NATURAL HISTORY. 



43 



plant near the time of flowering. Fig. 33 shows a magnified 

 spikelet of this grass, florets not webbed. Flowers late in 

 June. 



This grass grows naturally in very moist and muddy places, 

 in ditches, on the margins of ponds and streams, and is very 

 common. It is capable of cultivation as a permanent pasture 

 grass, and its yield compares well with many of the other 

 grasses. Its seeds are greedily sought by birds, and in some parts 

 of Germany are said to be used as a delicacy in soups and gruels. 



The Wavy Meadow 

 Geass, Qpoa laxa,') oc- 

 curs rarely on high and 

 rocky hills, but is not suf- 

 ficiently common or val- 

 uable to need description. 

 The Water Spear 

 Grass, or Reed Meadow 

 Grass, (^poa aqnatica,') 

 grows in wet soils, in 

 Hampshire County ; is a 

 tall, reedy grass, four or 

 five feet high with a pan- 

 icle nearly a foot long, dif- 

 fuse, with smooth, flexu- 

 ous branches. From its 

 large size and broad 

 leaves it can hardly be 

 mistaken for any of the 

 other species of poa. 

 Its root is perennial, 

 creeping, stem erect, 

 stout, smooth, joints 

 seveii, smooth, spike- 

 lets numerous, florets 

 not webbed. Flow- 

 ers in August. Seen 

 in Fig. 34, and its 

 spikelet in Fig. 35'. 



Fig. 34. Water Spear Grass. Fig. 36. Tllis graSS is referred 



