The Book of Grasses 



the flowers fade rapidly, leaving only pale-brown panicles of ripen- 

 ing seeds. Occasionally the whole panicle fails to mature, and 



then the spikelets remain 

 empty and faded. 



In the same wet meadows 

 Nuttall's Reed-grass {Calama- 

 grostis cinnoides) is found in 

 midsummer. A stout, reed- 

 like grass is this species, with 

 broader leaves than Blue- 

 joint, and with contracted 

 panicles which in the sunlight 

 look as if they had been dip- 

 ped in dye of royal purple, so 

 deeply coloured are the tips of 

 the individual spikelets. The 

 leaves of this grass are oc- 

 casionally tinged with red as 

 are, here and there, those of 

 other summer grasses that 

 thus anticipate the brilliancy 

 of autumn. 



The flowering scales of 

 these grasses are surrounded 

 by soft hairs, and among these 

 hairs the slender awn of Blue- 

 joint is almost lost. In Nut- 

 tall's Reed-grass the stouter 

 awn is readily seen under the 

 microscope, as is also the pro- 

 longed rachilla which bears a 

 tiny thistle-head of white hairs 

 at its summit. 



Blue-joint Grass. Cala- 



magrostts canadensis (Michx.) 

 Beauv. 



Perennial. 

 Stem 2-5 ft. tall, erect. Ligule 

 I "-3" long. Leaves 6'- [5' long, 

 I "-4" wide, rough. 



Cala>niii;rinlis citninides 



122 



