398 WEEDS AND USEFUL PLANTS. 



ly very little esteemed by our farmers ; and in this they concur in the 

 opinion expressed by Mr. G. SINCLAIR, in his valuable Hortus Grami- 

 neus. 



25. ANTHOXAN'THUM, L. SWEET-SCENTED VERNAL GRASS. 



[Greek, Anthos, flower, and antlwn, of flowers ; flower of flowers.] 



SpiMets in a condensed, spike-form panicle ; each spikelet 3-flowered, 

 but the lower two (or apparently lateral) florets neutral, consisting merely 

 of a narrow palea, which is hairy and awned on the back. Perfect floret 

 diandrous, with 2 short, smooth, shining paleae. Glumes thin, acute, 

 keeled, the upper about as long as the flowers and twice the length of 

 the lower. Grain smooth, adherent to and enclosed by the palea?. 



1. A. ODORA'TUM, L. Panicle contracted into an oblong spike ; spike- 

 lets sub-pedunculate, spreading, pubescent ; paleae of the neutral florets 

 ciliate. 



FRAGRANT ANTHOXANTHUM. Sweet-scented Vernal Grass. 

 Fr. Flouve odorante. Germ. Das Rusch-gras. 



Root perennial. Culm erect, 12-18 inches high, rather slender. Leaves lance-linear, 

 shortish (1 or 2 - 5 or 6 inches long) , pubescent ; sheaths nerved, sulcate ; liguU elongated, 

 membrauaceous. Panicle a sort of loose spike 1-2 or 3 inches long, becoming yellow 

 when mature ; spikdds somewhat fascicled, on short peduncles. Palece of the perfect floret 

 very short, obtuse, nearly equal, smooth and shining, the lower one much broader. 

 Paleaz of the neutral florets single, linear-oblong, ciliate on the margins, one of them with 

 a geniculate awn from near the base, more than twice as long as the palea, the other with 

 a straight awn about as long as the palea, inserted on the back near the summit. Anthers 

 linear, large. Stigmas white. Grain oblong, blackish, shining. 



Meadows and moist open woodlands : introduced. Native of Europe. Fl. May -June. 

 Fr. July. 



Obs. This has been much noticed, in Europe, as a fragrant meadow- 

 grass ; but it seems rather to belong to a moist, cold, thin soil, and is 

 by no means regarded, in the United States, as a grass of superior value. 

 When cut, and partly dry, it emits a fragrant odor ; often remarkable 

 in new mown hay. The culms have been used in the manufacture of 

 imitation Leghorn hats and bonnets. 



This grass is the plant referred to by Dr. DARWIN, in the following 

 lines of his imaginative poem, the " Botanic Garden :" 



" Two gentle shepherds, and their sister-wives, 

 With thee, ANTHOXA ! lead ambrosial lives ; 

 Where the wide heath in purple pride extends, 

 And scatter'd furze its golden lustre blends, 

 Closed in a green recess, unenvi'd lot ! 

 The blue smoke rises from their turf-built cot 

 Bosom'd in fragrance blush their infant train, 

 Eye the warm sun, or drink the silver rain." 



Bot. Garden, Part II. Canto L 1. 85-92 



26. PHAL'AEIS, L. CANARY GRASS. 



[Greek, Phalos, shining ; alluding to the shining florets, or palese.] 



SpiMets in a dense or spiked panicle, 3-flowered, but the two lower (or 



