76 



FLOATING MEADOW GRASS. 



panicle, and long, linear spikelets. It grows from fifteen 

 inches to two feet high, with a perennial, creeping root, 

 erect, round, smooth stem, leaves large, rather long, 

 roughish on both sides, lower 

 ones flat, upper ones generally 

 folded; spikelets few, long and 

 linear, as shown in Fig. 45, 

 which represents the plant 

 near the time of flowering. 

 Fig. 46 shows a magnified 

 spikelet of this grass. Flow- 

 ers late in June. 



It grows naturally in very 

 moist and muddy places, in 

 ditches, on the margins of 

 ponds and streams, and is very 

 common, especially northward 

 and westward. It is capable 

 of cultivation as a perma- 

 nent moist pasture grass, and 

 its yield compares well with 

 many of the other grass- 

 es. Its seeds are greed- 

 ily sought by birds, and 

 in some parts of Ger- 

 many are said to be used 

 as a delicacy in soups 

 and gruels. It has some- 

 times been cultivated in 

 France and other parts 

 of Europe, along alluvial 

 borders of streams and 

 lakes, and is found to 

 produce a sweet and 



Fig. 45. Floating Meadow Craw. F*. k Dutri tioUS graSS. The 



