FOWL MEADOW GRASS. 69 



or pasture, except in shady parks and open woodlands where forage 

 is required. It can be used to great advantage for lawns under trees. 



Seed: Most of the seed of the trade is obtained from Germany, 

 where it is collected from wild plants and cleaned by hand. 



Quality of seed: The seeds are much like those of Kentucky 

 Blue and Rough-stalked Meadow Grass, but differ in having faintly 

 nerved glumes. In this respect they closely resemble those of Fowl 

 Meadow Grass, from which they differ in having sharply pointed 

 glumes. They are bright yellowish brown, sometimes with a purplish 

 tint. 



FOWL MEADOW GRASS {Poa palustris L.) 



Other Latin names: Poa flava L., Poa serotina Ehrh., Poa trifiora 



Gilib. 

 Other English name: False Red Top. 



Botanical description: Fowl Meadow Grass is perennial with 

 short runners which produce few and short leafy shoots. It looks 

 rather like Rough-stalked Meadow Grass, but the plants form looser 

 tufts, consisting chiefly of flower-bearing stems. These are rarely 

 quite upright but are ascending, their base lying flat on the ground. 

 At the base they produce roots and secondary branches which de- 

 velop into ordinary leafy stems. The stems are from two to five 

 feet high, leafy to above the middle. The stem leaves are long and 

 narrow, soft in texture and bright green in colour. Their ligule is 

 generally long but blunt. The panicles are large, with numerous 

 branches from the joints. At flowering time the branches are widely 

 spreading; later they are upright and form a narrow panicle. Each 

 spikelet contains three to six flowers of a peculiar colour. The 

 lower part is green and the top is yellow or brown with a golden or 

 bronze lustre. The spikelets are thus two-coloured, and the effect 

 of the whole panicle is characteristic and quite different from that 

 of either Kentucky Blue or Rough-stalked Meadow Grass. 



Geographical distribution: Fowl Meadow Grass is a native 

 of Europe, temperate Asia and North America. 



Habitat: It grows naturally in moist meadows, in ditches and 

 along seashores and streams, etc. 



