A. CANINA, L. BROWN BENT-GRAK8. 151 



florin does not seoiu to l)o as large, vigorous, i)rocluct ivf, ur as 

 valiiablo us our own nutivo red top. 



Agrostis caniiia, L. Brown Bent, Rhode Ishuul Bent, Fine 

 Top, Fnrze Top, Bnrden's Grass.— A very variable perennial, 

 much like small plants of .1 vnlrjaris. Culms C-18 in. hi., stolo- 

 niferons. Ligule oblong. Panicle 2-4 in., contracting in fruit, 

 usually purple. Floral glumes shorter than the empty, 5-nerved , 

 awned on the back, near the middle or below. Palea minute or 

 none. 



Widely distributed in cool regions. 



J. B. Alcott says: " There is as mucli difference between this 

 and red top as there is between the Tom Thumb ])e!i and the 

 marrowfat. Tt will make beautiful, close, fine sod upon quite 

 sterile soils. This, red top will not do. It is especiall} satisfac- 

 tory for lawns, which in strong soils is apt to overgrow." 



It makes very good pasture, though it is too small and grows 

 too closely to afford much of a bite. For fifteen vears the writer 

 has watched it in ^Michigan, on thin soils and on rich soils, on 

 moist land and on dry, sandy land, and he unhesitatingly recom- 

 mends it as one of the very best grasses to mix with June grass 

 for producing a fine lawn. If sown alone, four bushels of seed 

 in tlie chaff is none too much. 



This grass, with considerable variation, is often fouinl on 

 mountains iu Eurojie, Asia, Australia, and North America. 



A small Agrostis, iirob'ably A. vulgaris, of Europe, has been 

 much used for lawns, and by some it has passed for ^1. canina. 



ALOl'KOLUrs, I,. lOX TAIL. 



Spikelets l-Uowered, flat, crowded into a head or eylindricai 

 spike-like panicle, jointed at the apex of the enlarged pedicel, 

 flowoi-3 perfect. Glumes 3 or 4, the 'Z outer empty, acute, uwnless 

 or short awned, often connate below, flat-keeled, the keel ciliate 



Fig. 7~. — 7, Plant ot AhtpcciirnK prutcnMs, a iittlo reduced i 1', spikelet ; 5, floral 

 glume.— (Trinus mid Scribuer.) 



