(Greek eu, well, chlaina, covering). Gramineae. Annual or perennial grasses, with stout stems, broad blades and monoecious inflorescence, occasionally grown in the South for forage and sometimes for ornament.

Staminate infloresence in a tassel at the top, the pistillate in small ears in the axils of the leaves; spikelets 1-flowered; pistillate spike slender, the several joints producing 1-seeded fruits trapezoidal in shape, the surface smooth and hard. The aspect is that of Indian corn (Zea) from which it differs in having free slender-jointed pistillate spikes that are not united into a cob. - Only one species is generally recognized, but there are probably others, all Mexican or Cent. American.

Mexicana

Schrad. (E. luxurians, Dur. & Aschers. Reana luxurians, Dur.). Teosinte. Annual: stems strongly cespitose, decumbent and spreading at base, erect above, 5-10 ft. or even more, leafy. Dept. Agric, Div. Agrost. 20:11. - Occasionally cultivated for forage in the Gulf states. The seed rarely matures north of S. Fla. See Cyclo. Amer. Agric, Vol. II, pp. 638-9. a. S. Hitchcock.