42 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



SWEET VERNAL GRASS (Anthoxanthum odoratum L.) 



Seed, Plate 26, Fig. 5. 



Botanical description: Sweet Vernal Grass is a perennial, 

 with a short rootstock and tufted stems. The stems reach a height 

 of from half a foot to two feet and carry the leaves principally 

 toward their base. The leaves are bright green, short and hairy 

 along the margins, especially below. The flowers are arranged in a 

 dense, spikelike panicle, which is green when young but later turns 

 golden yellow. Each spikelet contains three flowers, two of which, 

 however, are barren and greatly reduced. Each barren flower con- 

 sists of a dark-coloured glume covered with dense, stiff hairs and 

 provided with a strong knee-bent awn. The fertile flower, which is 

 placed between the barren ones, is of the ordinary type, but contains 

 only two stamens. 



Geographical distribution: Sweet Vernal Grass is distributed 

 over large areas of the Old World. It is common in most European 

 countries, western and northern Asia, and parts of northern Africa. 

 It has been introduced into North America and occurs especially in 

 the eastern parts of Canada. 



Habitat: It grows naturally in meadows, woods, gardens, and 

 on almost any kind of soil. It prefers moist sands and loams, though 

 it is little affected by drought. 



Agricultural value: Sweet Vernal Grass is one of the earliest 

 grasses. On account of its low growth and short leaves, however, 

 the agricultural value is not great. It contains a sweet-smelling 

 substance which, while giving the hay an agreeable odour, makes 

 the taste of the plant bitter and not liked by stock. 



It is the best plan to cut hay in the night while the dews are falling. Pliny, Natural History, 

 23-79. 



Awake, the morning shines, and the fresh field 

 Calls us, we lose the prime, to mark how spring 

 Our tended plants * * * * 

 How nature paints her colours, how the bee 

 Sits on the bloom extracting liquid sweet. 



Milton, Paradise Lost, 1669. 



To obtain the knowledge the farmer needs, he must not only think about planting, but he must 

 do it. Cato, 9S-46, B.C. 



