HORDE 237 
These are perennial rye-grass, L. perenne, and 
Italian rye-grass, L. multiflorum (L. italicum). 
Lolium perenne L. Perennial rye-grass. Perennial; 
culms tufted, erect, smooth, 1 to 2 feet high; sheaths 
smooth; ligule a short membrane, less than 1 mm. long; 
blades flat, narrow, mostly less than 4 mm. wide, smooth, 
or scabrous above, the base extended on each side into an 
auricle; spike slender, as much as a foot long; spikelets 
usually 8- to 10-flowered somewhat longer than the 5 to 
8 mm. long glume, the lemmas awnless. 
Lolium multiflorum Lam. (L. italicum A. Br.). (Fig. 
57.) Differs from the preceding in having awned lemmas 
and usually a greater number of florets to the spikelet. 
This species is now common in grass land and waste 
places on the Pacific coast, where it is sometimes called 
Australian rye-grass. These species 
are both used in lawn mixtures in the 
East. The young plants resemble 
blue-grass but may be distinguished 
by the darker green color, the usually 
larger size and especially by the glossy 
surface of the blades, and by the 
absence of the boat-shaped tip. The 
shoots are sufficiently developed. 
Lolium temulentum lL. Darnel. 
An annual with glumes as much as 
an inch long, longer than the 5- to 
7-flowered spikelets. Introduced from 
Europe. Not common, but of interest 
because of the presence in the fruit of 
2 ie bal) Borges oh eras a narcotic poison said to be due to a 
portion of rachis, X3. fungus. This plant is said to be the 
one referred to in scripture in the 
parable of the tares (Henslow, ‘Plants of the Bible,” p. 119). 
262. Agropyron Gertn—Wheat-grass. A genus of 
about 50 species of the temperate regions. Spikelets 
several-flowered, 1 at each node of the rachis. Distin- 
auricles are characteristic when the © 
