THE GRASSES OF MAINE. 31 



23. SPARTINA STRICTA, Roth. 

 Spar-ti' -na stric'-ta. 



Common Names. Salt Marsh Grass, Smooth Marsh Grass. 



Stems erect, from one to four feet high, leafy to the top. Spikes 

 from two to four except in variet}' glabra, which has from five to 

 twelve. S pikelets loosely imbricated, or remote in variety altemi- 

 flora. Glumes acute, very unequal in length, the larger one a little 

 longer than the flowering glume. 



Common on salt marshes. Odor strong and rancid (Gray) . 



This species is greedily eaten by horses and cattle, but its strong 

 rancid smell is said by Elliot to affect the breath, milk, butter, and 

 even the flesh of the cattle that feed on it. 



Genus CYNODON, Richard. 

 Cyri-o-don. 



Derived from the Greek, Ituon, a dog, and odous, a tooth. 



Spikelets without steins and arranged in two rows along one side 

 of the slender spikes which are digitate (starting from one point) , 

 at the end of the stem. The spikelets are one-flowered but with the 

 rudiments of another, in the form of a minute stem enlarged at the 

 end, arising behind the palea and two-thirds as long. 



24. CYNODON DACTYLON, Persoon. 

 Cyri-o-don dac'-tyl-on. 

 PLATE XI. 



Common Names. Bermuda Grass, Scutch Grass. 



A low, creeping, perennial grass, with abundant short leaves at the 

 base and with from three to five spikes. Glumes nearly equal in 

 length and keeled ; the flowering glume is boat-shaped, about equal 

 in length to the palea but much broader. The palea is narrow and 

 two-keeled. 



This grass, so common in the South, is occasionally met with in 

 Maine. Dr. Vasey says it has long been a chief reliance for past- 

 ures in the Southern States, and has been extravagantly praised by 

 some and cursed by others who find it difficult to eradicate when 

 once established. It rarely ripens any seed, and the usual method 

 of reproducing it is to chop up the roots with a cutting knife, sow 



