Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses 



Chess. Cheat. Brdmus secalinus L. 

 Annual. Naturalized from Europe. 

 Stem 1-4 ft. tall, erect, rather stout. 

 Sheaths usually smooth. Ligule short. 

 Leaves 3'-io' long, 2"-4" wide, flat, some- 

 what hairy, conspicuously veined. 

 Panicle 2'-8' long, pyramidal, branches spread- 

 ing or drooping, lower branches ^'-4' long. 

 Spikelets 6-io-flowered, 6"-io" long. Outer 

 scales unequal; ist scale acute; 2nd scale 

 obtuse; flowering scales ^"-4" long, obtuse, 

 often downy on upper margins, awnless or 

 bearing a short, straight awn from between 

 the obtuse teeth; palets about as long as 

 flowering scales. Stamens 3. 

 Fields and waste places, especially in grain fields. 



June to August. 

 Nearly throughout North America except in the 

 extreme north. 



RAY-GRASS, DARNEL, AND ITALIAN 

 RYE-GRASS 



Honour should be granted the Ray-grass, 

 since it was probably the first of the grasses 

 noticed and cultivated as a forage plant. In 

 Europe its use extends over many scores of 

 years, and it is certain that in England Ray- 

 grass has been held in esteem since the days 

 of Charles II, though it was not until after the 

 middle of the eighteenth century that other 

 grasses were considered worth the care of 

 gathering and sowing. 



Like many of the field grasses Ray-grass 

 has long been naturalized from Europe, but it 

 is less frequently cultivated in this country 

 /// 1 ' ' than are other grasses more suited to our soil 

 and climate. The slender elongated spikes, 

 rising in midsummer, are beaded with edge- 

 wise placed spikelets which open stiffly in 

 flower and are light green in colour with 

 pale pendent anthers. 



Closely relatedtothis species is the " infelix lolium" of Vergil — 



231 



Ray-grass 

 Lolium perenne 



