GRASSES OF MINOR IMPORTANCE 99 



TALL OAT GRASS 



Tall oat grass is used in Europe as a constituent of 

 meadows and pastures but in this country it is used to a 

 very limited extent. It is adapted to the timothy region 

 and is used in mixtures for meadows. Its chief draw- 

 back is the high cost of the seed due chiefly to its poor 

 seed habits. The seed does not all ripen at once and 

 shatters readily so that only a small portion can be 

 gathered at any one time. Furthermore, the forage 

 from this grass is not very palatable to stock, at least 

 not until they have become accustomed to it. Tall oat 

 grass is not likely to compete with timothy in this 

 country, but will be increasingly used in mixtures. 



Tall oat grass is a native of Europe and is found in this 

 country occasionally in waste places and along roadsides 

 in the humid region. 



Description. — ^A tall erect perennial, 3 to 4 feet high, 

 with smooth sheaths, flat narrow blades not over 1/4 inch 

 wide, rough on both surfaces, and a long narrow rather 

 loose, pale or purplish, shining panicle, 6 to 10 inches 

 long, the short branches in clusters. Spikelets 2-flow- 

 ered, about 1/3 inch long, the first glume 1/2 as long, the 

 second glume nearly as long as the spikelet, the first floret 

 staminate, bearing a bent awn from the back twice as 

 long as the lemma, the second floret fertile, awnless. 



A variety of this, called bulbous oat grass is found occa- 

 sionally as a weed in Virginia and North Carolina where 

 it has recently been introduced from Europe. This has a 

 series of beadlike joints at the base of the stems. 



Common and Botanical Names. — Tall oat is so named 

 because of a fancied resemblance to oats, It is also 



