89 



Fig. 83. SAVASTANA ODORATA (L.) Scribn. Mem. Torr. Bot. Club, 5: 34. 

 1894. {Holms odoratus L. Sp. PI. 1048. 1753; Heirochloe borealis R. 6z S. Syst. 2: 

 513. 1817.) VANILLA-GRASS.— A slender, sweet-scented, stoloniferous peren- 

 nial, 3-6 dm. (10-2°) high, with short culm-leaves and brownish, open panicles 

 4-10 cm. (li'-4') long, branches in pairs. Spikelets (a) yellowish-brown and 

 purple, 4-6 mm. (2"-3'0 long; first and second glumes thin, subequal, glabrous; 

 the third and fourth hairy and awn-pointed, the fifth hairy at the apex and 

 inclosing a perfect flower. At b is shown a spikelet with the first pair of glumes 

 removed; e, the palea with three stamens; d, pistil. The flat leaves of the 

 sterile shoots are 1-3 dm. (4'-r2') long.— Newfoundland and New Brunswick to 

 southern New York, west to Minnesota and Iowa; in the Rockies from British 

 America south to Arizona and Mexico; Alaska southward in the mountains to 

 Oregon. (Cooler temperate regions and high mountains of both hemispheres. ) 

 April to August. 



This grass is remarkable for its fragrance, the odor resembling that of sweet 

 vernal-grass, but more powerful. The long leaves are woven into small mats 

 and boxes that find a ready market on account of their sweet odor. 



