed plano-convex; culms rather slender.

Spikelets glabrous               7. P. LIVIDUM.

Spikelets pubescent               8. P. HARTWEGIANUM.

Culms erect to spreading, not rooting at the nodes.

Racemes solitary, rarely paired; spikelets usually solitary, 1.3 to 1.6 mm. long               30. P. SAUGETII.

Racemes 2 or more, commonly 3 to 8.

Spikelets about 1.3 mm. long, obovate, glandular-pubescent. 25. P. BLODGETTII.

Spikelets 1.5 mm. or more long, elliptic or elliptic-obovate, the obscure pubescence not glandular.

Nodes or some of them appressed-pilose; spikelets green or purplish. 26. P. CAESPITOSUM.

Nodes glabrous; spikelets pale or brownish.

Spikelets 1.7 to 2 mm. long; racemes slender, lax.

Foliage glabrous or nearly so; spikelets elliptic-obovate. 27. P. LAXUM.

Foliage softly pilose; spikelets broadly ovate. 29. P. VIRLETII.

Spikelets 2.2 to 2.5 mm. long; racemes rigid. 28. P. PLEOSTACHYUM.

1. Dissécta.—Blades flat; rachis foliaceous. Aquatics, subaquatics, or plants of wet ground.

1. Paspalum disséctum (L.) L. (—On muddy and sandy banks of ponds and ditches or