28 
THE SEEDS 
OF THE BLUEGRASSES. 
The principal distinguishing characters of the three kinds are as 
follows: 
FOWL MEADOW GRASS 
(Poa triflora). 
Seeds 2-253 mm. long. 
Seeds mostiy narrower at 
the apex than at the cen- 
ter. 
Seeds usually yellowish at 
the apex. 
Intermediate veins usually 
evident but indistinct. 
Pubescence of the veins 
and the web often pres- 
ent in commercial seed. 
Rachilla segment mostly 
smooth,sometimesslight- 
ly rough, often two- 
thirds the length of the 
glume. 
CANADA BLUEGRASS 
( Poa compressa). 
Seeds 2-25 mm. long. 
Seeds mostly broader at the 
apex than at the center 
or base. 
Seeds not yellowish at the 
apex. 
Intermediate veins indis- 
tinct or more commonly 
not evident. 
Pubescence of the veins and 
the web mostly absent in 
commercial seed. 
Rachilla segment smooth, 
not exceeding one-half of 
the length of the glume. 
WooD MEADOW GRASS 
(Poa nemoralis). 
Seeds 23-3 mm. long. 
Seeds narrower or not 
broader at the apex than 
at the center. 
Seeds sometimes yellowish 
at the apex. 
Intermediate veins indis- 
tinet. 
Pubescence of the veins 
usually present in com- 
mercial seed. 
Rachilla segment pubes- 
cent or sometimes only 
rough, oftenthree-fourths 
the length of the glume. 
The name fowl meadow grass is often applied, both by seedsmen 
and by writers upon grasses, to Panicularia nervata. 
Poa arachnifera Torr. 
TEXAS BLUEGRASS. 
Spikelets 4 or 5 flowered; florets +6 mm. long, narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, 
straw colored or light brown; glume strongly keeled quite to the apex and somewhat 
arched; margins narrowly infolded below and becoming broadly hyaline above the 
middle, not widely flaring at the apex; marginal and keel veins strongly pubes- 
Fic. 9.—Seeds of Texas bluegrass (Poa arachnifera): a and b, back views, seeds showing the long 
hairs of the web; c and d, side views; e-g, front views; g, a terminal floret. 
cent with long, silky hairs; basal web copious, often twice as long as the floret, 
very persistent; surface between the veins glabrous, the keel hispid-ciliate above the 
middle; palea from three-fourths to four-fifths the length of the glume, its keels 
more or less exposed, silky pubescent to the middle and hispid-ciliate at the apex; 
rachilla segment varying from about one-sixth to one-third the length of the glume, 
glabrous; aborted floret of the sterile rachilla segment minute; grain slender, 13-3 
mm. long, oblong-fusiform, nearly opaque, distinctly grooved and keeled. (Fig. 9.) 
