Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses 



area of like extent shows only pistillate spikes. Marsh Spike- 

 grass, or Salt-grass, as it is sometimes called, is one of the 

 sand-binding grasses, spreading by strong rootstocks, and 

 thriving even on the alkaline deserts of the interior where there 

 is little vegetation, and where the presence of this grass is 

 welcomed by thirsty travellers as a certain indication of water 

 near the surface of the soil. 



A tough wiry grass it is, like a denizen of inhospitable ground; 

 the low stems, erect and rigid, bear stiff leaves and short, com- 

 pact, spike-like panicles of straw-coloured blossoms. Upon new 

 land the straight rootstocks, according to Mr. Coville, send up 

 their erect stems at intervals of about four inches, and until the 

 grass is fully established these stems appear to cut the ground into 

 triangles, quadrangles, and similar geometrical figures. 



Marsh Spike-grass. Salt-grass. Disiichlis spicata (L.) 



Greene. 



Perennial, from creeping rootstocks. 

 Stem 6'-24' tall, wiry, erect. Ligule a ring of short hairs. Leaves §'-6' 



long, I "-2" wide, rather rigid, flat or involute. 

 Spike-like Panicle \'-2\' long, densely flowered. Staminate and pistillate 



flowers borne on separate plants. Spikelets 4-18-flowered, 4"-g" 



long, yellowish green, more numerous on staminate plants. Outer 



scales acute, unequal; flowering scales acute, broader and longer than 



empty scales. Stamens 3. Stigmas long. 

 Salt marshes and saline soils. June to August. 

 Maine to Florida and Texas, also on the Pacific coast, and in alkaline soil 



in the interior. 



LADY'S HAIR, OR QUAKING-GRASS 



Lady's Hair, Lady's Mantle, Lady's Shoes — to continue the 

 list no further — are examples of wayside plants in which a devout 

 people saw articles of person and attire belonging to the Blessed 

 Virgin. As patroness of those flowers which are dedicated to her 

 under the name of " Lady" the Virgin has an ever-living wardrobe, 

 including even her nightcap, and furnishing purse and thimble, 

 though for possession of her comb she has to dispute, not only with 

 the ever-beautiful goddess but also with that personage who is 

 reported as going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down 

 in it, and who, with scant use for toilet articles, was evidently 

 thought by our ancestors to have required the same plant for 

 darning needles! 



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