THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 105 



rays spreading', 1 to 3 inches long, distant, usually in pairs below, single 

 above, subdivided to the middle; spikelets five to six lines long, three 

 to five flowered, the flowers rather distant ; outer glumes ovate-lanceo- 

 late, membranaceous, acute or acuteish, obscurely nerved, the upper 

 one two lines long, the lower one-third shorter ; flowering glumes lanceo- 

 late, acute, or short cuspidate, about five-nerved, minutely scabrous, of 

 thicker texture than the outer glumes; palet as long as its glume, two- 

 nerved, bifid at the apex. 



This grass varies greatly in size and appearance in different locali- 

 ties, one form in Oregon and California growing 3 to 5 feet high, with 

 panicle twice as large as the mountain form. Cattle are said to be fond 

 of it, and it is considered one of the most valuable wild grasses of the 

 region where it grows. (Plate 110.) 



JBE03IUS. 



Spikelets five to many flowered, subterete or compressed, the axis 

 smooth ; the outer glumes more or less unequal, shorter than the flow- 

 ers, membranaceous, acute, one to nine nerved, awuless or short mu- 

 cronate ; flowering glumes, membranaceous to rigid-subcoriaceous, 

 rounded on the back, or compressed or keeled, five to nine nerved, 

 acute or awned from below the mostly two-cleft apex; palet commonly 

 rather shorter than its glume, two keels, the keels rigid and ciliate. 



Broxus secaltnus. (Chess or Cheat.) 



We introduce this grass, not to recommend its cultivation, but to 

 familiarize those interested with its appearance and character. ]\Iany 

 farmers know it well, as it occurs in their wheat fields. It is an old 

 tradition, which some farmers still cling to, that chess is a degenerated 

 wheat; that the action'of frost and other causes occasion the deteriora- 

 tion, whereas the truth undoubtedly' is that chess seed was either in the 

 land or in the seed sown, and being more hardy than wheat it survived 

 the frost and took possession of the ground. Some years ago this grass 

 had a temporary popularity under the name of Willard's Brome grass, 

 but it was soon abandoned when brought into competition with better 

 grasses. 



It has a stout ui^right culm, 2 to 3 feet high, the j)auicle being from 

 4 to 6 inches long, rather spreading, and the large spikelets somewhat 

 drooping when ripe. Usually there are three to five branches at each 

 joint of the panicle; these branches are of different lengths, from i 

 inch to 2 inches, and each with one to three spikelets. The spikelets 

 are usually from five to ten flowered; the glumes unequal, nerved, 

 shorter than the flowers; the flowering glume is convex or compressed, 

 keeled on the back, with ^an awn variable in length from beh)w the 

 point. 



In the South it would perhaps be a good winter grass, like its i elative 

 Bromus luiioloides, but it is not as vigorous a grass as that si)ecies, and 

 does not produce such an abundance of foliage. (Plate 111.) 



