148 



heading, the spikes become more slender, and the plant 

 might be readily mistaken for another species. The grass 

 matures rapidly and affords early forage, but later be- 

 comes woody. In cultivated gardens and fields it is a 

 troublesome weed. The wild timothy (M. racemosa) has 

 thick spikes common weed in low grounds. 



Marsh Foxtail (Alopecurus 

 geniculatus, L.). A slender 

 perennial, more or less decum- 

 bent and branched at the base ; 

 lower joint bent abruptly, stem 

 finally ascending, or erect, six 

 to twenty-four inches high; 

 leaves rather short, spreading 

 and flat, upper leaf as long as 

 its sheath ; leaf blades general- 

 ly smooth, lower three to six 

 inches long, upper shorter; 

 panicles spikelike and densely 

 flowered, one to three inches 

 long, with spikelets strongly 

 compressed laterally ; empty 

 glumes rather obtuse, hairy at 

 the keels; flowering glume 

 awned near the base, awns very 

 slender, nearly twice as long 

 as the glume; sheaths smooth, 



Muhlenberoia . /-. 



spikelet with tne upper somewhat inflated; 

 long, acuminate-pointed outer blooms from May to Septem- 



S'll %irfA n g g ros.!u ra s e : > F " d wet adows, 

 Dept. Agrl.) along the banks of rivers, 



streams and ditches very gen- 

 erally throughout the United States; common along the 

 Mississippi and Missouri rivers, waste places and fields 

 in Missouri. 

 Sheathed Rush Grass (Sporobolus vaginiftorus, Wood). 



Fig. 91. 

 racemosa. a, 



