WEEDS OF THE SEDGE FAMILY. 



57 



deeply after the grass has been cut for hay. (d) In lawns, hoe- 

 cutting and salting, burning or removing every joint. 



In Europe these underground stems are gathered and sold, be- 

 ing used in medicine for kidney and bladder troubles. They are 

 pale yellow, smooth, about J inch in diameter, with joints at in- 

 tervals of an inch from which slender rootlets are produced. "When 

 washed, cut into short pieces, about 2/5 inch in length, on a hay 

 or feed cutter and dried, these rootstocks (not the rootlets) are 

 sold to the drug trade as dog-grass or triticum, the price ranging 

 from 3 to 7 cents per pound. 



Wild Barley. Squirrel-tail Grass. 



10. HORDEUM JUBATUM L. 



Grass. (P. N. 2.) 



Skunk 



Erect, simple, smooth, 1O-30 inches 

 high; sheaths shorter than the joints; 

 leaves flat, 1-5 inches long, erect, rough. 

 Spikes terminal, cylindrical, 2-4 inches 

 long; spikelets in two opposite rows, 

 usually in 3's at each joint of the flower- 

 stem, the central one containing a per- 

 fect flower, the two side ones imperfect; 

 the empty scales forming rough awns, 

 barbed upwards, 1-3 inches long; awn of 

 flowering scale 1-2 inches long. Seed 

 slender, inch long, sharp-pointed- re- 

 sembling that of rye. (Fig. 25.) 



Frequent in old fields and along 

 fence-rows and railways in dry and 

 rather poor clayey or gravelly soil. 

 July-Sept. It grows usually in large 

 tufts from fibrous roots and is easily 

 known by the grayish-green leaves 

 and long, bearded nodding spikes. 

 The barbed seeds and awns often 

 penetrate the flesh surrounding the mouths of animals which at- 

 tempt to eat it, causing ulcers, swellings, and, in some instances, to- 

 tal blindness. Hay containing the grass is therefore almost value- 

 less. It spreads only by seeds, which are widely scattered by wind 

 and water, and can be controlled by cutting or pulling before the 

 seeds ripen, or by cultivation. Isolated clumps should b destroyed 

 wherever seen. 



THE SEDGE FAMILY. CYPERACE.E. 



A large family of grass-like or rush-like herbs, but having the 

 stems slender, generally solid instead of hollow and often either 

 triangular or 4-sided; leaves grass-like, with the sheaths closed; 



Fig. 25. a,spikelet. (After Scribner.) 



