41 



L. perenne has long been cultivated as a forage grass and has given 

 rise to several agricultural strains. L. multiflorum is sometimes regarded 

 as one of these and treated as L. perenne var. aristatum Wills. Terrell 

 (1968) recognizes intergradation between the two taxa, but he prefers 

 to treat them as separate species. 



3. AGROPYRON Quack Grass, Witchgrass 



Coarse, medium to large grasses with flattened terminal spikes; spikelets 

 with broadside toward flat rachis. Widespread introduced weeds and less 

 common native grasses of rocky woods and ledges. 



A. Culms tufted or solitary, lacking creeping" rhizomes; florets readily 

 disarticulating at maturity (empty glumes frequently present); anthers 

 1-2.5 mm; plants native, occurring in rocky woods and on ledges 



A. trachycaulum 



A. Culms tufted or solitary, with elongate, creeping rhizomes; florets 

 seldom readily disarticulating; anthers 3-7 mm; plants introduced, 

 weedy. 



B. Cartilaginous belt (non-green) at nodes half or less as long as its 

 diameter; glume gradually tapering, usually from below the middle, 

 to a short, straight awn; glume margins minutely ciliate toward 



base; rhizome grayish A. smithii 



B. Cartilaginous belt at nodes nearly or fully as long as its diameter; 

 glume somewhat abruptly tapering, usually from above its middle, 

 to a short straight awn; glume margins lacking cilia toward the base 

 (often entirely glabrous); rhizomes yellowish (sometimes nearly 

 white) A. repens 



1. A. trachycaulum (Link) Make (figure 39) Wheatgrass 



Rocky woods, talus and ledges. Infrequent in N.H. and rare in the 

 southern part of the state. A very variable species with three varieties 

 recognized in N.H. 



a. Awns lacking or short, less than half the length of the lemma, 

 b. Glume 10-16 mm long; mature spike 5-12 mm thick 



var. majus (Vasey) Fern. 



b. Glume 7-10 mm long; mature spike 3-6 mm thick 



var. novae-angliae (Scribn.) Fern. 



a. Awns long, equal to or more than the length of the lemma 



var. glaucum (Pease & Moore) Make 



Intergradation between all varieties occurs, particularly between 

 var. novae-angliae and var. majus, but the latter is more northern in 

 distribution. Bowden (1965) does not regard var. majus worthy of 

 nomenclatural recognition. However, this entity appears to be suffi- 

 ciently distinct in N.H. and we are swayed to recognize the taxon. 

 Variety glaucum appears to be the most distinct taxon and is segregated 

 by some authors as a distinct species, A. subsecundum (Link) Hitchc. 

 (Hitchcock, 1951;Huk^n, 1968). 



