156 WILD FLOWERS OF SUMMER. 



Under the broad Greek generic term for grass (Pod) 

 we have the true Meadow Grass, common as a weed in 

 our gardens, and which infests our footpaths and green 

 lanes. This family of grasses has a pair of glumes 

 to each spikelet of many florets, and the paleae are 

 membraneous at the joint. The Eough Meadow Grass 

 (P. trivalis) and the Smooth-stalked Meadow Grass 

 are the cherished inhabitants of our meadows, where 

 they add much to the hay crop. They may be easily 

 distinguished by the smoothness or otherwise of the 

 stem. They grow some eighteen inches high, with 

 full-branched panicles of small spikelets, occasionally 

 tinged with purple. The "Wood Meadow Grass (P. 

 nemoralis) has only about three flowers on each pale 

 green spikelet, which grows from a slender graceful 

 panicle. The other meadow grasses are the Alpine, 

 the Glaucous, and the Flat-stalked. The Bulbous 

 Meadow Grass haunts the sea-shore. 



The Sweet Grasses (Glycerid) have a simple palese; 

 and their many florets, headed by the two glumes, 

 form little spikelets on the panicle. There are four 

 varieties of sweet grasses which inhabit watery places. 

 The Reedy Sweet Grass (G. aquatica) grows to the 

 height of four feet by the margin of rivers, and has 



