471 
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glumes ; lower flower perfect, with three stamens, awnless; upper one 
staminate, or neuter, the lower palea awned on the back below the middle, 
113. Holcus Lanatus. Linnceus. 
Meadow soft-grass. 
Soft-downy, pale; panicle oblong; upper glume mucronate under the 
apex; awn of the staminate flower recurved, seeds ovate, smooth, covered 
with a soft woolly husk. Perennial; flowers in June. Culms 1 to 2 feet 
high. Illinois,* Dr. S. B. Mead. A native of Europe, from whence it 
is supposed to have been introduced into this country. 
The numerous downy hairs which cover the surface of the whole plant 
render the hay, made of it soft and spongy, and in this State it is dis¬ 
liked by cattle, particularly by horses; it is productive and easy of cul¬ 
tivation ;f and is still recommended for poor, peaty wet soils, incapable 
of producing more valuable grasses. It is known in England under the 
name of “ Yorkshire fog.” 
GENUS 45. HIEROCHLOA. Gmelin. 
(Greek— ffielos sacred, and chloa grass ) 
Spikelets plainly three-flowered, the flowers all with two paleae; the 
two lower flowers staminate only, with three stamens sessile, often awned; 
the upper one perfect, short pedicelled, scarcely as long as the others, 
with two stamens, awnless. 
114. Hierochloa Lorealis. Roemer and Shultz. 
Syn.—H olcus odoratus, Linn. Hierochloa fragrens, It. and Shultz, 
H. repens, Beauv. Seneca grass. 
Panicle somewhat one-sided, pyramidal; peduncles smooth ; staminate 
flowers with the lower palea mucronate or bristle-pointed at or near the 
tip; rhizoma creeping. Perennial; flowers in May. Culms 1 to 2 feet 
high. Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and about Lake Superior. 
The sweet odor imparted to the air, even when in a living state, by this 
grass may be observed in passing many of the natural meadows of Wis- 
* The plant referred to this species by Dr. Houghton, broght from the Savannah river, 
Minnesota, proves on examination of a specimen received from him to be the jPhalaris 
arundmacea. 
t Sinclair, p. 164. „ 
