y 



The Book of Grasses 



flowering scale bears an awn as long as itself. Blooming in mid- 

 summer, this grass prefers the dry soil of rocky hillsides, where 



fragrant pennyroyal and life- g 



everlasting grow in the bor- 



derland surrounding woods of 



oak and chestnut. The stems 



are slender, and the loosely 



flowered panicles of narrow. 



long spikelets are usually^ 



tinged with purple. 



Narrow Melic-grass. Me- 

 lica mutica Walt. 



Perennial. 

 Stem I §-3 ft. tall, slender, erect. 



Sheaths rough. Ligule \"-2" 

 long. Leaves 3 '-9' long, i"-5" 



wide, flat, roughish. 



Panicle 3'- 10' long, narrow, 



branches few, not many-flow- 

 ered. Spikelets 3"- 5" long, 



nodding on slender pedicels 



and usually consisting of 2 



perfect flowers. Rachilla pro- 

 longed and bearing 2 or 3 small, 



twisted scales. Outer scales 



slightly unequal, very broad, 



acute or obtuse; flowering scales 



papery, broad, obtuse, roughish. 



Stamens 3. 

 Rich soil and open woods. April 



to June. 

 Pennsylvania to Wisconsin, south 



to Florida and Texas. 



Purple Oat. Melica striata 

 (Michx.) Hitchc. 



Perennial. 

 Stem 1-2 ft. tall, slender, erect. 



Ligule very short. Leaves i '-7' 



long, I "-3" wide. 

 Panicle 2'-6' long, few-flowered, 



branches slender. Spikelets 3- 



6-flowered, 8"- 12" long, usually 



purple. Outer scales unequal, 

 182 



Narrow Melic-grass 

 Melica mutica 



m 



