OTHER IMPORTANT FORAGE GRASSES 89 



distinctly nerved, membranaceous, the pedicel about 

 half as long as the fertile spikelet, ciliate. 



When threshed, the fertile spikelet or seed loses its 

 awn and the staminate spikelets, and disarticulates from 

 the pedicel but retains the 1 or 2 pedicels of the staminate 

 spikelet which stand behind the seed. 



Common Name. Johnson grass is universally used in 

 the United States for this species, being one of the few 

 species to which but one common name has been applied. 

 In Cuba it is called hierba de Don Carlos. 



Botanical Name. Holcus halepensis L. The name 

 Holcus was originally applied to sorghum and its allies. 

 Linnaeus used this name, but included in the genus 

 several diverse species which have since been transferred 

 to other genera. The specific name refers to the town 

 of Aleppo in Syria. The species has been referred to 

 Andropogon as A. halepensis Brot., and has also been 

 called Sorghum halepense Pers. 



BROME GRASS 



This grass was introduced into the agriculture of the 

 United States and grown on a commercial scale in the 

 latter part of the last century, mostly since 1890. The 

 grass is a native of Europe and was introduced into 

 cultivation there a few years before it came into notice 

 here. Brome grass has proved of value in the region 

 from northern Kansas to western Minnesota and west- 

 ward to eastern Washington. It is more drouth re- 

 sistant than the ordinary eastern meadow grasses and 

 consequently fits into the agriculture of the region 

 mentioned, where the conditions are too severe for 



