THE GRASSES OF MAINE. 65 



81. ANDROPOGON SCOPARIUS, Michaux. 



An-dro-po' -gon sco-pa'-ri-us. 



PLATE XLII. 



Common Names. Wood Grass, Purple Wood Grass, Broom 

 Grass. 



Perennial. Stems from three to four feet high, with numerous pan- 

 iculate branches ; lower sheaths and narrow leaves hairy. Spikes 

 slender, scattered, mostly pedunculate, from one to two inches 

 long, very loose, often purplish, sickty, with dull whitish hairs. Sterile 

 spikelet awn-pointed or awnless, the fertile flower about halt* the 

 length of its twisted or bent awn. 



Grows in dry, barren soils, and flowers in August. 



In some parts of the South it is ver\ T common and much despised, 

 though it has its good qualities, for in the dry pine woods it contri- 

 butes, while green and tender, a large share to the sustenance of 

 stock. 



One analysis made in Washington, of specimens from Alabama, 

 gave ash 5.84, fat 1.58, nitrogen-free extract, 62.29, crude fiber 

 24.64, albuminoids 5.65- 



