382 



WEEDS ASD L6EFUI. I'LA^^TS. 



1. P. AN NUA, L. Culms oblique, subcorapressed ; leaves rather short ; 

 panicle subsecuud ; spikelets 3 - 7-flowercd, on short pedicels, rather 

 crowded. 



Annual Foa. Dwarf, or Early Meadow-Grass. 

 Fr. Paturin annuel. Germ. Jaehrigcs Eispengras. 



Root annual. Culms csespitose, 3-6 or 8 inches long, smooth, geniculate, oblique at 

 base, or often nearly procumbent. Leaves 1-3 inches in length, sublinear, acute, keeled, 

 smooth ; sheaths loose, smooth ; ligule oblong, dentate. Panicle sometimes rather sccund, 

 the branches often solitary, subdivided. Spikelets rather crowded on the divisions of tho 

 branches, 3 or 4-6- (very often 3-) flowered, (rtitwi^s unequal, acuminate, with scarious 

 raargins. Loiver palm delicately more or less hairy on the nerves below. 



Cultivated grounds, pastures, along foot-patlis, &c. : introduced. Native ol Europe. Fl. 

 April -Sept. Fr. June -Oct. 



Ohs. This little species — which was probably introduced from Europe 

 —comes forward early in the spring', — and what little pasture i^ affords 

 13 tolerably acceptable to stock ; but it is far inferior in value and im- 

 portance to either of the following. 



Root perennial ; panicle open, its branches in Jives; spikelets all dis- 

 tinctly pedicelled, acute, sligldly flattened. 



2. P. serot'ina, Ehrhart. Culms erect terete ; leaves linear ; ligules 

 elongated; spikelets 2-4-flowered; flo^-ers acutish, often tinged with 

 purple. 



Late Poa. Fowl Meadow-Grass. False Red-top. 



Culm 2-3 feet high. Panicle 6-10 inches lop.g. Palece slightly hairy at the base. 

 Wet meadows • northward. July -Aug. 



Obs. This is considered a highly valuable grass for wet meadows, and 

 is common in New England and along the northern States to Lake 

 Superior. 



^ * * Root perennial ; panicle with the flattened spikelets crowded on the 

 branches, mostly short-pedicelled, sometimes almost sessile. 



3. P. trivia'lis, L. Culm and sheaths somewhat scabrous ; ligule 

 elongated, acute ; spikelets ovate, 2 - 3-flowered, — the florets slightly 

 villous at base. 



Trivial Poa. Eough Meadow-Grass. 



Root perennial. Culm 1-2 or 3 feet high, subterete or slightly ancipital, often ilechued 

 at base, geniculate, and stoloniferous, somewhat scabrous retrorsely. Leaves 2 or 3-6 

 or 8 inches long, lance-linear (those of the root, or suckers, long and narrow), acute or 

 acuminate, slightly scabrous on the margin ; sheaths striate-nerved, scabrous when rubbed- 

 UDwards ; ligule much elongated, scarious and whitish. Panicle loose, expanding, — the 

 branches serai-verticillate m about fives, sharply scabrous. Spikelets usually 2- (some- 

 times 3-) flowered. Glumes scabrous on the kee), the lower one rather snorter, very 

 acute, the upper one 3-nerved, with a scarious margin. Palece unequal, nearly smootb 

 or very slightly villous at base, the lower one longSr, 5-nerved, scarious at apex. 



Moist low grounds, meadows, and woodlands : introduced? Fl. June. Fi: July. 



Obs. This species (perhaps a foreigner) is frequent in moist pastures 

 and meadows,— and affords a a'ood forage, both pasture and hay. It 



