THE THREE LEADING FORAGE GRASSES 69 



two still shorter. Spikelets clustered toward the end and 

 upper half of the branches. 



The color of the foliage is dark green rather than blue 

 green as the name would indicate. In moist, shady- 

 places the leaves often become splotched with a white 

 powder due to the presence of a fungus called powdery 

 mildew. 



The flowering period is May to June according to the 

 latitude. 



Details of the Spikelet.* — Spikelet ovate or lanceolate, 

 flattened, 3 to 5-flowered, sometimes with more flowers, 

 4 to 6 mm. long. Glumes acute, smooth, about half as 

 long as the spikelet, the first i -nerved, the second 3- 

 nerved. At maturity the florets separate from each 

 other and from the glumes. Florets acute, 5-nerved, 

 the apex thin and papery, often purple-tinged, the mid- 

 nerve and outer pair of nerves minutely hairy, the base 

 of the floret with a tuft of fine cobwebby hairs. These 

 florets form what is known commercially as the seed, 

 though as in most grasses the real seed is inside of 

 these. 



Common Names. — Bluegrass, in order to distinguish 

 it from other species of the genus, that is, from other 

 bluegrasses, is called Kentucky bluegrass, this name 

 having come into use because of the famous bluegrass 

 pastures of Kentucky. In the northern portion of its 

 range this grass is usually known as June grass. Another 

 name sometimes heard or sometimes seen in books is 

 spear grass. In England, it usually goes under the 

 scarcely distinctive name of meadow grass. 



* See page 49. 



