234 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



Trichodium. Mx. 3. 2. 



From the Greek for a hair, on account of the smallness of the 

 stem. Glume 2-valved, larger than the single palea ; stigma near- 

 ly sessile. 



T. laxiflorum. Mx. Tickle -grass. Spread on dry and 

 rather poor pastures ; often 2 feet high, slender, leafy towards 

 the base, and dividing into very slender and leafless branches ; 

 May ; June. Should be kept down by feeding, as its stem 

 otherwise becomes too wiry for cattle to eat ; forms a hand- 

 some turf ; July. 



T. scabrum. Muhl. A foot or more high, often geniculate, 

 or bent like a knee at the joints ; branched, and quite diffuse in 

 its panicle ; glume serrated and rough on the keel ; dry woods ; 

 August ; not abundant. Agrostis scabra, Willd. 



Aira. L. 3. 2. 



A. flexuosa. L. Hair-grass. The only species now belong- 

 ing to the genus ; an erect, elegant grass, as it stands waving in 

 the air ; not abundant, grows in tufts in the valleys and on hills. 

 On the east side of Saddle Mountain, at an elevation of more than 

 2000 feet above the base, it grows in large tufts. It is too hard a 

 grass to be useful as food for cattle, except when young ; June. 



Trisetum. Pers. 3. 2. 



Taken from Aira, and named from the 3 awns or beards of the 

 palea, 2 at the tip, and 1 from the middle of the back ; the 

 glume includes 3-5 flowers, and is as long as they are. 



T. palustre. Tor. Grows in wet meadows, and has a con- 

 tracted, nodding panicle ; June ; rather rare. 



T. purpurascens. Torrey. Grows in mountain meadows, 2 

 feet high, leafy, somewhat branched ; leaves narrow ; not abun- 

 dant. 



