ORCHARD-GRASS, OAT-GRASS, BROME-GRASSES 177 



stalked but flower-bearing to the base; maritima, with 

 the panicle dark violet ; pendula, with a looser, somewhat 

 drooping panicle ; abbreviata, with a short compact panicle ; 

 and ciliata, which 

 differs from all the 

 above in having hairy 

 sheaths and lemmas. 



Very closely related 

 species are Dactylis 

 aschersoniana, which 

 has creeping root- 

 stocks and mostly 

 6-flowered spikelets, 

 and Dactylis altaica. 



None of these have 

 become agricultural 

 grasses, but variety 

 pendula was at one 

 time supplied by Vil- 

 morin in France. 



176. Agricultural 

 history. Orchard- 

 grass was cultivated* 

 in Virginia before 

 1760, in which year 

 seed was sent to Eng- 

 land. Its Culture in F IG. 17. Orchard-grass (Dactylis 

 Continental Europe be- Olomerata). a, spikelet ; b, floret ; c, sta- 

 n . mens and pistil ; d, ligule ; e, section of 



gan about the begin- no d e . 

 ning of the nine- 

 teenth century and became important by 1850. At 

 the present time it is cultivated in nearly all temper- 

 ate regions. 



