52 WEED FLORA OF IOWA 



Extermination. — Care should be used in destroying packing ma- 

 terial. In the few localities in which this weed occurs in Iowa, it 

 has come from packing material. It succumbs readily to cultivation. 



Poison Darnel (Lolium temulentum L,.). 



Description.- — An annual, with smooth, stout culm, 2-3 ft. high ; 

 sheaths scabrous; ligule short, spike 6-12 in. long; spikelets 5-7- 

 flowered ; empty glumes sharp pointed, as long as the spikelet, flow- 

 ering glumes turgid, awned or awnless, shorter and broader than 

 in L. perenne. 



Distribution. — Introduced from Europe; naturalized in eastern 

 North America and quite abundant on the Pacific coast; found in 

 many counties in Iowa. 



Fig. 29. Poison Darnel (Lolium temulentum). Common in oat and wheat 

 fields in northern Iowa. 

 (Photographed by Hart.) 



