i8o THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



THE PERENNIAL RYE-GRASS (Lolium perenne, L.). 



This common Grass can be found in abundance in any piece of 

 grass land, as well as on waste ground and by roadsides. Its study 

 will prepare the student for the examination of other grasses. The 

 Perennial Rye-grass can be recognised among most common grasses 

 by the long flattened inflorescence. The main stem of this bears 

 some eight to twenty flat " spikelets," which are placed edgewise 

 on the stem and alternate on the two sides of this. Plants with 

 inflorescences should be dug up and their roots washed. If, as may 

 happen in cold, wet weather, no open flowers are found a number 

 of inflorescences can be placed in water and kept in the house, 

 when the flowers will open. 



The plant consists of a group of stems attached to the soil by 

 numerous, fine, branched roots springing from the bases of the 

 various stems ; no main root can be distinguished. Each shoot 

 bears at the base two or three leaves separated by short inter- 

 nodes. In the axils of these leaves are buds, and the further 

 development of the latter increases the number of shoots of the 

 plant. The formation of new shoots, and in consequence the 

 local spreading of the plant, is increased by cutting back the 

 flowering shoots. This is the explanation of the advantage of 

 regularly mowing any lawn or piece of turf. The general appear- 

 ance and mode of growth of the plant is so characteristic of all 

 common grasses that plants with slender stems springing in a 

 group from the base and bearing long narrow leaves are often 

 spoken of as grass-like. 



The shoot has long cylindrical internodes, and at each node a 

 single leaf is borne. The leaves alternate on opposite sides of the 

 stem. The nodes are marked by swellings of the base of the leaf- 

 sheath (Fig. 85, 2). This is of considerable length and surrounds 

 the stem closely, though the sheath is not joined to form a tubular 

 structure. Owing to the length of the sheath the leaf -blade 

 stands out from the stem some distance above the nodes. Just 

 where the blade joins the sheath a delicate semi-transparent 

 fringe, which fits closely against the stem, will be found. This 

 is characteristic of the leaves of most grasses, and is called the 

 ligule. The leaf-blade is long and narrow, and tapers to a point. 



