CHAP. I. SWEET VERNAL GRASS. 919 



England sweet vernal grows in association with sheep's fescue. The 

 leaves of sweet vernal are flat, broad, and somewhat hairy, but the grass 

 is not of coarse growth. The function of sweet vernal, both in pastures 

 and in hay, is probably that of a condiment, as it is capable of impart- 

 ing a flavour to the associated herbage. It grows in compact tufts, 

 tillers freely, and continues to throw up its leaves until late in the 

 autumn. The awns are hygroscopic, so that if some of the " seeds " 

 (fig. 421) are placed upon the warm moist palm of the hand they will 

 commence to writhe and wriggle about in a curious fashion. 



Most of the seed of commerce comes from Central Germany, being 

 derived not from plants specially cultivated for the purpose, but gathered 

 in glades and copses. The seed is therefore obtained only by long and 

 fatiguing labour, and genuine samples are necessarily of high price. 

 Derived from such sources, however, the seed is seldom pure, being 

 usually mixed with seeds of other plants growing in the same localities, 

 notably the seeds of woodrush, sheep's sorrel, and sheep's fescue. In 

 the district north of Luneburg, Prussia, there is frequently found 

 growing in rye crops a bad annual weed, allied to sweet vernal, and 

 known as Fuel's vernal grass, Anthoxanthum Puelii. This forms such 

 dense tufts that the scythe can scarcely cut them, and hence the mow- 

 ing of the rye is rendered difficult. One district of the region named 

 sends annually to Hamburg about 40,000 Ib. of the seed of Fuel's 

 vernal grass, and this worthless material finds its way into commerce 

 as the seed of the true sweet vernal. On account of this origin the seed 

 of Fuel's grass often contains the long pointed grains of rye, as well as 

 the seeds of the wind grass (Apera Spica-venti), of corn bluebottle, 

 and of the annual knawel. It is not altogether easy to determine 

 whether a solitary " seed " is that of Anthoxanthum odoratum or of 

 A. Puelii, but viewed in the bulk the latter is of a distinctly lighter brown 

 colour than the former, whilst the " seeds " of the latter are somewhat 

 shorter. Fuel's grass is of little value. During its fir sty ear it permits 

 scarcely any of the grasses near it to develop, whilst its dense tufts help 

 to smother them. If, however, it is not allowed to shed its seed, it 

 usually disappears in the second year. The seed of sweet vernal is 

 sometimes adulterated with that of wavy hair-grass (Aira flexuosa), but 

 this is readily recognised by the lower half of its prominent basal awn 

 being twisted. 



TIMOTHY GRASS (Phleum pratense, L.) also called meadow catstail, 

 derives its more familiar name from Timothy Hanson, by whom the 

 cultivation of this grass was introduced from the United States of 

 America into Britain about the middle of the eighteenth century. In 

 the United States it is also called Herd's Grass, Catstail, and Tame 

 Timothy. It is a native British species, and is relished by all classes 

 of farm stock. 



The only grass that timothy might be mistaken for is meadow 

 foxtail, there being a general resemblance between the ears of these 

 two species. A brief examination will serve to show, however, that 

 they are really very different. The ear of timothy (figs. 422, 423) is 



