136 
POPULAE SCIENCE KEWS. 
[Septemuek, 1S90. 
found to know very little. And this order is the 
most common and most important of all — the dozen 
or more of its species trodden every day under foot, 
going by the general name, "grass." There are 
about four hundred and seventy-five species of 
grasses in the United States, — including the grains, 
which are only improved grasses, — whereof one- 
third or more are found in New Yorlc and New 
England. Those described in this article are the 
most common ones. — the ones forming the bulk 
of pasturage and hay. There is hardly a square 
yard of old turf in the Middle or the Eastern States 
which is not made up of a mixture of these grasses. 
The difference between the blades of separate 
species is often so slight that it is not safe for even 
an experienced observer to try to distinguish them 
by tiiat means alone. The rank growth of spring- 
time looks everywhere the same; but, beginning 
in the latter part of May, the meadows take on a 
variety of form and color, which is continually 
changing until the middle of July. During this 
period most of the grasses are in flower. From the 
same spot of earth shoot up slender stalks bearing 
tiny blossoms, — purple, yellow, and white, — the 
heads of which differ as much as an elm tree differs 
from an oak. This is the time to study the grasses, 
they being easily distinguished wlien in flower, at 
which time the accompanying illustrations were 
made. 
Next to the little annual spear-grass, found about 
our door-yards, the earliest to flower is the sweet- 
scented vernal grass {Anthoxanthum odoratuni) , (Fig. 
i), a small, delicate species, the only one of its genus, 
■with light green, open blades, and slender staJks 
from twelve to fifteen 
inches in height. Its 
heads — looking like those 
of small, beardless wheat 
— are in bloom from a 
little after the middle to 
the end of May, in color 
a kind of dull yellow or 
buff. It is common in 
old meadows and pastures 
where the sod has been 
long undisturbed, and 
"comes in," as the farm- 
ers say, of itself. When 
wilted it exhales a rare 
fragrance, somewhat like 
— though more delicate — 
that of vanilla. It is this 
grass — and not, as is often 
supposed, the mililot, or 
"sweet clover"^ which 
gives the odor to new- 
mown hay when cut from 
old meadows. Cattle are 
said to be not over fond 
of it; perhaps because, 
in common with most other four-footed creatures, 
they prefer their food unflavored. Like many 
other of our pasturage grasses, sweet vernal is 
not a native grass, but one long ago naturalized 
from Europe. 
The widest distributed and most valuable of all 
our pasturage gras.ses is that known as June or 
spear-grass in the East, and blue grass in the West 
and South, {Poa pratensis) , (Fig. 2). This native 
American grass is the base of all our old seeded 
meadows and pastures, as well as of the velvety 
turf of our lawns and parks. It propagates itself 
everywhere, driving out the coarser kinds sown for 
hay, and increasing from the roots as well as from 
the seed. So hardy is it that it appears to grow 
underneath the snow, through which its purple- 
green, spear-like blades may be seen pricking erect 
Fig. I. 
Sweet Vernal Grass, 
Attthoxanthum odoratvm. 
and vigorous, even in mid-winter. Its dense sod, 
while affording the best of pasturage and hay, is, as 
every farmer knows, the surest of fertilizers when 
turned under and planted to Indian corn. The 
blades of this grass are long, sharply keeled, of a 
full green color, and very abundant. Its stalks vary 
in height from one to three feet, and its open, 
spreading heads flower, in New York and New- 
England, from the first to the fifteenth of June ; in 
the West and South from two to four weeks earlier. 
The flower is light purple, or lilac, and the panicle, 
or head, partially closes after it is gone, often taking 
on for a while a darker tint of the same color. 
Fig. 2. 
June or Spear-Grass, 
J*oa pratenfiis. 
At the same time that June grass blossoms, comes 
orchard grass {Dactj/lis glomerata), (Fig. 3), a fine, 
rapid-growing species, the only one of its genus, 
and so unlike anything else belonging to the order 
Fig- 3- 
Orchard Grass, 
Daclylis glomerata. 
that no one can mistake it. This grass was intro- 
duced from England, where it is often called " cock's- 
foot grass," from the shape of its flower-head. The 
blades are of a dull, bluish-green color, very long, 
open, and abundant, and for rapidity of growth 
equalled by none other. The stalks vary in height 
from two to four feet, and the flower-head consists 
of from six to eight large, alternating clusters 
of spikelets, the lower one of which projects some 
distance beyond the others. The color of the 
flower varies from lilac to a straw tint. This grass, 
from its rapid growth, on fertile soils easily affords 
two crops of hay. It has been a favorite in the 
West rather than in the East, where, however, it 
has of late years become quite common. 
By the middle of June begin to open the large, 
spreading heads of tall or meadow fescue, sometimes 
called "green grass" and "corn grass," {Festuca 
tlatior), (Fig. 4). A few days later are seen the 
flowers, yellow in color, upon the disappearance 
of which the head closes gradually up again, and 
begins to curve downward, heavy with the fast- 
ripening seed. The blades of this species are long, 
open, and abundant, of a glossy, pure green color, 
making excellent pasturage or hay. The stalks 
vary in height from one and a half to three feet, 
and are seldom erect, owing to their slender body 
and the bulky panicle which they sustain. By the 
second week in July the heavy, grain-like heads, 
filled with ripened seed, are seen drooping over the 
wagon-track in highways and along the margins 
Tall or Meadow Fescue, 
Festuca. eltttior, 
Var. I. 
Fig- 4- 
Tall or Meadow Fescue, 
Festuca eUitior, 
Var. 2. 
of grain-fields. Tall fescue appears to have two 
well-marked varieties, which some botanists con- 
sider to be distinct species. Illustrations are given 
of both. The smaller variety, besides flowering a 
few days later, is in every way more delicate, as well 
as less abundant, than the other. The two varieties 
are always found growing together, and appear to 
thrive in the shade better than any other pasturage 
grass. This is also a European grass, but was very 
early naturalized, being found in almost every door- 
yard, roadside, and meadow of the Northern United 
States. The seed of tall fescue is seldom or never 
sown by farmers, though it is worth their while to 
try it. It is easily grow-n, and would be sold for a 
low price were there any demand for it. 
[Concluded in next number.] 
Among the loveliest of plants are the " fairy lilies" 
(zephyranthes or Amaryllis aiamasco), with their 
deep pink flowers. 
