IDENTIFICATION OF GRASSES. 



21 



32. Nimble Will (Muhlenbergia schreberi; fig. 36). 



A pale-green, glabrous perennial, creeping by stolons ; leaves rolled in the 

 bud ; collar narrow, glabrous ; auricles none ; ligule membranous, short, 

 lacerate ; sheaths compressed, loose ; blades short when young, soft and flat ; 

 stolons very slender, hard, wiry, much branched, the joints one-half to 1 

 inch long. 



Often the fine, very much branched stolons of this grass lie off the 

 root only when the joints come in contact with the soil. 



ground and take 



33. Barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli; fig. 37). 



A coarse, nearly glabrous, tufted annual ; leaves rolled in the bud ; collar 

 broad, continuous, glabrous ; auricles none ; ligule wanting ; sheaths com- 

 pressed, the outer ones with pink nerves, the inner ones pale ; blades flat, 

 narrowed at base, the midnerve thick, sometimes sparsely hairy along the 

 margins near the base, one-half inch or more wide, sharp pointed. 



Fig. 37. — Barnyard 



?rass (.Echinochloa crus- 

 galli). 



Fig. 38. — Sudan grass (Andropogon sor- 

 ghum sudanensis) . 



34. Sudan grass {Andropogon sorghum sudanensis; fig. 38). 



A coarse, nearly glabrous annual ; leaves rolled in the bud ; collar broad, 

 continuous, glabrous ; auricles none ; ligule membranous, long, lacerate, 

 wider than the sheaths ; sheaths slightly compressed, hyaline margined ; 

 blades flat, narrowed at base, pale green above, one-half inch or more wide, 

 sharp pointed ; midnerve thick, pale green. 



This grass is similar to Johnson grass, but it does not have rootstocks. The midnerve 

 is also distinctive. 



35. Yellow foxtail (Chaetochloa latescens; fig. 39). 



A coarse, tufted annual ; leaves rolled in the bud ; collar narrow, yellow, 

 continuous, glabrous ; auricles none ; ligule a fringe of short hairs ; sheaths 

 compressed, glabrous ; blades flat near the base, hairy on the upper surface, 

 one-fourth inch or more wide, sharp pointed. 



