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For agricultural purposes perennial rye-grass is rarely sown alone. As already poin- Mixtures. 
ted out, it may occupy about 80 °/o of a mixture with white clover. Such a mixture forms 
the excellent pastures on the alluvial lands of Northern Germany. If for mowing, much 
lower percentages should be used, especially when the soil is stiff. About 20 °%o may be used 
for mixing with clovers to form »clover-grass«. For temporary grass-meadows the amount 
should not exceed 10 °o: if permanence is important. 5 °/o should rarely be exceeded. On 
a good soil, it should never be entirely absent from any mixture because of its rapid and 
dense growth. 
In England, perennial rye-grass is frequently used for forming lawns. To make the turf as com- Formation of 
pact as possible, seed of the best quality should be selected, and twice the normal amount sown. York- — l@w2s. 
shire fog, or soft-brome grass, when present, forms cushion-like tufts which deface the lawn. Frequent 
mowing is necessary, and, the lawn should be broken up and resown every 2 or 3 years. 
II. Italian rye-grass. 
Lolium Italicum, Alex. Br. (L. multiflorum, Link.) 
~ 
Fig. A, Entire plant in flower, shewing two spikes. Explanation 
», 4. Spikelet in flower with a portion of the axis of the spike. of plate. 
» 2 The same, before flowering. 
,, 9%. Flower and upper pale, shewing the 2 lodicules, 3 stamens, and pistil. 
, 4 The pales from the dorsal surface shewing the lower. 
, 9 The pales, from the ventral surface, shewing the upper. 
,, 6. False fruit (seed), dorsal surface. 
» 7. False fruit, ventral surface, shewing the stalk. 
, 8. Caryopsis, dorsal surface. 
, 9. Caryopsis, ventral surface. 
,, 10. Transverse section of a young leaf, shewing the rolled vernation and the ribs (after Lund). 
,, 11. The short, obtuse ligule. 
Botanical description. in warm climates, Italian rye-grass tends to become an annual, but with Botanical 
us if usually lasts two years or longer. It forms compact, compound tufts of grass. The stolons are description. 
shorter, stouter, and more erect (fig. A)*) than. those of perennial rye-grass, hence the greater com- 
pactness of the whole tuft. The branches are intravaginal. The sheaths of the radical leaves are red 
between the veins. The culms are ascending, reach a height of 1—3 ft., and are upwards rough. The 
leaf-blades differ from those of perennial rye-grass in the following respects: — the colour is lighter, 
the under surface is shining, and, in the bud, they are rolled (fig. 10). A field of Italian rye-grass can readily 
be known in the distance by the shining appearance of the leaves when they are shaken by the wind. 
Further the leaves of Italian rye-grass are usually somewhat broader and softer. The upper surfaces are similarly 
rough and ribbed. The ligule is quite like that of perennial rye-grass (fig. 11). The spike (fig. A) is composed 
of numerous spikelets (up to 28), and is thus longer than that of Loliwm perenne, often over 4 ft. The arran- 
gement and direction of the spikelets are identical in the two grasses. The same is the case with the 
glumes i. e. the lower is absent; if growth is very luxuriant, the lower glume may make its appearance 
as a cleft rudiment next the axis of the spike, This is also the case with the darnel (Lolium temu- 
*) Lolium Boucheanum, Kunth, and Loliwm muitiflorum, Gaudin. (Flora helvetica p. 854) are such annual varieties. 
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