AGROSTIDEZ 203 
the lemmas that protrude from the spikelets giving the 
spike a soft furry appearance. 
Alopecurus pratensis L. (Fig. 39). Meadow foxtail. Perennial; 
culms erect from a short creeping base, smooth, 1 to 3 feet high; 
sheaths smooth, the uppermost 
somewhat inflated; ligule membra- 
naceous, truncate, 2 to 4 mm. 
long; blades flat, smooth beneath, 
rough above, 2 to 6 inches long; 
panicle dense, cylindrical, 114 to 
3 inches long, ¥% inch thick; 
glumes 5 mm. long, equal, awn- 
less, 3-nerved, ciliate on the keel, 
connate at base, the broad, obtuse 
5-nerved lemma nearly as long, 
bearing from near the base a 
slender dorsal slightly bent awn, 
exserted about_5 mm. 
234. Agrostis L.—Bent- 
grass. A large genus found 
all over the world but 
sparsely represented in tropi- 
cal America. The North 
American species are nearly 
all perennials and are especi- 
ally abundant in the western 
mountains. Spikelets 1-flow- 
ered; lemma delicate, shorter 
than the nearly equal glumes, 
Fia. 39. Alopecurus pratensis. Plant 
often awned from the back; reduced; spikelet and floret, x3. (U.S. 
- a Dept. Agr., Div. Agrost., Bull. 20.) 
palea small or wanting; in- 
florescence an open or contracted panicle. The wild species 
are mostly important constituents of grazing areas in the 
mountains. Redtop (A. alba), cultivated as a meadow- 
grass, is a perennial 1 to 4 feet tall, with rootstocks, flat 
