NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SUIiVKY. 



171 



I J ROM US SECALINUS- 



(Fic. 16.) 



3HESSCHEAT. (Fig. 16.) 



Stem glabrous, erect, 

 swollen at the joints, leaves 

 ciliate, pubescent on the 

 upper surface. Panicle 

 branching erect or nod 

 ding ; spikelets compressed 

 oblong ovate, florets about 

 10 longer than the bristles. 



The remarkable views 

 which are entertained of 

 this plant, excuse the no 

 tice of this worthless grass 

 in this place. It has been 

 a common opinion with a 

 very large proportion of 

 farmers, that wheat chan 

 ges into chess, the grass 

 under consideration. This 

 has frequently been, in 

 one sense, favored by the 

 fact that when wheat has 

 been winter-killed, chess 

 has sprung up in its place, 

 therefore, to those who 

 have not been careful ob 

 servers, it has seemed that 

 the wheat itself has un 

 dergone the change which 

 they maintain ; usually, 

 this view seems rational, 

 because chess has not been 

 observed by them in this 

 particular place in former 

 times. Notwithstanding 

 this apparent support to 

 the doctrine, it only re 

 quires a good eye to detect 

 chess in almost any corner 



