Gil 



WINTER REDTOP 



Agros'tis hiema'lis, syn. A. sca'bra 



Flower heads (panicles) loosely 

 branched, open, widely spread- 

 ing, erect or sometimes droop- 

 ing, usually 6 to 12 in. long and 

 about as broad, sometimes up to 

 24 or 30 in. long, usually purp- 

 lish; branches fine, hairlike, 

 harsh to the touch, dividing 

 above middle 



Individual flower groups (spike- 

 lets) 1-flowered, very small 

 (up to Yit in. long), clustered 

 toward ends of panicle branches 



Lowest (2) spikelet bracts 

 (glumes) nearly equal, sharp- 

 pointed, harsh to the touch on 

 keel and toward tip, persistent 

 after the "seed" falls 



Outer flower bract (lemma) 

 % to % as long as glumes, blunt- 

 pointed, beardless (awnless), or 

 short-awned, 5-nerved, hairless; 

 inner flower bract (palea) absent 



Stalks (culms)-^erect, slender, 

 tufted, up to 36 in. tall, smooth, 

 hairless 



Leaves mostly_ basal, erect; 

 blades flat or inrolled, narrow 

 (up to K in- wide), short (2 to 5 

 in. long), very harsh to the 

 touch; sheaths generally shorter 

 than internodes, the upper ones 

 loose; appendage (ligule), at 

 junction of sheath and blade, 

 short (up to % in. long), mem- 

 branous 



Roots fibrous; creeping root- 

 stocks lacking 



