3. E. Dudlèyi, Vasey. Culms very slender; leaves shorter, 1–2´ long; panicle very slender, the branches few, short and mostly appressed; empty glumes nearly equal, the lower oblong, the upper broadly elliptical, apiculate; flowering glumes shorter than in n. 2, acutish.—Long Island to central N. Y., south to S. C.
57. ERAGRÓSTIS, Beauv. ([Pl. 10.])
Spikelets 2–70-flowered, nearly as in Poa, except that the flowering glume is but 3- (rarely 1-) nerved, not webby-haired at the base, and is deciduous; palet persistent on the rhachis after the rest of the flower has fallen.—Culms often branching. Leaves linear, frequently involute, and the ligule or throat of the sheath bearded with long villous hairs. Panicle various. (Name from ἦρ, spring, and ἄγροστις, a grass.)
[*] Prostrate and creeping, much branched; root annual; spikelets flat, imperfectly diœcious, clustered, almost sessile, in the more fertile plant almost capitate.
1. E. réptans, Nees. Spikelets linear-lanceolate, 10–30-flowered; flowers lance-ovate, acute; leaves short, almost awl-shaped.—Gravelly river-borders; common. Aug.—Flowering branches 2–5´ high.
[*][*] Diffusely spreading, or the flowering culms ascending, low (6–15´ high), annual; spikelets often large, flat, forming a narrow crowded panicle.
E. mìnor, Host. Sheaths often hairy; leaves flat, smooth; spikelets short-pedicelled, lance- or oblong-linear, 8–20-flowered, lead-colored (2–5´´ long); flowers ovate, obtuse, the lateral nerves becoming evident, and keel smooth. (E. poæoides, Beauv.)—Sandy waste places, eastward; rare. (Nat. from Eu.)
E. màjor, Host. Sheaths mostly glabrous; spikelets larger (3–10´´ long), becoming linear, whitish when old, 10–50-flowered; flowers more spreading, their glumes larger, with very strong lateral nerves and rough on the keel. (E. poæoides, var. megastachya, Gray.)—Similar situations, and more common. Aug.—Emits a sharp, unpleasant odor. (Nat. from Eu.)
[*][*][*] Erect, or in group [+] diffusely spreading and ascending; panicle open, its branches capillary; spikelets proportionally small, sometimes minute. (Number of flowers in the spikelet very variable, according to age, etc.)
[+] Annual; culms slender, branching and decumbent or spreading at base; leaves narrow, flat, soft; branches of the narrow panicle rather short and thickly-flowered, not bearded in the axils, or sometimes the lowest sparingly.