286 



Fig. 280. PANICULARIA AMERICANA (Torr.j MacM. Met. Minn. Val. 81. 

 1892. {Poa aquaUca var. americana Torr. Fl. U. S. 1 : 108. 1824; Glyceria grondis S. 

 Wats, in A. Gray, Man. Bot. ed. 6,667. 1890.) REED MEADOW-GRASS.— A stout 

 perennial 9-15 dm. (3°-5°) high, with rather broad, flat, leaf-blades, and an ample 

 open panicle 20-38 cm. (8'-15') long. Sheaths loose; ligule 2-4 mm. (l"-2") long, 

 truncate; leaf-blades 18-30 cm. (7'-12') long or more, 6-16 mm. (3"-8") wide, 

 usually smooth beneath, scabrous above. Spikelets (a) 4 to 7 flowered, 4-6 mm. 

 (2"-3") long; empty glumes (b) acute, 1-nerved; flowering glumes obtuse, 

 distinctly 7-nerved, about 2 mm. (1") long.— Shaded banks of streams, wet 

 tieadows, moist thickets, etc., New Brunswick to Alaska, south to Pennsyl- 

 vania, Tennessee, Nebraska, New Mexico, and southern California. June to 

 August. 



This species is liked by cattle and is a good pasture grass for wet lands and in 

 such places forms a considerable portion of the native hay. Closely related to 

 the European P. aquaUca (Smith) Kuntze. 



