154 



GRASSES OF IOWA. 



(Washington County (Parry), Connecticut (Hartford County, F. Wil- 

 son), Pennsylvania, Ohio (Baltimore, Horr; Columbus, Sullivant) ; west 

 Missouri; northwest through Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota (St. Peter 

 River, Parry), to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado (Larimer County, 

 Crandall), Utah (Echo, Pammel, Johnson, Buchanan and Lummis, alt. 

 6500 ft.; East Duchesne, Pammel and Stanton; East Lake Fork), Wyo- 

 ming (Albany County, E. Nelson, 3379), Idaho (Kootenai County, 

 Sandberg, Heller and McDougall), California (Bolander). 



General. Great Britain, Europe general, North Africa, Siberia, 

 Dahuria, western Asia to India, Australia and New Zealand. 

 2. ALOPECURUS PRATENSIS. 

 Alopecurus pratensis L. Sp. PI. 60. 1753. Watson and Coulter. Gray. 

 Man. Bot. 645. 1890. (6th ed.) Scribner. Grasses of Tenn. Bull. 

 Univ. Tenn. Agrl. Exp. Sta. 7: 70. /. 88. 1894. Am. Grasses. Bull. U. S. 

 Dept. Agrl. Div Agros. 7: 122. /. 116. 1900. (3ded.) Beal. Grasses of N. 

 A. 2: 278. 1896. Nash in Britton and Brown. 111. Fl. 1: 149. /. 338. 1896. 

 Vasey. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3: 86. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Meadow Fox Tail. An erect 

 perennial, 1 to 3 feet (2-7 

 dm.) high, from a short, creeping 

 root-stock. Sheaths smooth, the 

 uppermost usually somewhat in- 

 flated and longer than the leaf- 

 blade; ligule hyaline, obtuse, 

 about a line long; leaf-blade lin- 

 ear or narrow-lanceolate, acute, 

 the lower 4 to 10 inches (8-20 

 cm.) long, 2 to 3 lines (4-6 

 mm.) wide. Panicle rather stout, 

 obtuse, 2 to 4 inches (4-8 cm.) 

 long. Spikelets flat, 2 to 3 lines 

 (4-6 mm.) long; empty glumes 

 distinct or slightly grown to- 

 gether near the base, abruptly 

 acute, silky villous on the keels 

 and short!}* pilose on the lateral 

 nerves; flowering glume nearly 

 as long as the empty ones, awned 

 on the back near or below the 

 middle; awn slender, slightly 



twisted, and projecting beyond 



^11 ,- , 1 1 1- • Fig. llu. Alopecurus pratensis— a, a 



the glumes lor more than halt its spikelet showing the connate, hairy glumes, 



1 1 XT .... r , , 3 stamens and 2 styles ; b, the same with the 



length. JNaturallZed in fields empty or outer glumes removed; theflower- 



nnd mpaHnws Time- fulv in g glume is awned on the back. (Div. of 



anu meaaows. June jury. Agros. u. s. Dept, Agrl.) 



