MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



549 



shining margin; staminate lemmas 

 awnless or nearly so; fertile lemma 

 appressed-pubescent toward apex. 



% (H. macrophylla Thurb.) — 

 Forests in the redwood belt, Oregon 

 to Monterey, Calif.; Bingen, Wash. 



117. ANTHOXANTHUM L. Vernalgrass 



Spikelets with 1 terminal perfect floret and 2 sterile lemmas, the rachilla dis- 

 articulating 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, enclosed in the lemma. 

 Sweet-smelling annuals or perennials, with flat blades and spikelike panicles. 

 Type species, Anthoxanthum odoratum. Name from Greek anthos, flower, and 

 xanthos, yellow, alluding to the yellow inflorescence. 



Plants perennial 1. A. odoratum. 



Plants annual 2. A. aristatum. 



1. Anthoxanthum odoratum L. 



Sweet vernalgrass. (Fig. 796, A.) 

 Culms tufted, erect, slender, 30 to 60 

 cm. tall, rarely to 1 m. tall; blades 2 

 to 5 mm. wide; panicle long-exserted, 

 brownish yellow, acute, 2 to 6 cm. 

 long; spikelets 8 to 10 mm. long; 

 glumes scabrous, the first about half 

 as long as the second; sterile lemmas 

 subequal, appressed-pilose with 

 golden hairs, the first short-awned 

 below the apex, the second awned 

 from near the base, the awn twisted 

 below, geniculate, slightly exceeding 

 the second glume ; fertile lemma about 

 2 mm. long, brown, smooth and shin- 

 ing. Qi — Meadows, pastures, and 

 waste places, Greenland and New- 

 foundland to Louisiana and Michi- 

 gan, and on the Pacific coast from 

 British Columbia to California; in- 

 troduced from Eurasia. Sometimes 

 included in meadow mixtures to give 

 fragrance to the hay, but the grass 

 has little forage value. 



2. Anthoxanthum aristatum Boiss. 

 (Fig. 796, B.) Differing from A. 

 odoratum in being annual, the culms 

 lower, often geniculate and bushy 

 branching; panicles looser; spikelets a 

 little smaller. O — Waste places in 

 several localities from Maine to 

 Iowa; West Virginia; North Carolina; 

 Florida; Mississippi and Arkansas; 

 Vancouver Island to California; in- 

 troduced from Europe. 



Anthoxanthum gracile Bivon. Tufted 

 annual; culms 20 cm. tall; blades pubescent; 

 panicle silvery; spikelets about 12 mm. long, 

 conspicuously awned. O — Occasionally 

 cultivated for dry bouquets. Italy. 



EHRHARTA Thunb. 



Spikelets laterally compressed with 

 1 fertile floret and 2 large sterile 

 lemmas below enclosing the fertile 

 floret; rachilla disarticulating above 

 the glumes, the fertile floret and ster- 

 ile lemmas falling together; glumes 

 ovate, rather obscurely keeled; sterile 

 lemmas indurate, compressed, 3- to 

 5-nerved; fertile lemma indurate, 

 ovate, 5-nerved, obtuse. Erect or de- 

 cumbent spreading annuals or per- 

 ennials with flat blades and narrow 

 panicles. Type species, Ehrharta ca- 

 pensis Thunb. Named for Friedrich 

 Ehrhart. 



Ehrharta erecta Lam. Culms erect 

 or ascending from a decumbent base, 

 branching, mostly 30 to 50 cm. tall; 

 blades 5 to 12 cm. long, 4 to 9 mm. 

 wide; panicles 6 to 15 cm. long, the 

 branches narrowly ascending or some- 

 times spreading; spikelets 3 to 3.5 

 mm. long; sterile lemmas awnless, the 

 first smooth, the second cross- 

 wrinkled. % — Escaped, Berkeley, 

 Calif. Introduced from South Africa. 

 Shows considerable competitive abil- 

 ity and may become of value in re- 



