GRASS FAMILY, | 373 
ceeds harvest ; and thus the ground is left exposed to the i oe in- 
fluence of the scorching sun. The clover, however, when present in suf- 
ficient quantity, soon springs up and affords a shelter to the a dy 
when the land is good, the green grass (Poa PRATENSIS, L.), CO 
<A ioe § - the clover sang Fo . The seed, of Timothy, is 
usually autumn,—among, and immediately after Wheat and 
Rye ; ‘though it sameek very caulk when sown early the ensuing polls: 
6. AGROS’TIS, LZ. Bent-erass. 
(Greek, Agros, a field ; its usual place ne 
Spikelets in = a pani pee 1-flowered. Glumes nearly ae often 
e pales less. 
aur er often minute or wanting: Stamens pn oe 3. Mostly perennials 
with slender = itose culms. , 
1. A. vonea’rrs, With. Culms ae mostly erect; leaves lance- _ 
linear ; panicle loose, te orig tee outline — —usually pe pi- 
lee a —the lower twice tein size of the upper one; ligule 
Common Acrostis. Herd-grass (of Penn.) Red-top. 
Root perennial, ares. Culms ceespitose, very slender, erect or ascending, 1-2 feet 
high. Leaves 3— or 8 inches Jong, nerved, scabrous ; sheaths striate, smooth. Panicle 
ie-aberd branches capillary, sieroatngy semi-vertieillate, smoothish or often 
umes Sm: » except on ye kee 
at 
upper one very small, retuse. " 
Pastures and moist meadows : introduced. Native of Europe. Fi. July. Fr. ject * 
Obs. This grass is somewhat variable in its botanical characters,— 
as may be inferred from one of the aremar gen agente 
A. polymorpha. it te-oftecte some districts of the: 
and answers stolerably good parpose in wet or swampy meadows 
Bia. 253, A spikelet of Timothy (Phleum pratense). 4, Tesenrage J fom te 
