A SECOND OHIO WEED MANUAL. 



509 



34 Nimble Will, Dropseed-grass (P) Muhlenbergia diffusa Willd. Nim- 

 ble will, Fig. 7, is alow, much branched, weed}- grass with wiry culms (stems) 



1 to 2 feet long, also called 



w 



Fig. 7. Nimble Will. 



re-grass. It is 

 common on dry hillsides and along pathways. 

 Seeds slender and inconspicuous. 



Cultivation and rotation- with clover may be 

 successfully used in dealing with this grass. 



35 Mexican Drop=seed, Wood=grass (P) 

 Muhlenbergia Mexicana (~L.)T rin. Thisgrass is 

 a much-branched perennial growing in damp 

 ground, especially in woodlands. It is of no 

 agricultural value and is frequently received 

 for name. While resembling the last it has lat- 

 eral and more compact panicles. Cultivation 

 and drainage will displace it. 



36 Rush CattaiUgrass (P) *Hcleochloa 

 schoenoides (L.)Host. This is a low, perennial 

 grass with decumbent base and attracting at- 

 tention by the short, dense panicles, very much 

 resembling, at first glance, those of the cul- 

 tivated timothy. The plant is sparingly natural- 

 ized at various points in the state and is likely 

 to attract increased notice. How objectionable 

 it may prove experience will show. 



37 Wild Oat (A) *Avena fatua L. Wild 

 oat. Fig. 8, has been introduced at two points 



should be destroyed . Mir 



or more in the state, and 



promptly wherever found. It has become very 

 troublesome from Minnesota to Oregon and else- 

 where westward. It may be looked for in oats 

 or forage and some other western seeds. 



Seed grains, usually larger than cultivated 

 oat, ripening earlier and irregularly, each 

 floret falling as soon as ripe, the lower with 

 long, stout, twisted and bent awns. The floral 

 glume about the grain is hairy below the mid- 

 dle, nearly black at maturity. 



Gathering and burning the plants before 

 the seeds ripen is the method of destruction now 

 needed. 



38 Wild Oat=grass, Poverty=grass (P) 

 Danthonia spicata{L.)Be3.uv. Dry, sterile banks, 

 or hard, but poorly seeded, infertile grass lands 

 are covered in early summer by this light green, 

 tufted grass. The leaves are short and narrow, 

 usually rolled. The stems (culms) are slender, 

 10 to 20 inches high, with few seeds. After 

 flowering, the leaves and stems dry up and give 

 a desolate appearance. It is rightly named 

 "poverty-grass," indicating an impoverished 

 condition. Manuring, rotation with clover and reseeding 

 of this grass by causing a better growth in its stead. 



Fig. 8. Wild Oat. 



will soon rid the land 



