Y8 



gether at each joint, all alike and fertile, sessile, two to five -flowered, and each with 

 a pair of empty glumes. These glumes are very thick and coarse, strongly nervedj 

 lanceolate and bristle-pointed, about 1 inch long. The flowering glumes terminate 

 in a stiff, straight awn, half an inch to nearly an inch long, the lowest one in the 

 spikelets having the longest awn, the others gradually shorter. The palet is oblong, 

 obtuse, and as long as the flowering glume, excluding the awn. 



A coarse, perennial grass, growing on alluvial river banks, or in rich, 

 low grounds. 



This grass frequently forms a considerable portion of native meadow 

 lauds, and makes a coarse hay. It starts growth early in the spring, 

 and thus affords a good pasturage. Professor Killebrew, of Tennessee, 

 says it is very valuable and ought to be tried in cultivation. 



Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says: 



This perennial grass is a native of the Southern States. As all farm stock, except 

 hogs, are fond of it, and it is green through the winter and spring, it has been de- 

 stroyed when grazing animals have access to it at all times. It is, however, found in 

 many of our States, along the banks of wooded streams, of ditches, and in fence cor- 

 ners among briers and thickets. It will grow on thin clay, gravelly, or sandy soil, 

 but much better on rich lands, dry or rather moist, and will thrive ten, twenty, or 

 more years on the same land. 



(Plate 91.) 



ARUNDINARIA. 



Spikelets many-flowered, flattened, racemose or paniculate, the uppermost flowers 

 imperfect; outer glumes very small, membranaceous, the upper one larger ; flowering 

 glumes much larger, membranaceo-herbaceous, convex on the back, not keeled, many- 

 nerved, acuminate, mucronate, or bristle-pointed; palet shorter than its glume, 

 prominently two-keeled. 

 Arundinaria tecta (Switch Cane ; Small Cane). 



Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says of this grass : 



This largest of our grasses has a hard, woody stem from one-half to 3 inches in diame- 

 ter, and from 10 to 40 feet high, erect, tapering from near the base, jointed every 8 to 12 

 inches for one-half the length or more, then the joints becoming shorter and smaller 

 to the top; leaves 1 to 2 inches wide, persistent, on clustered, spreading branches 

 which also are jointed and appear the second year. On rich land in spring the young 

 steins shoot UD full size, ten or twenty feet high, and are as crisp as asparagus, and 

 by some persons as much relished. Hogs, cattle, and other animals are fond of the 

 young plants and seeds. The age at which the large cane blooms has not been defi- 

 nitely decided. It probably varies with the latitude, soil, and surroundings, from 

 ten to thirty years. When the seeds mature the cane dies. Grazing animals feed 

 greedily on the leaves in the winter and find protection from the driving rains and 

 piercing winds under the dense roof of the canebrake or thicket. The steins are 

 used for fishing-rods, scaffolds for drying cotton, for pipe-stems and pipes, and splints 

 for baskets, mats, and other purposes. The small cane is different in habit from the 

 large cane. It blooms sometimes two or more consecutive years without dying down 

 to the root. Live stock like it as well as the large cane. Both grow best on rich 

 lands, hills, or bottoms; but they will grow on thin clay soil, improve it, and if pro- 

 tected from stock, rapidly extend by sending out long roots (rootstocks) with buds. 



The small cane is found sparingly as far north as Baltimore, Md. 

 The large cane is probably confined to the Gulf States, but this is un- 

 certain. 



