310 GRASSES OF IOWA. 



Spikelets many-flowered, solitary on each joint of the continuous 

 rachis, placed edgewise ; empty glumes, except in the terminal spikelet, 

 only one (the upper) and external. Otherwise nearly as in Agropyron. 

 (Ancient Latin name.) 



Bentham & Hooker reduce the twenty described species, at the time 

 of the publication of their work, to two or three; species indigenous to 

 Europe, northern Africa, temperate Asia, and naturalized in many other 

 temperate regions. Hackel lists six species ; two species are more or less 

 naturalized in the southern and eastern states, also upon the Pacific 

 Coast. The Lolium temulentum accompanies grains wherever culti- 

 vated. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES OF LOLIUM. 



A. Empty glumes shorter than the spikelet. 



1. Flowering glumes awnless L . perenne. 1 . 



2 . Flowering glumes awned L . Italicum . 2 . 



B. Empty glume equalling or exceeding the spikelet L. t emu I en turn. z . 



1. LOLIUM PERENNE. 



Lolium perenne L . Sp. PI. 83. 1753. Watson and Coulter. Gray. Man. 

 Bot. 671. 1890. (6 ed.) Scribner. Grasses of Tenn. Bull. Univ. Tenn. Agrl. 

 Exp. Sta. 7: 121. f. 175 . 1894. Beal. Grasses of N. A. 2: 629. 1896. 

 Nash in Britton and Brown. 111. Fl. 1: 225. /. 521. 1896. Scribner. 

 Bull. U. S. Dept. Agrl. Div. Agros. 7: 301. /. 295. 1900. (3 ed) 



DESCRIPTION'. 



Perennial Rye Grass. A smooth, leafy perennial, i to 3 feet 

 (2-6 dm.) high, with slender terminal spikes, 3 to 10 inches (6-20 cm.) 

 long. Spikelets about 6 lines (12 mm.) long, five to twelve-flowered, 

 rather distant, or crowded above ; empty glume much shorter than the 

 spikelet; flowering glumes obscurely nerved, obtuse, cuspidate, or very 

 short awn-pointed. May to August. 



Lawns, fields and waysides, naturalized, Canada to North Caro- 

 lina, west to Ohio and Tennessee; California and Arizona. Lolium 

 perenne has been introduced in different parts of the state. It, however, 

 persists but a short time. An excellent forage plant. See figure 218, on 

 page 311. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Iowa. Ames (Sirrine, 224 Ball, Pammel, Hitchcock) ; Muscatine 

 (Reppert) ; Dysart (Miss Sirrine) ; Shelby County (Fitzpatrick). 



North America. Waste and cultivated grounds. Canada to North 



