40 



REDTOP. 



REDTOP, FINETOP, BURDEN'S GRASS, HERD'S GRASS of 



Pennsylvania and Southern 

 States (Agrostis vulgaris), 

 Fig. 28. Stems erect, slen- 

 der, round, smooth, and pol- 

 ished; roots creeping, pan- 

 icle oblong, leaves linear, 

 ligule very short ; lower 

 palea mostly awnless, and 

 three-nerved. Flowers in 

 July. A magnified flower is 

 shown in Fig. 29. In pas- 

 tures and moist meadows 

 very common introduced. 

 The term ayrostis was the 

 ancient Greek word for 

 field, and was applied to 

 all varieties of grass that 

 grew there. 



This valuable grass, so 

 common in all our cultivated 

 fields, has been an inhab- 

 itant of our soils for more 

 than a century. It was 

 called simply English Grass 

 by Eliot, Deane, and other 

 early writers, and by the 

 English, Fine Bent. 

 Most of the grasses 

 r of this genus are 

 known in England 

 under the name of 

 "Bent Grass," of 

 which there are 



Fie. 29. 



many species. 



Fig. 28. Redtop. 



