248 GRASSES OF IOWA. 



i inch (0.5-2 cm.) wide, narrowed to a rounded, often filiate base, 

 acuminate at the apex, scabrous on the margins, otherwise smooth. See 

 figure 172 on page 246. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Iowa. Not native to Iowa as far as known, though sometimes cul- 

 tivated in this state. 



North America. It is common through central Missouri. Occurs 

 from Pennsylvania to Florida, west to Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and 

 Texas. 



11. DACTYLIS. 



Dactylis L. Sp. PI. 71. 1753. Endlicher. Gen. PI. 100. Beauv. 

 Agros. 85. Bentham and Hooker. Gen. PI. 3: 1193. Hackel in Engler 

 and Prantl. Nat. Pflanz. Fam. II. 2: 72. /. 84. Scribner. Bull U. S. Dept. 

 Agr. Div. Agros. 20: 145. 



Spikelets several-flowered, crowded in one-sided clusters, forming 

 a branching, dense panicle. Glumes all herbaceous, keeled, awn-pointed, 

 rough-ciliate on the keel; the flowering one five-nerved, the upper most 

 commonly smaller and thinner. Stamens 3. Grain lance-oblong, acute, 

 free. Stout, tufted perennial ; leaves keeled. (Dactylos, a name in Pliny 

 for a grass with digitate spikes, from the Greek word for finger.) 



Species 1, with several varieties; very common from Great Britain 

 across the continent; temperate regions of Asia and northern Africa; 

 generally cultivated in North America and Europe. 



1. DACTYLIS GLOMERATA. 



Dactylis glome rata. L. Sp. PI. 71. 1753. Watson and Coulter. Gray. 

 Man. Bot. 663.pl. 10. 1890. (6ed.) Scribner. Grasses of Tenn. Bull. 

 Univ. Tenn. Agrl. Exp. Sta. 7: 104. f. 140. 1896. Beal. Grasses of N. A. 

 2: 523. 1896. Nash in Britton and Brown. 111. Fl. 1: 200. /. 457. 18 6. 

 Scribner. Bull. U. S. Dept. Agr Div. Agros 7: 275. f. 269. 1900. (3ed.) 



DESCRIPTION. 



Orchard Grass. A coarse, erect grass, 3 to 4 feet (7-9 dm.) 

 high, forming dense tufts. Ligule elongated, membranaceous. Leaves 

 flat, slightly keeled, spreading. Panicle 3 to S inches (7-9 cm.) long, 

 the branches spreading in flower, becoming erect and appressed to the 

 rachis. Spikelets . compressed, three to five-flowered, crowded at the 

 ends of the branches in dense one-sided clusters. Flowering plumes 2 



