Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses 



berries and strawberries crowd beneath white birches and spire- 

 like cedars. Bottle-brush Grass retreats farther into the woods, 

 and Black Oat-grass is also found within their shelter, usually on 

 the southern slope of some open woodland where the sunlight 

 penetrates the leafy shade. 



The greater number of the species of this genus (Stipa) are 

 found west of the Mississippi, and form the Bunch-grasses, 

 Feather-grasses, and Needle-grasses of the plains. 



Black Oat-grass is common eastward in early summer, when 

 the loose, few-flowered panicles rise above the tightly rolled and 

 thread-like leaves. The ripened flowering-heads often remain on 

 this grass until autumn, and the long awns, bent near the middle 

 and twisted below, spread widely from the scales. These twisted 

 awns uncoil during damp weather but coil tightly again when the 

 sun shines, and from this habit the Stipas, in older days, were 

 known as "weather grasses." 



A foreign species, with silky-feathered awns nearly a foot in 

 length, has been cultivated for its beauty, and a species of southern 

 Europe is an important article of commerce, baskets, ropes, and 

 paper being made from the tough leaves. 



Black Oat-grass. Stipa avenacea L 

 Perennial. 



Stem 1-3 ft. tall, slender, erect. Ligule about 1" long. Leaves in- 

 volute, thread-like, stem leaves 3'-5' long, basal leaves longer. 



Panicle 4'-8' long, few-flowered, open, branches slender. Spikelets 

 i-flowered, narrow, 4"-5" long. Scales 3; outer scales narrow, nearly 

 equal, acute; flowering scale blackish, hairy at base and bearing a 

 bent, loosely twisted, terminal awn about 2' long. Stamens 3. 



Dry, open woods. May to July. 



Southern New England to Ontario and Wisconsin, south to Florida and 

 Mississippi. 



POVERTY GRASS, SLENDER ARISTIDA, PURPLISH 

 ARISTIDA, AND SEA-BEACH ARISTIDA 



The height of the grass season continues through all the summer 

 months, and even in September the student will find fresh grasses 

 by the wayside. These are not always giant species like the Reed, 

 which uses the entire season in maturing its growth; several of 

 the smaller grasses of wiry stem and narrow leaf have, in the long 

 evolution of the grass family, found it more advantageous to wait 



lOI 



