450 
71. Poa Pratensis. Linnaus. 
Syn. —Poa viridis, Muhl. 
Meadow grass, spear grass, June grass, Indian grass, wild grass, Ac.—blue 
grass in Kentucky. Culms and sheaths smooth; branches of the panicle com¬ 
monly in fives, spreading, spikelets three to five-flowered; flowers elliptical-lan¬ 
ceolate, nerved, acute, hairy on the lateral nerves and keel; ligule blunt, short; 
seeds acuminate, pointed, furrowed on the flat side; rhizoma creeping. Peren¬ 
nial; flowers from May to July. Culms 1 to 3 feet high. Dry soil, naturalized 
in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and about Lake Superior. Native of 
Europe. 
Plate VII. Figure 1, a plant of the natural size; 2, a spikelet; 3, a flow¬ 
er, the glumes removed; 4, a portion of the stigma magnified, showing the 
pollen grains. 
Th e poa pratensis was not cultivated in England until the beginning 
of the present century, and is there not much esteemed either for pas¬ 
ture or hay. Upon opening the virgin forests, and destroying the wild 
herbage of the openings and prairies of Wisconsin, it is the first to spring 
up and cover the ground with its rich velvet of green. Indeed it precedes 
the march of immigration, and is found about the Indian villages and 
along their trails ; “Indian grass,” or “wild grass,” being among the 
names by which it is here known. This humble grass is therefore one 
of the best friends of the early settlers, and should be looked upon with 
gratitude and treated with respect. For the purposes of the meadow, it 
s not to be ranked with other “tame grasses,” but is invaluable for pas¬ 
turage. The abundance of long and narrow radical leaves that shoot 
up from the creeping roots, after the falling of the seed, if left to grow, 
form a great store-house of food for cattle during the winter. In Ken¬ 
tucky it is ranked as one of the most valuable grasses, and is there uni¬ 
versally called “blue grass.” The culms are used for braiding, and 
making; the finer kind of hats. 
A great advantage of this grass is its disposition to intrude itself every¬ 
where, spreading over the surface, and crowding out the more tender and 
valueless weeds. No cultivation is necessary to secure an abundant crop 
of poa pratensis. It is well adapted for supporting the slopes of terraces, 
and steep side-hills; its dense mass of matted roots enables it to support 
the earth on a steeper slope than any other known species of grass. 
