THE GENERA AND THEIR SPECIES. 



73 



Alopecurus. Plate vii. AGROSTIDE&. 



1 8. agrestis 24 in. Slender Foxtail. Spike tapering ; 



stem rough. 



19. pratensis 24 in. Meadow Foxtail. Spike fusiform ; stem 



smooth and straight ; awn twice as long 

 as palea. 



20. geniculaius 12 in. Marsh Foxtail. Spike fusiform; stem 



smooth and kneed. 



2i.alpinus 18 in. Alpine Foxtail. Spike cylindrical; 

 stem smooth and straight ; awn about as 

 long as palea. 



18. A, agrestis. Pastures; Europe and Russian Asia. 

 April to October. Root annual, fibrous, small. Stem leafy, 

 bare above, rather rough. Leaves acute, flat, striated, roug 

 above, ribs prominent, rounded 

 or acute below. Sheaths rough, 

 tumid, uppermost longer than leaf ; 

 ligule lanceolate, downy. Spike 

 erect, slender, tapering, purplish. 

 Spikelets few, glabrous, one floret. 

 Glumes nearly equal, united to 

 middle, acute, ribs prominent, base 

 hairy, keel downy, awnless, white 

 and green. Outer palea ovate, 

 half as long as awn and with two 

 green ribs ; inner palea absent. 



Slender Foxtail, otherwise Black 

 Bent, is of no agricultural value, 

 but a troublesome weed among cereals, particularly pre- 

 valent on poor soils. It is avoided by cattle, though its seed is 

 eaten by pheasants, partridges, and smaller birds. 



19. A. pratensis. Pastures, thriving on clay; Europe and 

 Central and Northern Asia. April to June. Root perennial, 

 reaching fourteen inches in depth, fibrous, creeping, prostrate 



Alopecurus agrestis. 

 Spikelet. For Floret see p. 44. 



