GENERA OF GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
201 
presence of coumarin. The Indians use the grass to make fragrant 
baskets. 
Torresia alpina (Swartz) Hitchc, with small, condensed panicles 
and awned staminate florets, is arctic and extends to the alpine peaks 
of New York and New England; T. 
macrophylla (Thurb.) Hitchc, with 
broad blades, is Calif orni an. 
100. Anthoxanthum L. 
Spikelets with 1 terminal perfect 
floret and 2 sterile lemmas, the rachilla 
disarticulating above the glumes, the 
sterile lemmas falling attached to the 
fertile floret; glumes unequal, acute 
or mucronate; sterile lemmas shorter 
than the glumes, empty, awned from 
the back; fertile lemma shorter than 
the sterile ones, awnless; palea 1- 
nerved, rounded on the back, inclosed 
in the lemma. 
Sweet-smelling annual or perennial 
grasses, with flat blades and spikelike 
panicles. Species about four, 
Europe and Asia; two intro- 
duced into the United States. 
Type species : AntJioxanthum 
odoratum L. 
Anthoxanthum L., Sp. PI. 28, 
1753; Gen. PL, ed. 5, 17. 1754. 
Linnaeus describes three species, 
A. odoratum, A. mdicum, and A. 
panicalatum. The first is chosen 
as the type. The second species is 
now referred to Perotis and the 
third to Festuca. 
Fig. 119. — Vanilla grass, Torresia odorata. Plant, X \ ; spikelet, florets with the glumes 
removed, and fertile floret, X 5. 
Anthoxanthum odoratum, sweet vernal grass (PI. XV; fig. 120), is 
sometimes included in meadow mixtures to give fragrance to the hay. 
