ORAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 59 



Ground largely overgrown with this grass should be put under 

 cultivation and then be reseeded with other and better forage plants. 



PERENNIAL RYE-GRASS 

 Lolium perenne, L. 



Other English names: Ray-grass, Common Darnel. 

 Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

 Time of bloom : June to July. 

 Seed-time : July to August. 



Range: Nearly throughout the northern United States. 

 Habitat: Fields, meadows, pastures, 

 and roadsides. 



The seeds of this grass closely resem- 

 ble those of the much more expensive 

 and valuable Meadow Fescue and are 

 sometimes used by unscrupulous dealers 

 in substitution or adulteration. It 

 cannot properly be called a weed, 

 though in this country it often proves 

 unenduring and unprofitable, particu- 

 larly in dry seasons, on light soils. It 

 is a grass that requires moist ground 

 and a cool, moist climate to thrive well, 

 which is the reason it is so highly 

 esteemed in the northern latitudes such 

 as England and Scotland. Experiments 

 at Woburn demonstrated that its nutri- 

 tive value is very low and its aftermath 

 the lowest of all cultivated grasses. 

 When allowed to seed it is very ex- 

 haustive to the soil. (Fig. 29.) 



Culm ten to thirty inches tall, erect 

 and smooth. Sheaths shorter than the 

 internodes ; leaves flat and smooth, two 

 to five inches long. Spike terminal, 

 three to eight inches long, the spikelets FlG 29 _ Perennia f 

 set with the edge to the rachis, the grass (Lolium perenne). 



