Aeluropus

a genus of perennial halophytic grasses of the family Gramineae. The plants generally have creeping above-ground shoots with ascending or suberect stems. The inflorescence is a one-sided spicate panicle. The spikelets have four to 18 flowers and are laterally compressed. There are about five species, distributed in Southern Europe, Western Siberia, Western Asia, Middle Asia, Central Asia, India, and Africa. The USSR has three to five species, which grow in semidesert, desert, and steppe zones. They are found in solonchaks and saline meadows and along the shores of salt lakes. The best-known species is A. littoralis, which grows in the southern European USSR and in the Caucasus. A. intermedius is common in Middle Asia, and A. repens is widely distributed in the Caucasus, Middle Asia, and the southern part of Western Siberia. Aeluropus is eaten as pasture and hay by all agricultural animals, especially horses and cattle.