372 



WEEDS AXD USEFUL PLANTS. 



glumes, awned on the back below the middle, upper palea '.. anting 

 Styles commonly united ; stigmas long and plumose. Flowers in a dense, 

 soft, cylindrical terminal spile. 



1. A. praten'sis, L. 'Culm erect, smooth ; palea equalling the acuta 

 glumes ; awn exserted more than half its length, twisted. 

 Meadow Alopecurus. Common or Meadow Foxtail. 



Perennial. Culvi cabout 2 feet high, smooth. Leaves smooth, flat, the upper one much 

 shorter than its inflated sheatJi. The spike-hke pajiicZe 1-2 inches long, yellowish green. 

 Glumes and palea hairy and ciliate. 



Meadows ; New England and New York. Native of Eiu'ope. May. 



Obs. This is considered a valuable pasture grass in England, produc- 

 ing a luxuriant aftermath. According to Mr. Flint, (" Grasses and 

 Forage Plants," a work containing many useful statistics), it is not 

 valued by the Massachusetts farmers, as a field grass, on account of be- 

 ing so light in proportion to its bulk. Two other species are found in 

 the country, but they are of no value in agriculture. * 



5. PHLE'UM, L. Cats-tail Grass. 



[An ancient Greek name ; meaning obscure.] 



Palece 2, membranaceous, shorter than the mucronate or a^'ued glumes ; 

 the lower palea truncate, usually awnless. (SYi//e5 distinct. Other char- 

 acters much as in Alopecurus. Culms somewhat wiry ; spikes dense 

 and harsh. 



1. P. pra'^en'se, i. Spike cyliudric, elongated ; glumes truncate, mu- 

 cronately pawned, — the awns shorter than the glumes ; keel ciliate. 

 Meadow Phleum. Cats-tail Grass. Herds Grass of New England 

 and New-York. Timothy of Pennsylvania, &c. 



Fr. Fieok des Pres. Germ. Das Wiesen-lieschgras. 



Root perennial, fibrous. Culm 2-4 feet high, simple, terete, smooth, — when old rather 

 Qrm and wiry, and often somewhat bulbous at base. Leaves 6-12 or 15 inches long 

 lance-linear, acute, flat, glaucous, somewhat scabrous ; sheatlis striate, smooth ; ligule 

 membranaceous, obtuse, finally lacerate. Sjnke 3-6 or 8 inches long, green. Glumes 

 equal, compressed, abruptly mucronate, pubescent. Palece concealed in the glumes, the 

 lower ovi-i larger. Anthers purple. Stigmas white. 



Fields and meadows : cultivated. Native of Europe. Fl. June. Fr. July. 



Ohs. This foreign Grass is extensively naturalized in the United States. 

 In New-York, and throughout New-England, it is known by the name 

 of Herds Grass, — a name which, in Pennsylvania — and I believe in all 

 the States South — is applied exclusively to Agrostis vulgaris, L. The 

 Meadow Phleum, or Timothy, is very generally cultivated in Eastern 

 Pennsylvania ; and is undoubtedly one of the most valuable of the " arti- 

 ficial grasses," so called. Mixed in about equal proportions with red 

 clover (Trifolium pratexse, L.) it makes the best quality of Hay. It 

 requires a good soil, — and is considered a rather severe and exhausting 

 crop ; — inasmuch as the aftermath, or second growth of radical leaves, is 

 somewhat scant and tardy during the dry weather which usually sue- 



