28 



THK SEEDS OF THE BLUEGEASSEB. 



The principal distinguishing characters of the three kinds are as 

 follows: 



Fowl meadow grass 

 {Poa trifloi'a). 



Seeds 2-2J mm. long. 



Seeds mostly narrower at 

 the apex than at the cen- 

 ter. 



Seeds usually yellowish at 

 the apex. 



Intermediate veins usually 

 evident but indistinct. 



Pubescence of the veins 

 and the web often pres- 

 ent in commercial seed. 



Rachilla segment mostly 

 smooth, sometimes slight- 

 ly rough, often two- 

 thirds tlie length of the 

 glume. 



Canada bluegrass 

 (Poo compressa). 



Seeds 2-2^ mm. long. 



Seeds mostly broader at the 

 apex than at the center 

 or base. 



Seeds not yellowish at the 

 apex. 



Intermediate veins indis- 

 tinct or more commonly 

 not evident. 



Pubescence of the veins and 

 the web mostly absent in 

 commercial seed. 



Rachilla segment smooth, 

 not exceeding one-half of 

 the length of the glume. 



Wood meadow grass 

 { Poa nernor alls). 



Seeds 2^-3 mm. long. 



Seeds narrower or not 

 broader at the apex than 

 at the center. 



Seeds sometimes yellowish 

 at the apex. 



Intermediate veins indis- 

 tinct. , 



Pubescence of the veins 

 usually present in com- 

 mercial seed. 



Rachilla segment pubes- 

 cent or sometimes only 

 rough , of ten three-fourths 

 the length of the glume. 



The name fowl meadow grass is often applied, both by seedsmen 

 and by writers upon grasses, to Panicularia nervata. 



Poa araclinifera Torr. 



TEXAS BLUEGRASS. 



Spikelets 4 or 5 flowered; florets 4-6 mm. long, narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, 

 straw colored or light brown; glume strongly keeled cjuite to the apex and somewhat 

 arched; margins narrowly infolded below and becoming broadly hyaline above the 

 middle, not widely flaring at the apex; marginal and keel veins strongly pubes- 



\m 



Fig. 9.— Seeds of Texas bluegrass {Poa aracJnu'fera): a anrl h, back views, seeds showing the long 

 hairs of the web; c and d, side views; e-g, front views; g, a terminal floret. 



cent with long, silky hairs; basal web copious, often twice as long as the floret, 

 very persistent; surface between the veins glabrous, the keel hispid-ciliate above the 

 middle; palea from three-fourths to four-fifths the length of the glume, its keels 

 more or less exposed, silky pubescent to the middle and hispid-ciliate at the apex; 

 rachilla segment varying from about one-sixth to one-third the length of" the glume, 

 glabrous; aborted floret of the sterile rachilla segment minute; grain slender, ].}-H 

 mm. long, oblong-fusiform, nearly opaque, distinctly grooved and keeled. (Fig. 9.) 



