230 A TEXT-BOOK OF GRASSES 



panicles large and open, 4 to 12 inches long. Sometimes 

 cultivated as a meadow-grass. 



Annual blue-grass {Poa annua L.). — A low-spreading 

 tufted annual with soft light green foliage and small 

 panicles resembling those of P. pratensis. A native of 

 Europe, now a common weed throughout the warmer por- 

 tions of the United States. In the eastern states, it is a 

 troublesome weed in lawns, because, though it makes a 

 good showing in the spring, it dies out later, leaving bare 

 spots. 



Poa arachnifera Torr. Texas blue-grass. A smooth rhizome- 

 bearing, dioecious perennial 1 to 2 feet high, with contracted pani- 

 cles 2 to 4 inches long; the staminate spikelets glabrous, the lemmas 

 of the pistillate spikelets villous on the keel and marginal nerves, 

 provided at base wath a copious tuft of woolly hairs. A native of 

 Texas, where it is a good but rather local range-grass. This species 

 has been recommended as a winter pasture-grass for the South. 



Many native species of Poa are important constituents of moun- 

 tain ranges. 



254. Festuca L. — Fescue-grass. A large genus found 

 in all the cooler and arctic regions of the world. Annuals 

 or perennials with narrow or open panicles of several- 

 flowered spikelets; lemmas rounded on back, rather firm 

 in texture, 5-nerved, acute or tapering into an awn. The 

 annual species are weedy but the perennial species are 

 excellent forage grasses, several species being cultivated 

 as pasture-grasses. 



255. Meadow fescue. — A tufted smooth perennial 

 1 to 4 feet high, with narrow panicle, 4 to 8 inches long, 

 the branches spreading while in flower but contracting 

 later. Commonly cultivated as a meadow- and pasture- 

 grass. A form with lower culms and more simple panicle 

 has been called F. pratensis Huds. In some localities 

 meadow fescue is called English blue-grass. 



