The Book of Grasses 



until the pressure of midsummer was past before giving their 

 seeds to the care of Nature. 



Among other grasses of 



late summer the Aristidas 



are common in dry soil 



throughout the country. 



The English name of Three- 



awned Grass is descriptive 



of a peculiarity of the genus, 



as each flowering scale bears 



triple awns. In Poverty 



Grass and Slender Aristida 



the outer awns of the 



flowering scale are shorter 



than the middle awn and 



are upright, while the long 



middle awn spreads stiffly 



at right angles to the spike. 



When the spikelets are 



comparatively few, as in the 



species mentioned above, 



these horizontally spreading 



awns are so characteristic 



that from them alone the 



grasses may easily be recog- 

 nized. 



Poverty Grass (Aristida 



IdichStoma) is the smallest of 

 I \ I the eastern Aristidas and 

 _ 11 1 if bears but short awns. Slen- 

 der Aristida has a slightly 

 larger flowering-head whose 

 horizontal awns are fre- 

 quently one half inch in 

 length. The panicles of 

 Purplish Aristida are long 

 and very bristly; the outer 

 awns of each flowering scale 

 nearly equal the horizontal 

 middle awn in length, and 



102 



Slender Aristida 

 Aristida gracilis 



Purplish Aristida 

 Aristida purpurasccns 



