GRASSES OF THE MOIST PLACES 



By MAUD U. CLARKE 

 With Photojjraphs by HKNKY IKVING 



DIRECTLY we turn from dry land to There is a fragile look about this grass, 



that more or less associated with the colouring of the anthers -a delicate 



water, we then see very striking; hlac to cinnamon — contrasting with the 



differences in plant life. The big fact of pale green glumes. It is quite commonly 



ada])tation to circumstance at once looks found in the moist quarters flowering from 



us in the face. Of the six illustrations A])ril to August. In the latter month the 



here given, I place two to the front equally plant has to be prepared for distinct 



as of special interest in showing the alterations in ground that was wet enough 



moisture-loving grasses ready to ada])t in spring. I came u])on it in the hollows 



themselves to emergency or circumstance : of a connnon at the latter end of August 



1. The Floating Foxtail 

 {Alopccurus genie ulat lis) ; 



2. Flote Grass {Glyeeyia 

 fluitans). They live sub- 

 merged in water in the base 

 growth, with the upper 

 floating and flowering on 

 the surface ; yet should 

 the water subside, they 

 can maintain existence on 

 comparatively dry land. 

 Tliis tletermi nation to ])er- 

 sist under distinctly vari- 

 able circumstances seems 

 the highest point attain- 

 al^le by what we may term 

 })lant-instinct. 



The Floating Foxtail is 

 a much slighter plant than 

 the meadow variety, with 

 long, slender, jointed stems, 

 sometimes lying on the 

 water at the margins ol 

 ])onds and small ])ools, or 

 trailing over the moist 

 edges, sending fine fibrous 

 roots down into the nmd. 

 In either situation, the 

 flower stem rises at an 

 abrupt angle u]iwards from 

 one of the joints. The 

 sheath is slightly swollen, 

 projecting a broader ])lade 

 than those growing at flu; 

 root, which are finely linear. 



FLOATING FOXTAH.. 



associated with the rushes 

 where the water had en- 

 tirely deserted the surface 

 ol the ground, and the 

 ])lants were depending on 

 the supply of moisture 

 gathered in from the 

 densely spreading rootstock 

 below. 



An immediate neighbour 

 was the FloteCirass(('/7yrcna 

 //iii/ciiis), also semi-a(|uatic. 

 Now this species shows a 

 distinct merging of cliar- 

 a(~ter in the direction of the 

 vSedges, for it holds the leaf 

 sheath unsplit. The tall 

 stem can rise three feet 

 when forcing its way up 

 thiough the I'ushes sur- 

 rounding it, but it is rather 

 ])liant than stilf. The blade 

 often shows folded ilatly 

 together after allowing the 

 escape of the flowering 

 stem. One very distinct 

 characteristic is the manner 

 in which the sections of 

 the ilower-S]Mke incline to 

 sliaij) angles as the flower- 

 ing stage j)rogresses. This 

 right-angled expression of 

 the ])Iant shows l)oth in 

 the extended branchlets 

 bearing the flower-glumes^ 



