AGRICULTUEAL SPECIES OF BENT GRASSES. 21 



the lemma and palet are thinner, somewhat more translucent, the 

 palet more frequently adherent to the grain and transparent. The 

 palet is distinctly smaller than is usual in redtop and shorter in pro- 

 portion to the length of the lemma. The nonwrinkled, striate, often 

 opaque palet, which commonly equals or exceeds the grain in redtop, 

 is conspicuously rare in seeds of Rhode Island bent. Seeds bearing a 

 twisted, bent awn from near the base, common in Rhode Island bent 

 seed, are absent in redtop. The grain in Rhode Island bent-grass 

 seed is somewhat smaller and more slender than in redtop. 



Seeds of colonial bent (Agrostis tenuis) present all the characteristics 

 observed in the seeds of Rhode Island bent. 



SEED OP VELVET BENT (aGROSTIS CANINA L.). 



Lemma 0.04 to 0.07 of an inch in length, ovate-lanceolate or 

 elliptical in outline, exceeding the ,^ 



grain from slightly to one-fourth f j 



its length; surface usually min- 

 utely granular, obscuring the faint 

 longitudinal striation; surface dull 

 and pale straw colored or appar- 

 ently darker, due to the grain 

 appearing through the lemma, l k ^ 



which often is translucent except , \ 



at the opaque base; hairs at the , ^ -^ ' . | 



caUus present or wanting; many ^, r ,- , „, , , Mti 



seeds awned, the awn varying 



J, • J • i- j_i Fig. 8. — Seeds of velvet bent (Agrostis canina), 



from a mere projection from the enlarged and natural size. Seeds a, 6, c, and (f 



surface to a long bristle exceeding exMblt the minute palet. Well-developed 



■ 11 1 . ,1 J. awns appear at d and e. Rudimentary awns 



the lemma, bent near the apex Ot ^re indicated at / and ;;. a much-exposed 



the latter and spirally twisted grain is shown at c. (The natural size is shown 



below the bend, many of the inter- 

 mediate forms straight and not twisted, the awns mostly arising near 

 the middle of the lemma, the longest ones occasionally arising as low 

 as one-fourth of the length of the lemma from its base; apex of the 

 lemma four veined, owing to the absence of the keel vein above the 

 middle of the lemma; palet a minute, obscure scale of subequal length 

 and width, appearing as a whitish spot at the base of the grain; grain 

 usually smaller than in redtop or Rhode Island bent, its surface 

 more or less exposed between the margins of the lemma, soft, and 

 under slight pressure exuding the semifluid endosperm. (Fig. 8.) 



A greater proportion of the seeds of velvet bent are small than is 

 the case in redtop or Rhode Island bent. The ovate-lanceolate or 

 elliptical outline, the duU granular surface, the large proportion of 

 awned seeds, the absence of an evident palet, and finally the soft 

 semifluid grain serve readUy to distinguish these seeds from those 



