CORNFIELDS 



21 



half as broad as longf. The plant is 1-3 ft. hii^h. 

 It is ill (lower in July, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Wind Grass (Apera interrupla, Beauv.). — This 

 species is pcrh.ips a colonist, and the plant is 

 found on sandy ground. The habit is similar to 

 .-1. spica ftvi/j (q.v.). But the panicle is narrow, 

 interrupted, and the anthers are oblong or oval. 

 The branches of the panicle do not spread but 

 divide from the base. The awn exceeds the paica 

 three times. The plant is 6-18 in. in height. It 

 is in flower in June .and July. It is a herbaceous 

 annual. 



Oat (^Avena strigosa, Schreb.). — The habitat of 

 this grass is cornfields. The habit is erect, the 

 plant smaller and more slender than the Wild 

 Oat. The leaves arc sometimes hairy. The 

 florets are ranged all on one side of the panicle, 

 with few branches, and about 2 florets in each 

 spikelet, drooping at length. The flower-stalks 

 are smooth. The lower palea is smooth, the 

 empty glumes 7-9 nerved, the flowering glumes 

 divided nearly to the base, with long straight 

 .awns distinguishing it from the cultivated Oat. 

 The plant is 2-3 ft. in height, and is in flower 

 between June and July. It is a herbaceous annual. 



Brook Rye {/iromiis secah'nus, L.). — This plant 

 is found in cornfields, cultivated fields, and by 

 roadsides. The plant has an erect, grass-like 

 habit. The stem is rigid, smooth, with broad, 

 smooth leaves, the sheaths furrowed, and the 

 ligule is short. The panicle is oblong, loose, 

 drooping in fruit, compound, the rachis rough, 

 wavy. The spikelets are flattened, egg-shaped, 

 the flowering glumes spreading, 5-8, not over- 

 lapping, round and rough, exceeding the awn, 

 7-9-nerved. The top of the upper glume is half- 

 way between the base and top of the fourth floret. 

 The empty glumes are rough, oblong. The pl.ant 

 is 1-4 ft. in height, and flowers between June and 

 July, being a herbaceous annual. 



Rye Grass (Lolium remolum, Schrank). — This 

 plant is a rare species, found in cultivated fields 

 and waste places. The habit is erect. There 

 are no barren shoots. The spike is slender, with 

 7-1 1 florets, longer than the glumes. The awn 

 of the lower palea is less than the palea, or it 

 may be awnless. It is swollen in fruit and car- 

 tilaginous below, narrower than the upper. The 

 plant is 6-iS in. in height. It flowers in June and 

 July, and is a herbaceous annual. 



