The Book of Grasses 



genus, and is in its greatest 

 perfection in late June, when 

 the low grounds are 



^ '''* "paynted all with 



variable flowers. 

 And all the meades 

 adorned with daintie 

 gemmes." 



The flowering-heads of 



this grass retain their 



beauty until late fall, 



and are easily recog- 



^ nized throughout the 



season, though the colours which 



tinge the broad scales fade as the seeds ripen. 



Densely flowered Manna-grass is less widely 

 distributed, and in bloom is quite unlike other 

 marsh grasses. It should be recognized by the 

 erect, bunch-like inflorescence of crowded spike- 

 lets. 



Floating Manna-grass is often found in shal- 

 low, running water, but the long panicles bear 

 little resemblance to the flowering-heads of 

 Nerved Manna-grass or Rattlesnake Grass. 

 The spikelets of Floating Manna-grass are long 

 and narrow, and the branches, at first closely 

 appressed, at last spread rather stiffly from the 

 stem. The manna crop of Germany and Poland 

 is gathered from a species similar to this, and 

 the seeds are there considered desirable in soups 

 and gruels. Bread made from the meal is said 

 to be very little inferior to that made from 

 wheat, but the American farmer has little time 

 to experiment with so small a grain when the 

 product of years of cultivation is ready for his 

 sowing, and in this country birds gather the 

 harvest by the water's edge, while, as the tall 

 stems lean over streams, the fallen seeds are eagerly eaten by fish. 

 Sharp-scaled Manna-grass {Glyceria acuiifidra) is a pale green 



208 



Nerved Manna-gras3 

 Glyceria nervata 



