6 BULLETIN 692, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
recommended mainly for moorlands. It is characterized by its habit 
of forming long, creeping, leafy stolons, or runners, which often reach 
a length of 3 to 10 feet and grow until late in the season. From the 
accounts of the culture of this grass given by Richardson (14)! and 
others, it was propagated only in a vegetative manner, usually by 
scattering the stolons over the ground and covering slightly with® 
soil. Apparently seed was rarely gathered or utilized, and there is 
no evidence that it ever entered into the seed trade. 
From contemporary accounts, as well as from authentic preserved 
specimens, there is no doubt that this is one of the grasses that have 
been referred to Agrostis stolonifera Iu. There is doubt, however, as 
to whether it is exactly identical with Linneus’s original plant, which 
grows about Upsala, Sweden, and is there known as Kryp-hven. 
The stoloniferous bents of Europe are a puzzling group, and some 
botanists describe as many as six different forms. Sinclair (15, p. 
227-228, 343), who calls Richardson’s fiorin Agrostis stolonifera var. 
latifolia, states that the varying results obtained by different experi- 
menters were due in part to their growing different botanical varie- 
ties. Mackay (9, p. 298) states that he saw fine crops of fiorin on a 
reclaimed bog in Connemara, Ireland, the grass having been intro- 
duced three years previously with sand from the seashore. The 
grass was promptly tested in America, but never achieved any im- 
portance. A stoloniferous bent that occurs in America spontane- 
ously is common along the seacoast from Delaware to Newfoundland, 
and by American botanists is usually designated Agrostis alba var. 
maritima, but it is not certain that itis native. A very similar grass 
occurs on the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, 
possibly mtroduced. 
Whatever the exact botanical identity of fiorin may be, itis clearly 
distinct from both redtop and Rhode Island bent in its stoloniferous 
habit. The names creeping bent and stoloniferous bent, as used by 
English botanists, both refer to a grass with creeping stolons and 
properly do not apply to any form without stolons. The name 
fiorm has been used by modern seedsmen, however, in connection 
both with redtop and with South German mixed bent. 
Fiorin is nowhere now cultivated in America, and apparently its 
culture in Europe did not long outlast Richardson’s propaganda. It 
is not clear why this is the case, as numerous recorded experiments 
indicate that the grass is valuable for culture on moor lands. It is 
possible that the sale of redtop seed as fiorin may be partially respon- 
sible for the agricultural decadence of fiorin. 
The stolon-producing bents are apparently constant in this habit. 
Stebler and Volkart (16, p. 115) state that the habit proved constant 
1 Richardson’s writings were voluminous and appear in many of the agricultural journals of his time. 
