WIS] 



The Grasses of Illinois 



389 



ff. Marginal nerves pubescent; glumes broad. 



g. Stems strongly flattened; plants with long, creeping 

 rootstocks; nerves of lemma with short pubescence 

 near base; panicle usually narrow. P. compressa 

 gg. Stems not flattened; plants without creeping root- 

 stocks; nerves of lemma with long pubescence near 

 base; panicle spreading. P. paliistris 



231 



232 



Figs. 230-233.— Spikclcts; 230, F. aJsodes; 231, P. 

 maniana; 233, P. compressa 



233 - 



an 7m a ; 232, P. cliap- 



Poa alsodes Gray 

 Grove Meadow Grass (Fig. 230) 



Patterson '76, 51; Flagg '78, 281; Brendel '87, 88. 



Culms 1 to 2 feet tall ; sheaths smooth ; the upper often inclosing 

 the base of the panicle; blades 6 to 12 inches long, 2 to 5 mm. wide; 

 panicle branches in whorls; spikelets 2- to 3-flowered, about 5 mm. 

 long, the lemmas faintly nerved, the midnerve long pubescent near the 

 base, the marginal and intermediate nerves smooth. 



This species is apparently rare in Illinois. It grows in shady 

 places in woods and groves. 



CHAMPAIGN CO. Brownfield Woods near Urbana, Pease, May, 1909. 



Poa annua L. 



Annual MeadoAv Grass. Low Spear Grass (Fig. 231) 



Lapham '57, 546, 578; Babcock '73, 97; Patterson '76, 51; Flagg '78, 281; 

 Brendel '87, 64; Higley and Eaddin, '91, 144. 



Culms 2 to 12 inches tall, somewhat flattened, forming dense tufts, 

 often decumbent, and rooting at the lower nodes; sheaths loose, 

 smooth ; blades 1 to 4 inches long, soft and smooth ; panicle open ; 

 spikclcts 3- to 6-flowered, 3 to 5 mm. long, usually 4 mm. ; lemmas not 

 webby at the base, distinctly 5-nerved, the nerves pubescent at the 

 base. 



This species was naturalized from Europe and is much less common 

 than our native species, P. cliapmaniana, with which it has been con- 

 fused. It is a winter annual found in both cultivated and waste 

 ground. It dies out in summer, leaving brown patches in lawns and 

 fields where it has been growing. 



cintiSTiAN CO. Taylorville, Andreivs. clark co. Cosey, Price, May, 1916. 

 COOK CO. West Pullman, TJmhach, May, 1898. DU page co. Nnpervillo, Vrribach, 



