GRASSES OF OHIO 281 



basal leaves often about equalling the stems and abruptly cuspidate- 

 tipped, and with an open panicle whose ascending, spreading or 

 reflexed branches are spikelet-bearing at the ends. Spikelets 3-5- 

 flowered; lemma webby at the base, the keel and marginal nerves 

 sparingly pubescent, the intermediate nerves prominent and naked. 



In rocky woodlands. April-June. Lawrence, Perry, Medina, 

 Cuyahoga, Trumbull. 



11. Poa annua L. Annual Meadow-grass. An annual grass 

 with flattened stems, )/ A -\ ft. high, decumbent at the base, with 

 loose sheaths, very soft leaves, and a pyramidal panicle with open 

 spreading branches. Spikelets 3-6-flowered, crowded ; lemma dis- 

 tinctly 5-nerved, the nerves hairy below. 



Cultivated and waste ground. April-October. From Europe. 

 General. 



6. Dactylis L. Orchard-grass. 



Tall perennial grasses with glomerate panicles. Spikelets 2-5- 

 flowered, compressed, nearly sessile, in dense capitate clusters ; empty 

 glumes thin-membranous, hispid-ciliate on the keel, acute or mucron- 

 ate ; lemmas 5-nerved, keeled, the midnerve extended into a point or 

 short awn ; palets 2-keeled ; grain free, enclosed in the lemma and 

 palet. 



1. Dactylis glomerata L. Orchard-grass. A coarse tufted 

 glaucous grass w r ith simple erect stems, 2-4 ft. high, and a panicle 

 with a few stiff contracted branches, naked below and bearing dense 

 one-sided clusters of spikelets at the ends. Spikelets 3-5-flowered ; 

 lemma 5-nerved, short-awned, rough, ciliate on the keel. 



An important hay and pasture grass cultivated to some extent. 

 In fields and waste places. June, July. Naturalized from Europe. 

 General ; no specimens from the southeastern counties. 



7. Eragrostis Beauv. Love-grass. 



Annual or perennial grasses with the spikelets in loose or dense 

 terminal panicles. Spikelets strongly flattened; 3-many-flowered ; 

 empty glumes unequal, shorter than the flowering ones, keeled. 1- 

 nerved or the inner 3-nerved ; lemma membranous, keeled, 3-nerved; 

 palet shorter, prominently 2-nerved or 2-keeled; grain free, loosely 

 enclosed in the flowering glumes. 



1. Spikelets o-:5.>-fln\vered : ]/n- 2 /3 in. long. 2 



1. Spikelets 2 -."> -flowered ; )/% in. or less long; annuals. 5 



2. Stems erect or ascending, simple, rigid. 1-2J/2 ft. tall: flowers bisporangiate ; 

 perennials. /:. pectinacea. 



