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spread. The third type is erect in early stages and the tillers develop 
from an upright base.- 
In later stages, even at maturity, plants of the first type may readily 
be distinguished from those of the second and third types by the somewhat 
decumbent character of the base. The distinction at later stages between 
the semi-spreading and erect types is somewhat difficult and can be 
determined only by a careful comparison of their bases, which differ only 
in the greater angle at which the culms of the former type bend away 
from the root crown. The observation of the habit of growth should 
not, however, be made at such late stages, but at, or shortly after, the 
A B C 
Fig. 20. habits of early growth 
A, Spreading; B, semi-spreading; C, erect 
period of tillering, or shooting. At this time the differences are very 
marked and readily ascertained, and they afford a reliable distinction 
for groups of varieties. 
COLOR OF YOUNG PLANT 
Although Denaiffe and Sirodot (1901), and Kornicke and Werner 
(1885), included in their descriptions of varieties the color of the young 
plants, they did not use the differences in color as a means of classifica- 
tion, nor did they differentiate the color of sheath and leaves from that 
of the glumes. 
When the plants are young there are but few distinct types of color 
among varieties of oats; and because of the difficulty of correctly defining 
