IV 



PERENNIAL FORAGE GRASSES 



I; REDTOP 



66. Relationships. The genus Agrostis contains about 100 

 species distributed over the entire globe, but especially in the 

 North Temperate Zone. 1 There is some dispute as to the proper 

 classification of the cultivated species, perhaps due to the fact 

 that they are only cultivated varieties and vary greatly with 

 soil and climatic conditions. There are three kinds of seed on 

 the American market namely, (i) redtop, chiefly harvested 

 in southern Illinois, (2) creeping bent, imported from Europe, 

 and (3) Rhode Island bent, produced principally in Rhode 

 Island, although seed of this type is also imported. 



As ordinarily sold by seedsmen, Rhode Island bent is A. 

 canina L., a small type with a strongly creeping habit, fitting 

 it for lawns and permanent pastures, but making it unsuited 

 for a hay crop. This type may be distinguished from the other 

 cultivated forms by the absence of the palea. The flowering 

 glume is awned, while in the other cultivated forms usually 

 it is not awned. The other two cultivated forms belong to 

 A. alba L. and its sub-species A. alba vulgaris (With.) Thurb. 

 These two forms differ from each other more in habit of 

 growth than in botanical characters, and even in habit of growth 

 there are so many intermediate forms as to make the distinction 

 arbitrary. Agrostis alba is the taller and more robust type 

 with red or purple panicles. Agrostis alba vulgaris differs 

 from Agrostis alba by its more slender culms, seldom reaching 



4 Hackel: The True Grasses, p. 111. 



