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Synonym.—Aira cespitosa, Linn., the name under which it will be 
found in Mueller’s Census. 
Vernacular name.—‘ Tufted Hair Grass” is a name under which 
it is known in England and the United States, and as we have not 
fixed on a name we may perhaps follow the above designation. 
Where figured.—Buchanan ; Agricultural Gazette ; Hackel (sec. fig.) 
Trinius, as Aira cespitosa. 
Botanical description (B. F1., vii, 587).—A tall perennial, forming 
large dense tufts. 
Leaves stiff, narrow, usually rough on the upper surface, flat or convolute when dry, 
Stems attaining 2 to 4 feet, although sometimes much shorter. 
Panicle 4 inches to near 1 foot long ; at first rather dense, spreading with capillary 
branches when fully out. 
Outer glumes 1} to near 2 lines long, the flowering ones not exceeding them ; truncate 
and 4-toothed ; the awns very slender, scarcely or not at all twisted at the base, 
and usually shorter than the glumes themselves. 
Value as a fodder.—This is one of the tussocky grasses, and 1s not 
of high forage value—in fact, in many English works on the subject 
careful directions are given to show how the grass may be got rid of. 
We may bear in mind that English meadows are of a different 
character to our own, and some eyen of our nutritious tussocky grasses 
would not be appreciated because of their appearance alone. 
For instance, Sinclair, Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis, says: “ The 
above details prove the innutritious nature of this grass; but even if 
it had greater nutritive powers, the extreme coarseness of the foliage 
would render it unfit for cultivation. Cattle sometimes crop the ends 
of the young leaves, but in all the instances that have come under my 
observation it appeared to be from supreme necessity. The only 
point to be considered here, therefore, is how to overcome or destroy 
it on soils where it has got possession. It delights in the most clayey 
soils, where the water stagnates, but is found in almost every kind 
of soil, from the dry sandy heath to the bog.” 
Again, Sowerby, English Botany : “This grass, according to Parnell, 
has a most unsightly appearance in meadow-pastures and parks, as it 
grows into large tufts, and forms irregularities on the surface which 
are termed by farmers ‘rough cups’ or ‘ hossacks,’ and are difficult to 
get rid of. From the extreme roughness and coarseness of the leaves, 
cattle seldom touch it; and, as it contains little nutritious matter, it 1s 
not worth the attention of the agriculturist. It is a sure indication, 
wherever found on the farm, that the land wants under-draining, 
without which no cutting it out will destroy it; but the efficiency of 
the drainage, where it occurs, is seen by its dying away and scatter- 
ing the fields with its turned up rough branches of dried leaves.” 
Dr. George Vasey, however, speaking of it in the United States, 
says: “It is one of the common bunch grasses which afford pasturage 
to cattle and horses. It grows in bunches, which are firmly rooted. 
Its culms are too light for hay-making, but the abundant root-leaves 
may make it valuable for pasturage, especially in the arid districts.” 
‘In several very wet places in the Rocky Mountains, U.S.A., we 
saw forms of this grass which produced a great bulk of hay of fair 
quality.” (Rydberg and Shear.) 
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