i 4 8 



WEEDS OF THE FARM AND GARDEN 



heading, the spikes become more slender, and the plant 

 might be readily mistaken for another species. The grass 

 matures rapidly and affords early forage, but later be- 

 comes woody. In cultivated gardens and fields it is a 

 troublesome weed. The wild timothy (M. racemosa) has 

 thick spikes common weed in low grounds. 



Marsh Foxtail (Alopecurus 

 geniculatus, L.). A slender 

 perennial, more or less decum- 

 bent and branched at the base ; 

 lower joint bent abruptly, stem 

 finally ascending, or erect, six 

 to twenty-four inches high ; 

 leaves rather short, spreading 

 and flat, upper leaf as long as 

 its sheath ; leaf blades general- 

 ly smooth, lower three to six 

 inches long, upper shorter; 

 panicles spikelike and densely 

 flowered, one to three inches 

 long, with spikelets strongly 

 compressed laterally ; empty 

 glumes rather obtuse, hairy at 

 the keels; flowering glume 

 awned near the base, awns very 

 slender, nearly twice as long 

 as the glume; sheaths smooth. 



Fig. 91. Muhlenberaia ,. . . n ' 



racemosa. a, spikelet with the upper somewhat inflated; 

 long, acuminate-pointed outer blooms from May to Septem- 



bea?de S cL ^mr^Avo^'uS ben Found in wet meadows, 

 Dept. Agrl.) ' along the banks of rivers, 



streams and ditches very gen- 

 erally throughout the United States; common along the 

 Mississippi and Missouri rivers, waste places and fields 

 in Missouri. 

 Sheathed Rush Grass (Sporobolus vaginiflorus, Wood). 



