THE GRASSES OF MAINE. 19 



and Forage Plants, states that it is not much relished by stock of 

 any kind, while it yields but a small amount of herbage, but this 

 statement needs to be verified. Alopecurus aristulalus, Michx., 

 now regarded as a variety of tho above, occurs in Maine. 



Genus Ehleum, Linneus. 



Phle'-um. 

 An ancient Greek name. 



The flowers are crowded into a dense, cylindrical spike ; spikelets 

 one-flowered ; glumes equal in length and with a short awn or bris- 

 tle on the end of each ; flowering glume and palea without awns ; 

 stamens three. This genus is represented in Maine by only one 

 species. 



4. Phleum pratense, Linneus. 



Phh'-um pra-ten-se. 



PLATE II. 



Common Names. Timothy, Herds-Grass. 



This perennial grass grows from two to four feet high and has a 

 cylindrical spike from three to six inches long on the top of the stem. 

 The glumes are of equal length and tipped with a short bristle or 

 awn, and there is a row of fine bristles along the back. This well- 

 known grass is more extensively cultivated in this State than any 

 other species, and is the favorite grass, especially for horses. 



Specimens of this grass, grown on heavy, clave}' loam on the 

 College farm at Orono, were cut when in full blossom and analyzed 

 by Prof. W. O. Atwater, who obtained the following percentages : 

 Ash 4.35, albuminoids 7.12, crude fiber 33.28, nitrogen, free 

 extract, 53.29, fat 1.96. The average of nine different analyses 

 made of this species cut in different stages of the growth, from 

 Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut, differ but little from the 

 above. 



Genus Sporobolus, R. Brown. 

 Spo-rob'-o-lus. 

 Derived from the Greek, spora, a seed, and ballo, to cast out, in 

 allusion to the fact that their seeds fall as soon as mature. 



Spikelets containing one, or rarely two flowers, in an open or con- 

 tracted panicle. Glumes unequal, the lower one much shorter than 

 the upper ; flowering glume and palea about equal in length. 



Two species belonging to this genus are known to occur in Maine. 



