472 GEASS FAMILY. 



B. sterilis, Linn. Leaves rather downy, but the culm glabrous ; pani- 

 cle open ; the spikelets on long, nearly straight, and simple peduncles ; 

 the slender, awl-like flowers 5-9, and 7-nerved, and roughish ; the awn 1' 

 long. Not yet common. (I) ® 



B. tectdrum, Linn. More common than the last ; panicle lax and some- 

 what 1-sided ; the spikelets pubescent and more numerous, on very slen- 

 der, curving pedicels ; leaves short. ® ® 



*- *- Spikelets of ordinary or small size, spreading or erect. 



= Flowers not awned. 



P6a. Meadow Grass. Several common species ; known by the open 

 panicle of 3-10-flowered spikelets ; the glumes and flowering glumes blunt 

 (no awn nor pointed tip), the latter laterally compressed and boat-shaped, 

 with scarious or white, membranaceous edges, and usually some delicate, 

 cobwebby hairs towards the base. The commonest is June Grass, already 

 mentioned, which is sometimes a weed. The only other weedy ones are : 



P. Annua, Linn. Low Spear Grass. Very low, weedy grass in cult, 

 ground, waste places, paths, etc. Flowers in spring or again in sum- 

 mer. Eu. (D 



P. compressa, Linn. Wire Grass, English Blue Grass. In cul- 

 tivated soil, often a very bad intruder ; pale, with low, very flat stems, 

 rising obliquely from a creeping base ; panicle small. Eu. % 



Panicum capillare, Linn. Tumble Grass, Old Witch Grass. A 

 diffuse plant, common in cornfields and other cultivated grounds, and 

 rolling before the wind in the fall ; sheaths, and usually the leaves, hairy ; 

 panicle very compound, with long, capillary divisions; spikelet with 1 

 perfect flower, the lower glume half the length of the upper empty one. ® 



= = Flowers with a bent or twisted awn. 



II One flower perfect, and one staminate only. 



Arrenatherum avenaceum, Beauv. Oat Grass, Grass oe the Andes. 

 Rather coarse but soft grass, introduced from Eu. into meadows and 

 fields ; thin and very unequal glumes, including a staminate flower, the 

 lower glume of which bears a long, bent awn below its middle ; above this 

 a perfect flower with its glume bristle-pointed from near the tip, and above 

 that a rudiment of a third flower. Sometimes grown as a meadow grass, 

 S. and W. 2Z 



H6lcus landtus, Linn. Velvet Grass, Meadow Soft Grass. Intro- 

 duced from Eu. into meadows and yards, not very common, lJ°-2° high, 

 well distinguished by its paleness and velvety softness, being soft downy 

 all over ; panicle crowded ; the flowers only 2 in the spikelet, small, rather 

 distant, the lower one perfect and awnless, the upper staminate and with 

 a curved or hooked awn below the tip. % 



II || Flowers several {about 7) in the spikelet. 



Danthdnia spicata, Beauv. Poverty Grass. A thin, wild grass, 

 l°-2° high, growing in sterile soils; spikelets few and whitish, subspi- 

 cate ; flowering glume loosely hairy, with stout and pointless teeth, be- 

 tween which arises a conspicuous awn ; tufted, with very narrow leaves. % 



* * Flowers in spikes or dense spike-like panicles. (For Bermuda Grass, 



see IV.) 



■*- Spikelets strictly spiked, all on one side of a flattened, jointless rhachis, 

 much crowded; the 2-5 spikes digitate, i.e. all on the apex of the flower- 

 ing stem. Finger Grass might be sought here; see Panicum, next page 



Eluslne Indica, GaBrtn. Crab Grass, Yard Grass, Dog's-tail Grasj, 

 or Wire Grass. Introduced only in yards or lawns N., more abundant S., 

 where it is valuable for cattle ; low, spreading pale ; flowers 3-6 or more 



