398 



WEEDS AXD USEFUL PLANTS. 



ly very little esteemed by oiir farmers : and in this they concur in the 

 opinion expressed by Mr. G. Sixclaie, in his valuable Hortus Grami- 

 neus. 



25. A^'THOXAX'THUM, L. Sweet-scented Terxal Grass. 



[Greek, Antlws, flower, and anilwn. of flowers ; flower of flowers.] 



SpiJcelets in a condensed, spike-form panicle ; each spikelet 3-flowered, 

 but the lower two (or apparently lateral) florets neutral, consisting merely 

 of a narrow paica, which is hairy and awned on the back. Perfect floret 

 diandrons, with 2 short, smooth, shining paleae. Glumes thin, acute, 

 keeled, the upper about as long as the flowers and twice the length of 

 the lower. Grain smooth, adherent to and enclosed by the palea?. 



1. A. odora'toi. L. Panicle contracted into an oblong spike ; spike- 

 lets sub-pedunculate, spreading, pubescent; palece of the neutral florets 

 ciliate. 



Feagraxt AxTHOXAxinuAi. Sweet-scented Vernal Grass. 

 Fr. riouve odorante. Germ. Das Ruch-gras. 



2?oof perennial. Culm erect, 12-18 inches higli, rather slender, iectres lance-linear, 

 ehortish (1 or 2-5 or 6 inches long), pubescent ; sheaths nerved, sulcate ; ZigrwZe elongated, 

 membranaceous. PctnicZe a sort of loose spike 1-2 or 3 inches long, becoming yellow 

 when mature : spiJcdets somewhat fascicled, on short peduncles. Palm of Xhe perfect floret 

 very short, obtuse, nearly equal, smooth and shining, the lower one much broader. 

 Paleas. of the neutral florets single, linear-oblong, ciliate on the margins, — one of them with 

 a geniculate awn from near the base, more than twice as long as the palea, the other with 

 a straight awn about as long as the palea, inserted on the back near the summit. Anthers 

 linear, large. Stigmas white. Grain oblong, blackish, shining. 



Meadows and moist open woodlands : introduced. Native of Europe. PZ. May -June. 

 F,: July. 



Obs. This has been much noticed, in Europe, as a fragrant meadow- 

 grass ; but it seems rather to belong to a moist, cold, thin soil, — and is 

 by no means regarded, in the United States, as a grass of superior value. 

 When cut, and partly dry, it emits a fragrant odor ; often remarkable 

 in new mown hay. The culms have been used in the manufacture of 

 imitation Leghorn hats and bonnets. 



This grass is the plant referred to by Dr. Daewix. in the following 

 lijies of his imaginative poem, the '•' Botanic Garden :" — 



Ti"o gentle shepherds, and their sister-wives. 

 With thee, Axthoxa 1 lead ambrosial hves ; 

 Where the wide heath in purple pride extends, 

 And scatter'd furze its golden lustre blends, 

 Closed in a green recess, unenvi'd lot ! 

 The blue smoke rises from their turf-built cot ■ 

 « Eosom'd in fragrance blush their infant train, 



tve the warm sun, or drink the siiver rain."-" 



Bot. Garden, Part II. Canto I. I. 85-92. 



26. PHAL'AEIS, L. Caxary Grass. 



Mireek, Fhalos, shining ; alludirg to the shining florets, or palese.] 



SpiJcelets in a dense or spiked panicle, 3-flowered, but the two lower (or 



