4. Erianthus strictus Baldwin (narrow plume grass)

Pl. 122 f, g; Map 501

Saccharum strictum (Baldwin) Nutt. (1818), not S. strictum Spreng. (1815)

S. baldwinii Spreng.

Flowering stems 90–200 cm long, glabrous below the inflorescence except for short hairs at the nodes. Leaf blades 15–60 cm long, 5–12 mm wide, glabrous or hairy at the base. Inflorescences 10–35 cm long, the branches appressed‑ascending, with a purplish brown or grayish brown coloration. Silky hairs at the base of the spikelets (and of the axes and spikelet stalks) much shorter than the spikelets. Glumes 7–10 mm long, roughened with short, stiff, ascending hairs. Lemmas entire at the tip, the awn 15–24 mm long, round (or nearly so) in cross‑section, straight or slightly curved. 2n=30. July–October.

Known only from a single historical collection from Dunklin County (southeastern U.S. west to Missouri and Texas). Swamps.

Steyermark (1963) hoped that additional sites for this species might be located in southeastern Missouri, “. . . before the present march of industrialization and development has destroyed them all.” Unfortunately, this has not happened, and the species appears to have become extirpated from the state. Webster and Shaw (1995) noted that because the species is mostly restricted to sandy, shaded river and stream bottoms, it is less common throughout its range than the other native species of the southeastern United States, which also are found in seasonally dry sites.