Illustrated Description of the Grasses 



The Squirrel-tail Grass, a most unworthy relative of so useful 

 a grain, has reversed the usual order of migrating plants and for a 

 number of years 

 has been trav- 

 elling eastward 

 from the 

 Middle ^ 

 States 

 and the West. 

 It spreads its bristly 

 flowering-heads in 



waste grounds and invades dooryards and 

 gardens, a weed wherever it appears, and 

 furnished with that facility in transporting 

 itself which the majority of weeds possess. 

 Those virtues which the optimistic philosopher 

 is so sure exist in every plant, are as yet un- 

 discovered in this grass, and beautiful as the 

 plant is in bloom, with its squirrel-tails of 

 bearded spikes, its cultivation for ornament is 

 soon abandoned. It is a slender grass, bloom- 

 ing in early summer, and recognized by the 

 many long awns which spread stiffly from the 

 spike. These shining awns, often tinged with 

 rose and lavender, are of great beauty and 

 glisten with metallic lustre. According to a 

 report of the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical 

 Club these awns perform a quite different office 

 from such awns as those of Sweet Vernal-grass 

 and other grasses. The awns of Squirrel-tail 

 Grass show a backward curving which, wedge- 

 like, raises each spikelet from those below and 

 soon separates the ripened spike, joint from 

 joint. The awns also, like those of certain other 

 grasses, cling to passers-by and thus secure 

 free transportation for the seeds. 



The Wall Barley {Hordeum. murinum), whose 

 partiality for growing by walls gave to the plant 

 its common name, is a native of Europe, and in 

 this country is infrequently found in waste 



239 



Squirrel-tail Grass 

 Hordeum juhctum 



