134 , PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL BOTANY 



the upper stem leaves. The panicle is pyramidal with its slender remote, 

 branches with 3 to 5 fascicles. The spikelets are crowded, 3-5 flowered. 

 The lemmas are cobwebby at the base (Fig. 55). This is a common grass 

 in meadows and fields throughout the United States and in British Colum- 



FIG. 55. Kentucky blue grass (Poa pratensis.) (After Ball, Carleion R.: Winter Forage 

 Crops for the South, Farmers' Bulletin 147, 1902, p. 19.) 



bia. It is naturalized in the east, but is indigenous in the north and west. 

 It gets its name Kentucky blue grass, because it thrives in the limestone 

 soils of certain districts of Kentucky, which on this account are cele- 

 brated for their fine breeds of horses and cattle. 



