T 1 1 K ( i K A MS KS OK T K N N KHS K K. 79 



Panicle contracted linear, culms extensively ercepin)^ or stol- 

 oniferous (Plate XXVI. Fij^ure 103) A. stoi.onii kka. 



Liji^ule less than a line lon;^, sometimes nearly obsolete; pan- 

 icle branches spreadinj.^, smooth .... A. vui,(;aris. 



Herd's ^rass or Red-top has lonj»" been known to our farmers, 

 and in its several forms is deemed valuable for j^ermanent 

 meadows and pastures, where the land is not too dry. On j^ood 

 soil it yields well and makes excellent hay. vSome of the forms 

 employed alone, make, uader favorable circumstances, the softest 

 and finest turf for lawns. 



27. CALAMAGROSTIS Adans. Fam. PI ii: 3. (1763). 



Spikelets one-flowered, in open or narrow and almost spike like 

 panicles, rachilla articulated above the empty flumes and pro- 

 duced above the Horet (in our species) into a short, hairy pedicel, 

 or bristle. Glumes three, the first two nearly equal and empty, 

 awnless and usually exceeding];- the third; the third or floral ^lume 

 usually more delicate in texture than the first and second, sur- 

 rounded at the base with copious hairs, which sometimes equal or 

 exceed theg^lumein length, awned on the back, usually from below 

 the middle. Palea more than half the length of its glume, faintly 

 two- nerved. Stamens three. Styles distinct, (xrain enclo.sed by 

 the floral glume and palea, and more or less adherent. 



Tall, often reed-like, perennial grasses, with small spikelets in 

 many- flowered terminal panicles. 



Species ai)out 120, very widely distributed over the world in the 

 temperate and arctic zones and on high mountains within the 

 tropics. Two of the eight species found east of the Mississippi 

 occur within the State. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



Panicle loose and open, spikelets ijj to 2 lines long 



I.e. Canadensis. 



Panicle strict, branches erect, spikelets 3 to 4 lines long . . . 



2. C. NUTTALLIANA. 



I. Calamagrostis Canadensis Beau v. Blue Joint. 

 Plate XXVI. Figure 104. 



An erect, leafy grass, three to five feet high, with smo<nh, simple 

 culms and open brown or purplish many-flowered panicles, four to 

 eight inches long. Sheaths smooth, striate; ligule two toihree 

 lines long, membranous; leaf-blade flat, six to eighteen inches 

 long, two to four lines wide, tapering gradually into long filiform 

 tips. Empty glumes ovate-lanceolate, acute, finely strigose. scab- 

 rous, awned on the back at or a little below the middle; awn 

 straight, very slender; hairs from the callus as long as the glume. 



A species common in the North and widely distributed over the 

 United States and Canada. Here apparenily limited to the higher 

 mountain regions of upper East Tennessee. A valuable gra<.t, 



