46 THE DROP-SEED GRASSES. 



DROOPING REED GRASS (Cinna pendula). Branches 

 of the loose panicle long and hairy, drooping. Spike- 

 lets about half the size of those in the preceding 

 species. Grows in moist woods ; perennial, flowering in 

 August. Found around Lake Superior. 



10. MUHLENBERGIA. Drop-seed Grass. 



Spikelets one-flowered in contracted slender panicles. 

 Glumes minute ; palea3 usually hairy, bearded at the 

 base, herbaceous, the lower three-nerved, pointed, or 

 awned at the tip. Stamens three. Named from Dr. 

 Muhlenberg, a distinguished American botanist. 



The AWNLESS MUHLENBERGIA (Muhlenbergia sobolifera) 

 is sometimes found in open, rocky woods, from New 

 England to Michigan, and south. It grows from one to 

 two feet high, with a simple contracted panicle, very 

 slender ; glumes long, pointed, nearly equal ; root pe- 

 rennial, creeping, woody ; leaves pale-green, sheaths 

 open, ligule wanting. Flowers in August and Septem- 

 ber. Of no known agricultural value. 



CLUSTERING MUHLENBERGIA (Muhlenbergia glomeratd). 

 From one to two feet high, stems upright, somewhat 

 branched ; panicle oblong, linear, contracted into an 

 interrupted glomerate spike, with long peduncles, or 

 flower-stalks, and awned glumes ; perennial. Flowers 

 in August and September. Common in swamps arid 

 low grounds. Of no agricultural value. 



The MEXICAN MUHLENBERGIA (Mulileribergia Mexi- 

 cana), another species of this genus, has been mistaken 

 by some for our fowl meadow. It has an erect stem, 

 two to three feet high, much branched ; panicles lateral 

 and contracted, branches densely spiked and clustered, 

 green or purplish ; glumes pointed, awnless, and un- 

 equal. It is perennial. Flowers in August. Frequently 

 regarded as a troublesome weed in low grounds, the 



