FOWL MEADOW GRASS. 69 
Agricultural value: Wood Meadow Grass, being a resident of 
shady localities, is evidently of no agricultural value, either for hay 
or pasture, except in shady parks and open woodlands where forage 
is required. It can be used to great advantage for lawns under trees. 
Seed: Most of the seed of the trade is obtained from Germany, 
where it is collected from wild plants and cleaned by hand. 
Quality of seed: The seeds are much like those of Kentucky 
Blue and Rough-stalked Meadow Grass, but differ in having faintly 
nerved glumes. In this respect they closely resemble those of Fowl 
Meadow Grass, from which they differ in having sharply pointed 
glumes. They are bright yellowish brown, sometimes with a purplish 
tint. 
FOWL MEADOW GRASS (Poa palustris L.) 
Other Latin names: Poa flava L., Poa serotina Ehrh., Poa trifiora 
Gilib. : 
Other English name: False Red Top. 
Botanical description: Fowl Meadow Grass is perennial with 
short runners which produce few and short leafy shoots. It looks 
rather like Rough-stalked Meadow Grass, but the plants form looser 
tufts, consisting chiefly of flower-bearing stems. These are rarely 
quite upright but are ascending, their base lying flat on the ground. 
At the base they produce roots and secondary branches which de- 
velop into ordinary leafy stems. The stems are from two to five 
feet high, leafy to above the middle. The stem leaves are long and 
narrow, soft in texture and bright green in colour. Their ligule is 
generally long but blunt. The panicles are large, with numerous 
branches from the joints. At flowering time the branches are widely 
spreading; later they are upright and form a narrow panicle. Each 
spikelet contains three to six flowers of a peculiar colour. The 
lower part is green and the top is yellow or brown with a golden or 
bronze lustre. The spikelets are thus two-coloured, and the effect 
of the whole panicle is characteristic and quite different from that 
of either Kentucky Blue or Rough-stalked Meadow Grass. 
Geographical distribution: Fowl Meadow Grass is a native 
of Europe, temperate Asia and North America. 
Habitat: It grows naturally in moist meadows, in ditches and 
along seashores and streams, etc. 
