Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses 



SEA LYME-GRASS, TERRELL-GRASS, SLENDER WILD 

 RYE, AND NODDING WILD RYE 



Members of this genus have proved their usefulness in many 

 ways. The stems have been used for thatching and have been 

 formed into a coarse fabric; the seeds have furnished an article of 

 food to primitive tribes; and even so long ago as the eighteenth 

 century a saline species with extensively creeping rootstocks was 

 cultivated in Europe to preserve the shifting sands of northern 

 coasts. 



In the reign of William 111, the Scottish Parliament passed an 

 act for the preservation of Sea Lyme-grass {Elymus arenarius); 

 later, in the time of George I, the British Parliament extended the 

 operation of this law to the coasts of England, and made it a penal 

 offence for a person to cut the grass or to be found in possession of 

 it within eight miles of the coast. This species, the Sea Ljmie-grass, 

 is found in America, but only on the colder shores, where it is as 

 valuable as the Marram Grass which it somewhat resembles. 



The eastern species of the genus are of comparatively little 

 value and we find them chiefly in the moist soil of river banks and 

 by low thickets, where in early summer the stout green spikes 

 rise, stiffly bearded with upright awns, and in appearance suggest- 

 ing the flowering-heads of certain cultivated grains. Terrell- 

 grass, the one most frequently found, is the least attractive of our 

 three common species of the genus. This grass is from two to four 

 feet tall and may be recognized by its coarse, erect spikes which 

 are rigid and bear shorter awns than do the other species. Slender 

 Wild Rye {filymus striatus) is much more delicate in appearance, 

 and the spikes, usually less than four inches in length, resemble a 

 small growth of the beautiful Nodding Wild-Rye (Elymus cana- 

 densis) which during the summer months ornaments wayside 

 thickets. The stout stems of Nodding Wild Rye are from two 

 to five feet in height and bear dark green, elongated spikes which 

 become nodding as the blossoms open. 



The outer, empty scales of certain species of this genus are 

 thick and corky, and by adhering to the ripened spikelets act as 

 floats to buoy the seeds as they fall on the water's surface. This 

 formation of the scales, so advantageous to the new seed, is most 

 noticeable in Terrell-grass, whose spikelets, supported by their 



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