392 WEEDS AND USEFUL PLANTS. 



age wnere other grasses will not thrive but in the northern States it 

 is considered desirable to keep our farms as clear of it as possible. 



20. SECA'LE, L. EYE. 



[Latin, secare, to cut ; or perhaps from the Celtic, Sega, a sickle.] 



Spikelets 2-flowered, arranged as in Triticum. Glumes sub-opposite, 

 keeled. Lower palea awned at apex, keeled, with unequal sides the 

 outer side broader and thicker ; upper palca shorter, 2-keeled. Scales 2, 

 entire, ciliate. Stamens 3. Grain free, hairy at summit. A tall an- 

 nual, bluish-glaucous grass with long-awned/orefc. 

 1. S. CEREA'LE, L. Spikes compressed, linear; glumes subulate, 'sca- 

 brous ; paleae smooth, the lower one bristly-ciliate on the keel and ex- 

 terior margin. 



HARVEST SECALE. Eye. Common Eye. 

 Fr. Le Seigle. Germ. Gemeiner Eoggen. Span. Centeno. 



Cidm 4-6 feet high, glabrous, hairy near the spike. Leaves 6-18 inches long, lance- 

 linear, smooth beneath, roughish above and on the margin, glaucous ; sheaths mcmbrana- 

 ceous, nerved, smooth ; ligule short, dentate. Spike 4-6 inches long, 2-sided and flattish, 

 linear. Spikelets mostly 2-flowered, with an awn-like rudiment of a third. Glumes a little 

 distant from the florets, opposite, scabrous, bristly-pilose at base. Lower palea ventricose, 

 acuminate, compressed at apex, 5-nerved, terminating in a long scabrous awn ; keel and 

 exterior margin bristly-ciliate, the inner margin not ciliate, and the nerves on that side 

 less conspicuous ; upper palea lanceolate, acuminate, often bifid at apex, sparingly ciliate 

 on the 2 keels. Grain oblong, sub-cylindrical, grooves on the upper side, hairy at sum- 

 mit ; dusky brown. 



Fields : cultivated. Native of the East. Fl. June. Fi: July. 



06.9. This cereal grass seems to do best in light sandy soils. The grain 

 in such soils is of a better quality, and affords a whiter flour. Eye 

 comes nearer to Wheat, in bread-making qualities, than any other 

 grain, but is, nevertheless, decidedly inferior to it. It is the principal 

 bread-corn of the northern parts of Europe especially of Eussia and 

 Germany. 



The seed is subject particularly in wet seasons to become diseased, 

 and enlarged, producing what is called Ergot, or spurred -Eye. This 

 diseased grain is injurious to health, when made into bread ; but has 

 been found to possess important medical properties, in certain cases, 

 when judiciously administered. 



21. HOE'DEUM, L. BARLEY. 



[An ancient Latin name ; of obscure derivation.] 



Spikelets 1-flowered, with a subulate rudiment of a second floret ar- 

 ranged in threes at the joints of the rachis, the lateral ones mostly abor- 

 tive. Glumes lance-linear, flat, rigid, subulate-awncd, collateral in front 

 of the spikelets, 6 in number, forming a kind of involucre. Palecs her- 

 baceous, the lower one concave, produced into a long awn at apex. 

 Stamens 3. Grain hairy at summit, oblong, sulcate on the upper oj 

 inner side, adherent to the palea?, or rarely free. 



