keys to the vascular plants of east texas - Botanical Research ...

922 POACEAE/ELEUSINE
significant weeds. The relationships of the genus have been difficult to determine, and it has
been variously placed in the Arundinoideae, Bambusoideae, Festucoideae, or Oryzoideae
(Gibbs Russell & Ellis 1987). Recent evidence suggests the appropriate placement is in the
Ehrhartoideae (which also includes the Oryzeae). The following treatment draws heavily on
Barkworth (ined.). (Named for Jakob Friedrich Ehrhart (1742-1795), a German botanist of Swiss
origin who studied under Linnaeus—Barkworth ined.) (subfamily Ehrhartoideae, tribe Ehrharteae)
REFERENCES: Willemsse 1982; Gibbs Russell & Ellis 1987; Smith 1993; Barkworth ined.
Ehrharta calycina J.E. Smith, (calyx-like), PERENNIAL VELDT GRASS, VELDT GRASS. Clumped perennial,
often with rhizomes; culms to 75 cm tall, glabrous; ligule a lacerate membrane ca. 1 mm
long; leaf blades 3–5(–7) mm wide; inflorescence a narrow panicle 7–15(–22) cm long, sometimes
partly within upper leaf sheath; spikelets with 3 florets (the lower 2 sterile, the upper floret
fertile, � concealed by the sterile florets), (4–)5–8(–9) mm long, purplish, disarticulating
above the glumes, the florets falling as a unit; glumes nearly as long as the spikelets; sterile florets
of lemmas only, these pubescent, pointed or with short awn; lower sterile lemma with earlike
appendages at base; lemma of fertile floret becoming indurate, awnless. Weedy areas; in
East TX known only from Falls Co. (Sigut 29, collected in 1950; TAES; Turner et al. 2003), also
cited by Hatch (2002) for Post Oak Savannah and Blackland Prairie; CA, NV, and TX. Spring.
Native of s Africa. This species is cultivated as fodder and also considered a significant weed
(Watson & Dallwitz 1992). I
ELEUSINE Gaertn. GOOSE GRASS
AA C4 genus of 9 species, all of which are African except for one species (E. tristachya (Lam.)
Lam.), which is native to South America (Hilu 2003). The genus includes the tetraploid E.
coracana (L.) Gaertn. subsp. coracana (FINGER-MILLET), an important grain crop cultivated in
Africa for ca. 5,000 years and in India for ca. 3,000 years. It is considered to be one of the most
ancient domesticated plants in Africa and is thought to have been domesticated in the highlands
of East Africa (Hilu & de Wet 1976; Hilu et al. 1979; de Wet et al. 1984; Werth et al. 1994;
Hilu & Johnson 1997; Hilu 2003). Other species are significant weeds (Watson & Dallwitz
1992). (Named from Eleusis, Greek town where Ceres or Demeter, the goddess of harvests, was
worshiped) (subfamily Chloridoideae, tribe Cynodonteae)
REFERENCES: Phillips 1972; Hilu et al. 1979; Hilu 1980, 1988, 2003; Werth et al. 1994; Hilu &
Johnson 1997; Peterson et al. 1997; Brandenburg 2003.
Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn., (of India), GOOSE GRASS, INDIAN GOOSE GRASS, YARD GRASS, ZACATE
GUAIMA. Annual with decumbent to erect culms 15–75(–90) cm long; leaf sheaths compressed,
keeled, pilose on margins; ligule a short membrane 1 mm or less long; branches of inflorescence
usually (1–)4–10(–rarely more), crowded at tip of culm, digitately arranged or often with 1–2
branches attached lower; spikelets sessile, crowded, overlapping, in two rows on one side of flattened
winged branches, awnless, 3–6(–7.5) mm long, with (2–)5–7 florets, glabrous or nearly so,
disarticulating above the glumes and between the florets. Common weed of gardens, lawns,
and disturbed sites; widespread in TX, particularly in the e 1/2 of the state; se Canada and
throughout most of the U.S. Late Jun–Oct. Native of Old World tropics. Molecular studies (e.g.,
Hilu 1988; Werth et al. 1994) support the hypothesis that this diploid species (2n = 18) is one of
the ancestors of the cultivated tetraploid FINGER-MILLET. GOOSE GRASS is an important weed of a
number of crops, and it is considered by some sources to be among the world’s worst weeds
(Holm et al. 1977; Zimdahl 1989). � I
Eleusine tristachya (Lam.) Lam., (with three spikes), THREE-SPIKE GOOSE GRASS. While not considered
a member of the TX flora, this South American species is mentioned as a note since it
was mapped by Turner et al. (2003) as occurring in Brazos County. However, the TAES sheet
(E.D. Liles 15, 1962) is from “along fence in range management area” 2 miles sw of College Station.