66 TWIN GRASS. 



25. DU^ONTIA. 



Spikelets two to four flowered ; glumes nearly equal- 

 ling the flowers, with a cluster of long hairs at the base 

 of each flower. Palese thin, lower one entire, point- 

 less ; stamens three ; perennial. Mostly arctic grasses. 



DUPONTIA GRASS (Dupontia cooleyi) is a tall grass, 

 with roughish leaves; a large compound panicle; very 

 unequal glumes ; palea awnless. Found in Michigan, 

 in the borders of a swamp in Washington, Macomb 

 county. Of no agricultural value. 



26. DlARRHENA. 



Spikelets two to ten flowered, in an open panicle ; 

 glumes much shorter than the flowers, the lower much 

 smaller ; lower palea egg-shaped, convex on the back, 

 three-nerved above, sharp-pointed ; stamens two. Grain 

 large. 



TWIN GRASS (Diarrhena Americana) grows from one 

 and a half to three feet high, along the shaded banks 

 of rivers and woods, from Ohio and Illinois southwards. 

 Flowering in August. 



27. DACTYLIS. Cock'sfoot. 



Spikelets several-flowered, crowded in clusters, one- 

 sided ; panicle dense at the top, branching ; glumes 

 two ; herbaceous, keeled ; awn pointed ; stamens three ; 

 seed oblong, acute, free. Named from daclylus, a finger. 



ORCHARD GRASS, ROUGH COCK'S-FOOT (Dactylis glom- 

 erata), flowers in dense clusters. Its stem is erect, 

 about three feet high. I have found specimens, in good 

 soil, over five feet high. Leaves linear, flat, dark-green, 

 rough on both surfaces, which, with the fancied resem- 

 blance of its clusters to the foot of a barn-yard fowl, 

 have given it the common name in England of rough 



