GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 59 
Ground largely overgrown with this grass should be put under 
cultivation and then be reseeded with other and better forage plants. 
PERENNIAL RYE-GRASS 
Lolium perénne, L. 
Other English names: Ray-grass, Common Darnel. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to July. 
Seed-time: July to August. 
Range: Nearly throughout the northern United States. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, pastures, 
and roadsides. 
The seeds of this grass closely resem- 
ble those of the much more expensive 
and valuable Meadow Fescue and are 
sometimes used by unscrupulous dealers 
in substitution or adulteration. It 
cannot properly be called a weed, 
though in this country it often proves 
unenduring and unprofitable, particu- 
larly in dry seasons, on light soils. It 
is a grass that requires moist ground 
and a cool, moist climate to thrive well, 
which is the reason it is so highly 
esteemed in the northern latitudes such 
as England and Scotland. Experiments 
at Woburn demonstrated that its nutri- 
tive value is very low and its aftermath 
the lowest of all cultivated grasses. 
When allowed to seed it is very ex- 
haustive to the soil. (Fig. 29.) 
Culm ten to thirty inches tall, erect 
and smooth. Sheaths shorter than the 
internodes; leaves flat and smooth, two 
to five inches long. Spike terminal, 
N 
three to eight inches long, the spikelets p,, 99. — perennial Rye- 
set with the edge to the rachis, the 
grass (Lolium perenne). X %. 
