GENERA OF GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 103 



Annuals or perennials, with flat blades and simple terminal flat 

 spikes. Species about eight, in Eurasia, four of these being intro- 

 duced in the United States. 



Type species : Lolium perenne L. 



Lolium L., Sp. PI. 83, 1753 ; Gen. PL, ed. 5, 36. 1754. Linnaeus describes two 

 species, L. perenne and L. temulentum. The first is chosen as the type, as it is 

 an economic species. Both were described in the flora of Sweden. 



Two species are of agricultural importance. Lolium perenne, Eng- 

 lish or perennial rye-grass, was the first meadow grass to be culti- 

 vated in Europe as a distinct segregated species, the meadows and 

 pastures formerly being mixed native species. This and the next are 

 probably the most important of the European forage grasses. Eng- 

 lish rye-grass is a biennial or short-lived perennial, 2 to 3 feet tall, 

 with glossy dark-green leaves and a slender spike as much as a foot 

 long, the spikelets 8 to 10 flowered, somewhat longer than the glume, 

 the lemmas awnless. Italian rye-grass, L. multiflorum Lam. (L. itali- 

 cum A. Br.) (PL XI; fig. 52), differs from the preceding in having 

 awned lemmas and usually a greater number of florets to the spikelet. 

 Both species are used to a limited extent for meadow, pasture, and 

 lawn. They are of some importance in the South for winter forage. 

 Lolium multiftorum is common in the humid region of the Pacific 

 coast, where it is often called Australian rye-grass. 



In the Eastern States the rye-grasses are often sown in mixtures 

 for parks or public grounds, where a vigorous early growth is re- 

 quired. The young plants can be distinguished from bluegrass by the 

 glossy dark-green foliage. 



Lolium temulentum L., darnel, is occasionally found as a weed in 

 grain fields and waste places. It is in bad repute, because of the pres- 

 ence in the fruit of a narcotic poison, said to be due to a fungus. Dar- 

 nel is supposed to be the plant referred to as the tares sown by the 

 enemy in the parable of Scripture. It is an annual, with glumes as 

 much as an inch long and exceeding the 5 to 7 florets. 



42. LEPTURUS R. Br. 

 (Monerma Beauv.) 



Spikelets 1-flowered, embedded in the hard, cylindric, articulate 

 rachis, placed edgewise thereto, the first glume wanting except on the 

 terminal spikelet, the second glume closing the cavity of the rachis 

 and flush with the surface, indurate, nerved, acuminate, longer than 

 the joint of the rachis ; lemma lying next the rachis, hyaline, shorter 

 than the glume, 3-nerved ; palea hyaline, 2-nerved, a little shorter than 

 the lemma; rachilla not disjointing, the spikelet falling entire, at- 

 tached to its rachis joint. 



Low annuals or perennials, with hard cylindric spikes. Species 

 three, all from the Eastern Hemisphere, one introduced in California. 



