AGRICULTURAL SPECIES OF BENT GRASSES. 21 
the lemma and palet are thinner, somewhat more translucent, the 
palet more frequently adherent to the grain and transparent. The 
palet is distinctly smaller than is usual in redtop and shorter in pro- 
portion to the length of the lemma. The nonwrinkled, striate, often 
opaque palet, which commonly equals or exceeds the grain in redtop, 
is conspicuously rare in seeds of Rhode Island bent. Seeds bearing a 
twisted, bent awn from near the base, common in Rhode Island bent 
seed, are absent in redtop. The grain in Rhode Island bent-grass 
seed is somewhat smaller and more slender than in redtop. 
Seeds of colonial bent (Agrostis tenuis) present all the characteristics 
observed in the seeds of Rhode Island bent. 
SEED OF VELVET BENT (AGROSTIS CANINA L.). 
Lemma 0.04 to 0.07 of an inch in length, ovate-lanceolate or 
elliptical in outline, exceeding the 
grain from slightly to one-fourth 
its length; surface usually min- 
utely granular, obscuring the faint 
longitudinal striation; surface dull 
and pale straw colored or appar- 
ently darker, due to the grain 
appearing through the lemma, 
which often is translucent except 
at the opaque base; hairs at the 
callus present or wanting; many 
seeds awned, the awn varying 
e 
: é Fic. 8.—Seeds of velvet bent (Agrostis canina), 
from a mere projection from the enlarged and natural size. Seeds a, b,c, andd 
surface to a long bristle exceeding exhibit the minute palet. Well-developed 
awns appear at dand e. Rudimentary awns 
the lemma, bent near -the apex of are indicated at f and g. A much-exposed 
the latter and spirally twisted grainisshown atc. (The natural size is shown 
below the bend, many of theinter- 
mediate forms straight and not twisted, the awns mostly arising near 
the middle of the lemma, the longest ones occasionally arising as low 
as one-fourth of the length of the lemma from its base; apex of the 
lemma four veined, owing to the absence of the keel vein above the 
middle of the lemma; palet a minute, obscure scale of subequal length 
and width, appearing as a whitish spot at the base of the grain; grain 
usually smaller than in redtop or Rhode Island bent, its surface 
more or less exposed between the margins of the lemma, soft, and 
under slight pressure exuding the semifluid endosperm. (Fig. 8.) 
A greater proportion of the seeds of velvet bent are small than is 
the case in redtop or Rhode Island bent. The ovate-lanceolate or 
elliptical outline, the dull granular surface, the large proportion of 
awned seeds, the absence of an evident palet, and finally the soft 
semifluid grain serve readily to distinguish these seeds from those 
