57 



into the wild out, and that by careful cultivation and selection of 

 seed the wild oat can be changed iuto the common cultivated oat. 

 But on this question there is a conflict of opinions, and the alleged 

 facts are not sufficiently established. The wild oat differs from the 

 •cultivated one chiefly in having more flowers in the spikelets, in the 

 long brown hairs which cover 1 he flowering glumes, in the constant 

 presence of the long twisted awn, and in the smaller size and lighter 

 weight of the grain. It is a great injury to any grain-field in which 

 it may be introduced, but for the purpose of fodder, of which it 

 makes a good quality, it has been much employed in California. 



3. A. pratensis, var. Americana, Scrib. Montana and British 



America. 



4. A. Smithii, Porter. Shore of Lake Superior. 



5. A. striata, Michx. New England, New York, and northwestward. 



Arkhenatherum, Beauv. 



Spikelets two-flowered in an open panicle, the rhachis hairy and 

 produced beyond the upper flower into a stripe or rudiment ; the 

 lower flower male only, the second perfect or female ; outer glumes 

 unequal, keeled, very thin, acuminate ; flowering glumes five to 

 seven nerved, that of the lowest or male flower with a dorsal, 

 twisted awn attached near the base, that of the fertile flower with a 

 short, straight awn near the tip; palet narrow, hyaline, two-keeled. 

 1. A. avenaceum, Beauv. Meadow oat-grass, Tall oat-grass, Ever- 

 green grass. 



A perennial grass of strong, vigorous growth, introduced from 

 Europe, and sparingly cultivated. Culms, 2 to 4 feet high, erect, 

 rather stout, with four or five leaves each ; the sheaths smooth, the 

 leaves somewhat rough on the upper surface, 6 to 10 inches long, 

 and about three lines wide, gradually pointed. The panicle is loose, 

 rather contracted, from 6 to 10 inches long, and rather drooping ; 

 the branches very uuequal, mostly iu fives, the longer ones 1 to 3 

 inches, and subdivided from about the middle; the smaller branches 

 very short, all rather full-flowered. The spikelets are mostly on 

 short pedicels. The structure of the flowers is similar to that of 

 common oats, but different in several particulars. The spikelets 

 consist of two flowers, the lower of which is staminate only, the 

 upper one both staminate and pistillate ; the outer glumes are thin 

 and transparent, the upper one about four lines long and three- 



