FARMERS BULLETIN 814. 



The stems of this grass are peculiar in that they often appear to 

 have from two to four leaves at each joint. There is really only one 

 leaf at each joint, but in many cases two to four contiguous joints are 

 very short and so bear as many leaves close together as there are short 

 joints. The two or more short joints are succeeded by a longer joint, 

 1 to 3 inches in length, which, in turn, may be followed by two or more 

 short joints. While this arrangement of alternating long and short 



joints is very common, it is 

 far from being uniform. 



HISTORY. 



Bermuda grass is un- 

 doubtedly a native of the 

 Old World, probably of 

 India, but it is now com- 

 mon in all tropical and sub- 

 tropical parts of the world. 

 It is not known when it 

 made its first appearance 

 in America, but in Mease's 

 Geological Account of the 

 United States, published in 

 1807, it is mentioned as 

 one of the most important 

 grasses in the Southern 

 States. It is now common 

 in all parts of the United 

 States from Virginia to 

 Florida and westward to 

 Arizona and California. 



In the United States it 

 is commonly known as Ber- 

 muda grass, which suggests 

 that it may have come to 

 America by way of the 

 islands of that name, though 

 there is no definite published record of such a source. ^ In some 

 localities it is known as wire-grass, scutch-grass, dog's-tooth, or 

 Bahama grass, and in California and Arizona it is often called devil 

 grass. In Australia it is commonly known as couch or Indian couch. 

 In the Hawaiian Islands it is known as manienie, while in India it is 

 called doob, and in southern India hariali. The many names which 

 have been given to it in different parts of the world show that it has 

 a wide distribution and that it has long been regarded as an important 

 plant. 



FIG. 1. Bermuda grass. 



