6 BULLETIN 692, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



recommended mainly for moor lands. It is characterized by its habit 

 of forming long, creeping, leafy stolons, or runners, which often reach 

 a length of 3 to 10 feet and grow until late in the season. From the 

 accounts of the culture of this grass given by Richardson (14)^ and 

 others, it was propagated only in a vegetative manner, usually by 

 scattering the stolons over the ground and covering slightly with 

 soil. Apparently seed was rarely gathered or utilized, and there is 

 no evidence that it ever entered into the seed trade. 



From contemporary accounts, as well as from authentic preserved 

 specimens, there is no doubt that this is one of the grasses that have 

 been referred to Agrostis stolonifera L. There is doubt, however, as 

 to whether it is exactly identical with Linnseus's original plant, which 

 grows about Upsala, Sweden, and is there known as Kryp-hven. 



The stoloniferous bents of Europe are a puzzling group, and some 

 botanists describe as many as six different forms. Sinclair (15, p. 

 227-228, 343), who calls Richardson's florin Agrostis stolonifera var. 

 latifolia, states that the varying results obtained by different experi- 

 menters were due in part to their growing different botanical varie- 

 ties. Mackay (9, p. 298) states that he saw fine crops of florin on a 

 reclaimed bog in Connemara, Ireland, the grass having been intro- 

 duced three years previously with sand from the seashore. The 

 grass was promptly tested in America, but never achieved any im- 

 portance. A stoloniferous bent that occurs in America spontane- 

 ously is common along the seacoast from Delaware to Newfoundland, 

 and by American botanists is usually designated Agrostis alba var. 

 maritima, but it is not certain that it is native. A very similar grass 

 occurs on the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, 

 possibly introduced. 



Whatever the exact botanical identity of florin may be, it is clearly 

 distinct from both redtop and Rhode Island bent in its stoloniferous 

 habit. The names creeping bent and stoloniferous bent, as used by 

 English botanists, both refer to a grass with creeping stolons and 

 properly do not apply to any form without stolons. The name 

 florin has been used by modern seedsmen, however, in connection 

 both with redtop and with South German mixed bent. 



Fiorin is nowhere now cultivated in America, and apparently its 

 culture in Europe did not long outlast Richardson's propaganda. It 

 is not clear why this is the case, as numerous recorded experiments 

 indicate that the grass is valuable for culture on moor lands. It is 

 possible that the sale of redtop seed as florin may be partially respon- 

 sible for the agricultural decadence of florin. 



The stolon-producing bents are apparently constant in this habit. 

 Stebler and Volkart (16, p. 115) state that the habit proved constant 



' Richardson's writings were voluminous and appear in many of the agricultural journals of his time. 



