THE BOOK OF GRASSES SALT-MARSH COCKSPUR GRASS (Echinochloa Walieri) Oe eB Ori i OE Guay Als Ses AN ILLUSTRATED (GUIDE \TO)\ THE COMMON GRASSES, .AND THE MOST COMMON OF THE RUSHES AND SEDGES BY MARY EVANS/FRANCIS ) ILLUSTRATED BY H. H. KNIGHT, ARTHUR G. ELDREDGE AND SARAH FRANCIS DORRANCE GARDEN CIty New Yor«e DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY I9I2 Copyright, 1912, by DouBLeDAY, PAGE & COMPANY All rights reserved, including that of translation into Foreign Languages, including the Scandinavian HA ut ua RU Wy Wh! Miah Ny, Uy MY if VY ie aie PORK ey AWA RMA WU Pt AA Healt Wu ) Ny \ i ’ } LT “4, \ TORR RARE eos " hi ih ‘I f h wh NUTT LY AN; y vi \ yee Ahh Ra , hiv aM WL) ys a Cait ANA Cdue HRSA WT MT aN LA) LAW vi Vila yu NAA WAWE Any ml Pp Van 4 an iy pany was | Wy ) y 4 kt IN / \ i mt 7 ’ MCAT MND Hy UN SAP \ NOG iv ONY Rae aN iy } Vea NIA NHR WK it +) Pritt vay i ahh) ek Ay ih SUA Wi ay “**7 babbled of green fields.” ¥ [le Anor MAY 5 1950 PREFACE TueE little that has been written about our common grasses has dealt chiefly with their economic value, and has been published for the agriculturist, to whom that value is paramount. Or, it has, on the other hand, been too technical to be of service to the casual student of our wild flowers who has had comparatively little aid, aside from scientific and agricultural works, in recognizing the different species of this vast family. In preparing the following pages I have intended that the descriptions, though accurate, should not obscure the beauty of the grasses with a mass of technical terms, but should be so simple that the wayfaring man who enjoys the verdure of our waysides might become more intimately acquainted with the most common plants. An important aid in recognizing the grasses will be found in the illustrations, which, made from the living plants, present not only the most noticeable characteristics of growth, but also deline- ations of the parts of the flowers. The technical descriptions, which follow the general de- scriptions, are the results of careful observations and measurements of many specimens. The descriptions include the common grasses and the most common of the rushes and sedges found from Canada southward to Virginia, and from the Atlantic coast westward to the Missis- sippi River. The greater number of species given are found throughout the United States. I wish to acknowledge indebtedness to the following valuable works: ‘‘The True Grasses,’ by Eduard Hackle; ‘American Grasses,”’ by Dr. Lamson Scribner; ‘‘Grasses of North America for Farmers and Students,” by William J. Beal; and ‘Descriptive Catalogue of Grasses of the United States,” by Dr. Geo. Vasey. Mary Evans FRANCIS. vii rae i. asks 4 7 fed LIST OF CONTENTS Preface. Of Grasses : The Most Important Family of tlie aetabis Rinetlom Stem, Leaf, and Flower ; . A Calendar of the Common Grasses Grasses Arranged According to Locations Key to the Grasses Illustrated Descriptions of tite Grasecs The Sedge Family Rushes ! Index to English Nunies Index to Latin Names 259 329 341 349 ay aa $i Phene hm Aas ve Ss = Shee * a. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Coloured Plates Salt-marsh Cockspur Grass (Echinochloa Walteri) . Frontispiece PAGE Foxtail Grasses (Setaria) . . me mE Indian Rice, or Wild Rice (Zz ane aquatica ae Z palustris) 87 Red-top (Agrostis alba) . . . 3 117 Snake Grass (Eragrostis eadeiaiiya) AES ES VERSES EAS Se TNO Cc Orchard Grass (Dactylis glomerata) . . . . . «. « « « 189 Fringed Brome-grass (Bromus ciliatus) . . . . « + + 223 Brome-grass (B. alissomus) 0 ew ol 225 Brome-grass (B. incanus) . a) CSO Oi amine a 90 si Bo Slender Wild Rye (Elymus priahesyn: EA i EP ee ve Guess AS Wool Grass (Scirfus cyperinus) «6 5 6 bie ee 8 255 Great Bulrush (S. validus) . . . gy SUF) (2 0) aetna allo Con Yellow Nut-grass (Cyperus Pee Iouhiey Svcd We ah RY ae Oe Bristle-spiked Cyperus (C. strigosus). . . . . « + « 263 Chair-maker’s Rush (Scirpus americanus) . . . . . . 281 Fox Sedge (Carex wulpinoidea) . . «© «© « © 6 + + 305 Stem, leaf, and flower APM DOLD wath: Need rig! (ot): artis bah RG Bnet Scheuer t ec rienp sy atta lias 0 ein bat cees Patsy tye) ne Panicles> :..)\4..'; a Rl tod a aidly dee ett Bit e671), Grass flowers ai their aan AP A OTe oe BARS OE eh gs srg 9 Gama Grass (Tripsacum dactyloides) . . . . - « +» + 50 Beard-grass (Andropogon scoparius) . . . - + + + + 50 Broom Sedge on sandy soil (A. virginicus) . . . . + SI Forked Beard-erass (A: furcatus).. . 6 2 ee eee 5B Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans) . . . . . +. + + 56 Large Crab-grass (Digitaria sanguinalis) . . . +. + + 57 Large Crab-grass (D. sanguinalis) . . . . »« » »+ + + 59 Slender Paspalum (Paspalum setaceum). .... . + 60 Old Witch-grass (Panicum capillare) ANG A AOR AVY Og Roulette Xi The Book of Grasses Old Witch-grass (P. capillare) Bitter Panic-grass (P. amarum) . Cockspur Grass (Echinochloa sea) Salt-marsh Cockspur Grass (EF. Walterz) Scribner’s Panic-grass (Panicum Scribnerianum) Hispid Panic-grass (P. clandestinum) Cockspur Grass (Echinochloa crusgallt) Long Panic-grass (Panicum agrostoides) The Deserted Garden . Yellow Foxtail (Setaria glauca) Green Foxtail (S. viridis) Bur-grass (Cenchrus carolinianus) Indian Rice (Zizania palustris) Indian Rice by the border of a stream Rice Cut-grass (Leersia oryzoides) Rice Cut-grass (L. oryzoides) White-grass (L. virginica) Reed Canary-grass (Phalaris Pe ipiaseay Reed Canary-grass (P. arundinacea) vide Sweet Vernal-grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum) Vanilla Grass (Hierochloé odorata) White-grained Mountain Rice Sate asperiflia) Black Oat-grass (Stipa avenacea) Slender Aristida (Aristida gracilis) Purplish Aristida (4. purpurascens) Sea-beach Aristida (A. tuberculosa) : Meadow Muhlenbergia (Mublenbergia pees) Long-awned Hair-grass (M. capillaris) Long-awned Wood-grass (Brachyelytrum erectum) . Long-awned Wood-grass (B. erectum) Timothy (Phleum pratense) Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus cms . Sheathed Rush-grass (Sporobolus saginaeflors) Gauze-grass (S. uniflorus) ‘ Red-top (Agrostis alba) . , Rough Hair-grass (A. hyemalis) : Blue-joint Grass (Calamagrostis peer, Nuttall’s Reed-grass (C. cinnoides) Blue-joint Grass (C. canadensis) in pone Marche Blue-joint Grass (C. canadensis) xii List of Illustrations Marram Grass (Ammophila arenaria) : Marram Grass (A. arenaria) in drifting cand Wood Reed-grass (Cinna arundinacea) Silvery Hair-grass (Aira Pre chs Velvet Grass (Holcus lanatus) : Marsh Oats (Sphenopholis palustris) . Meadow Sphenopholis (S. pallens) . Wavy Hair-grass (Deschampsia flexuosa) Wavy Hair-grass (D. itis ai Cultivated Oats é Cultivated Wheat Cultivated Rye Meadow Oat-grass (Aerie aren) See Wild Oat- “grass (Danthonia spicata) Creek Sedge in bloom on the marsh (Spartina eee var. pilosa) . Blossoming spikes of eck Benes (S. ee var Sa) Salt Reed-grass by the marsh (S. cynosuroides) . Salt Reed-grass (S. cynosuroides) a Miner Fox-grass, rank in growth (S. patens) Fox-grass covering the marsh (S. patens) Fox-grass growing through sand (S. patens) Fox-grass (S. patens) Fox-grass (S. patens) Creek Sedge (S. glabra, var. ae Bermuda Grass (Cynodon Dactylon) Tall Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) Wire-grass (Eleusine indica) . Salt-meadow Leptochloa (Leptochloa ae) Salt-meadow Leptochloa (L. fascicularis) Reed (Phragmites communis) Sand-grass (Triplasis purpurea) Sand-grass (T. purpurea) Tufted Eragrostis (Eragrostis eae Strong-scented Eragrostis (E. megastachya) Purple Eragrostis (E. pectinacea) : Narrow Melic-grass (Melica mutica) . Purple Oat (M. striata) Broad-leaved Spike-grass (Uniola elev Marsh Spike-grass (Distichlis spicata) Xili PAGE 127 129 131 132 133 135 135 137 139 140 141 141 142 143 145 147 149 151 153 155 157 159 The Book of Grasses Marsh Spike-grass (D. spicata) . Lady’s Hair (Briza media) Field of grasses B Orchard Grass (Dactylis newer sta) Crested Dog’s-tail (Cynosurus cristatus) Low Spear-grass (Poa annua) Kentucky Blue-grass (P. pratensis) False Red-top (P. triflora) Canada Blue-grass (P. compressa) . False Red-top (P. triflora) Wood Spear-grass (P. sylvestris). Densely flowered Manna-grass (Glyceria ohiusn) : Rattlesnake Grass (G. canadensis) Nerved Manna-grass (G. nervata) Tall Manna-grass (G. grandis) Pale Manna-grass (G. pallida) Nerved Manna-grass (G. nervata) . Floating Manna-grass (G. septentrionalis) Goose-grass (Puccinellia maritima) Goose-grass (P. maritima) , Spreading Spear-grass (P. pine! Slender Fescue (Festuca octoflora) . Red Fescue (F. rubra) Meadow Fescue (F. elatior) . Meadow Fescue (F. elatior) . : Fringed Brome-grass (Bromus bleaius) Downy Brome-grass (B. tectorum) Chess (B. secalinus) Ray-grass (Lolium perenne) Ray-grass (L. perenne) Couch-grass (Agropyron Sree Couch-grass (A. repens) Squirrel-tail Grass (Hordeum TaeAnen) Cultivated Barley ; Terrell-grass (Elymus ES Tae Nodding Wild Rye (EF. canadensis) Terrell-grass (E. virginicus) Bottle-brush Grass (Hystrix LN Bottle-brush Grass (H. patula) Cyperus (Cyperus hystricinus) XiV 194 PAGE 185 188 191 193 196 197 198 199 201 203 207 207 208 209 209 211 218 214 215 215 DD) td 218 219 221 202 229 230 231 233 235 237 239 240 241 245 249 249 251 265 Cyperus (C. diandrus) . : Bristle-spiked Cyperus (C. Perea Slender Cyperus (C. filiculmis) x Pond Sedge (Dulichium arundinaceum) . Slender Spike-rush (Eleocharis tenuis) Large Spike-rush (E. palustris) Slender Spike-rush (E£. tenuis) Spike-rush (FE. obtusa) Matted Spike-rush (E. infermedia’ Sand-mat (Stenopbhyllus capillaris) . d Slender Fimbristylis (Fimbristylis Frankii). . Great Bulrush (Scirpus validus) : Salt-marsh Bulrush (S. robustus) Wool-grass (S. cyperinus) Meadow Bulrush (S. atrovirens) Wool-grass and Bulrushes Ce in marsh Cayuga Marsh . . River Bulrush (S. aes Meadow Bulrush (S. atrovirens) Salt-marsh Bulrush( S. robustus) Salt-marsh Bulrush (S. robustus) Salt-marsh Bulrush (S. robustus) by the ore of the aay 207 Virginian Cotton-grass (E. virginicum) White Beaked-rush (Rynchospora alba) Slender Cotton-grass (Eriophorum gracile) Virginian Cotton-grass (E. virginicum) Clustered Beaked-rush (R. glomerata) Low Nut-rush (Scleria verticillata) Scales, seeds, and perigynia of sedges belonging a ae pee Care ir3 Tufted Sedge (Gas Seay : Pennsylvania Sedge (C. pennsyloanica) Bladder Sedge, (C. intumescens) Hop Sedge (C. lupulina) . Fringed Sedge (C. crinita) Little Prickly Sedge (C. spe pondes) Slender Sedge (C. gracillima) Sedges (C. lurida, C. cristata, C. ibs Hop Sedge (C. lurida, var. gracilis) Hop Sedge (C. Pseudo-Cyperus) XV List of Illustrations PAGE 267 269 270 271 271 273 275 275 277 279 279 283 283 284 284 285 287 289 201 293 295 299 209 301 301 303 303 304 304 307 308 309 309 310 310 311 313 315 The Book of Grasses Hop Sedge (C. retrosa) Hop Sedge (C. lupuliformis) Fringed Sedge (C. crinita) Fox Sedge (C. vulpinoidea) Fescue Sedge (C. festucacea) Yard Rush (Juncus tenuis) Sole teade uch (I) brackycctbalus) Bog Rush (J. effusus) . Sharp-fruited Rush (/. pasa Grass-leaved Rush (/. marginatus) Yard Rush (J. tenuis) Toad Rush (J. bufonius) . Sharp-fruited Rush (/. unas Bog Rush (J. effusus) . AE ie Knotted Rush (J. nodosus) . Jointed Rush (J. articulatus) Black Grass (J. Gerad?) Common Wood-rush (Luzula canes) XVi PAGE 317 319 319 321 321 325 327 330 330 330 331 332 333 335 BV 7 335 333 yy » eri y ine bP ty . vith LAU e a ty ‘” Baty wa at OF GRASSES From spring until late autumn grasses bloom by every way- side, and in field and meadow form the green carpet of the earth. Widely distributed throughout all countries, and abundant even in far-away prehistoric days, they still remain the most important family of the vegetable kingdom, and — of all common plants the most common —the least commonly known. Yet from the moment when the first violet lifts its blossom to the sunlight until in autumn the witchhazel’s delicate flowers are seen above fast- falling.leaves, there is never a day when grasses are not in bloom, and never a week in summer when a score of different species may not be gathered. In richness and variety of colouring, above their undertone of green, the blossoms and wind-blown anthers of the grasses rival in beauty the flowers that the wayfaring man collects. The grace of swaying stem and drooping leaf, the delicacy of tiny flowers tinged in rose and purple, and the infinite variety shown in form and colouring are lost upon those who are intent on seeking flowers that the forests make rare. Grasses there are, stout and higher than one’s head, and grasses so slender that their dying stems among wayside weeds are like threads of gold; grasses whose panicles of bloom are more than half a yard in length, and of a colour which only a midsummer sun can burn into August fields; grasses so stiff that winter’s snow leaves them unbroken, and grasses so tiny that their highest flower is raised but a few inches from the soil. Nearly one thousand species are found in the United States, nor is the study of these plants so difficult as it is thought to be. When accuracy in determining the individual species is desired, a small microscope and a few needles for dissecting the blossoms are all that is necessary. Even without these aids an intimate ac- quaintance with the grasses may be gained by observing only their most obvious characteristics of growth, and the various forms of flowering heads. Notice closely the grasses in a low meadow of early summer: the dense growth of green, hastily characterized as 3 The Book of Grasses “ srass,” may contain many different species of this vast family, species which at a second glance are seen to have each their own distinguishing features. Like charity the study of grasses may begin at home, and, like charity also, this most fascinating of nature studies may be carried far afield, for the grasses, most numerous of all flowering plants, we have always withus. Tree-like in the tropics the Bamboos, largest of the grass family, lift their blossoms one hundred feet and more toward the sky; in cold countries moss-like grasses cringe and cling to the frozen ground, and through the temperate regions of the globe grasses grow in luxuriance of form and colouring and supply a background of green against which the world of trees and rivers, of brooks and ledges, is placed on colours ever chang- ing, and ever perfect. Nature is continually busy reclaiming the unsightly places abandoned by man, covering with a garment of green the hillsides torn by rain, and carpeting with her “matted miracles of grass”’ the humble waysides. The traditional spirit of the seasons is symbolized by outdoor colouring: cool, pale tints of early spring, rose-colour of June, warm tones of August fields, and a glory of purple and gold when the summer is past and the harvest ending. In all this continuity of change, which keeps the face of Nature so new in its world-old familiarity, the grasses bear their part, and as the violet and wild geranium of spring give place to midsummer hardhack, which in turn is pushed aside by goldenrod and asters, so the passing months bring fresh grasses into bloom and mark the calendar of the year by the flowering of these common plants. It still is true, however, that “The world misprizes the too-freely offered And rates the earth and sky but carelessly.” The dandelion is less honoured than the arbutus, yet even the dandelion receives greater honour than do the early grasses, which aid in changing earth’s wintry shroud to living green. Grasses yield us the earliest intimations of spring, as a faint flush of green, in harmony with the soft colours of April woods, tinges the brown hillsides before snows have ceased. The first grasses are more delicately coloured than are those of midsummer when the sun burns red and purple into the tiny flowers. The green spikelets 4 Of Grasses of many spring grasses depend for colour upon their lightly poised anthers of lavender and gold. Sweet Vernal-grass, Orchard Grass, and June Grass, so characteristic of spring, are succeeded by spreading panicles of Hair-grass, bayonet-like spikes of Timothy, and the richly coloured Red-top whose blossoms burn with mid- summer’s warmth. September has still new grasses to offer, and in this month the Beard-grasses are conspicuous, as their stiff stems at last attain a growth that will enable them to withstand snow and frost. In many localities from fifty to one hundred dif- ferent grasses may be gathered, and, although, unlike the lilies, they do not flaunt their colours garishly, yet in rose and lavender, in purple and an infinite scale of green they rest and charm the eye with their beauty from April to October, when frosts bring to them new hues of brown and yellow in which they clothe the earth until green blades again push through spring turf. Our waysides are the accepted gardens of many plants which, having followed the path of mankind through the New World, take the highways of civilization for their own, and find abundant means for transportation as seed is fastened on passers-by, or carried by the wind along smooth pathways. Few are the grasses that cannot be found in these wayside gardens as the roads wind through fertile country, from uplands to rich meadows, or pass sandy shores, where in a variety of soils the different grasses bloom and add a mass of verdure to the border of the way. Throughout the season these common gardens of the wayside hold a constantly changing procession of grasses; a procession which begins with Low Spear-grass and Sweet Vernal-grass in April, and ends in October with the Dropseed-grasses and the Beard-grasses, al- though even in winter the species that remain standing may still be recognized. Rarer flowers must be sought in deep woods and in hidden places in the swamps, but the cosmopolitan grasses are fitted to take up the struggle for existence wherever the seed chances to fall. Dean Herbert rightly says that “plants do not grow where they like best but where other plants will let them.” By way- sides we may see this struggle in its intensity as a dozen species strive for the same plot of ground and grow in tangles that in- clude low cinquefoil and tall briars. The strife is always most intense between individuals of the same species, and here the grasses grow in profusion, occupying each inch of space, pushing 5 The Book of Grasses out into deserted country roads, and spreading far and wide by means as interesting as ever the more noted flowering plants employ. Bur-grass, with its thorny seed-burs, catches on passing ob- jects and thus secures free portage to new fields; Terrell-grass by thick, corky scales floats its seed upon the streams near which it grows; Beach Grass defies the sand to bury it and is found at the tops of the highest sand-dunes, with whose rise it has kept pace, the long roots of the grass penetrating to the base of the dune; and Couch-grass, sending sharp-pointed rootstocks rapidly through the soil, is a veritable “land-grabber.” Where the purslane and poppy produce a multitude of seeds from every flower, each blossom of the grass ripens but one, yet so richly stored is this with nutriment, and frequently so well protected against germination under unfavourable conditions, that the one seed may be worth many of those less perfectly equipped, since, in the process of evolution, diminution in the number of seeds is accompanied by an increase in the effectiveness of those that remain. The twisted awns of certain grasses—e. g., Sweet Vernal- grass and Wild Oat — show one of the most interesting mechan- isms seen in the vegetable world. These awns, or bristle-like appendages of the grass flower, are extremely sensitive to atmos- pheric changes, and by their peculiar structure aid in burying the seed beneath the surface of the soil. In Sweet Vernal-grass the scale, to which the ripened seed adheres, bears a brown awn, bent and twisted near its middle, and beset with minute, upward- pointing hairs on its basal part. Such awns are strongly hygro- scopic and during cold or dry weather remain tightly twisted, thus holding the seed where it chances to be. Under the influence of moisture the awn untwists and by its rotation drives the fallen seed slowly but surely beneath the soil. Although dry weather may follow, causing the awn to become twisted again, the upward- pointing hairs catch on particles of earth or grass and, holding the seed down, prevent it from being drawn up. Thus it lies ready for the next shower when the awn pushes the seed farther into the earth. This peculiarity of structure is easily observed without the aid of the microscope. If a few of the ripened seeds be laid upon the moistened palm of the hand they will immediately begin to move, as if alive, and the rotating of the awn may be plainly seen. 6 Of Grasses Interesting experiments have been made whereby it has been seen that in sand, alternately wet and dried, the awns of certain grasses will bury the seed several inches beneath the surface. Each locality shows characteristic grasses, and as in a short walk we pass from low meadows to dry hillsides we find new species to excite fresh interest. On sea beaches we look for the long, gray-green leaves of Marram Grass, or Beach Grass, for spreading clumps of Sea-beach Panic-grass, for the dark, wiry stems of Fox- grass, and for rigid-leaved grasses of hot sands. Salt marshes show dense jungles of reed-like grasses, Creek Sedge, Salt Reed- grass, and the tall Reed. Dry hillsides are covered in spring by Wild Oat-grass and Wavy Hair-grass, where later Purple Finger- grass, Sheathed Rush-grass, and stiff Beard-grasses will bloom. In dry fields we look for the low growth of the smaller Panic- grasses, for the slender, one-sided spikes of Field Paspalum, and for wide-spreading panicles of Purple Eragrostis. Borders of woodlands offer Poverty Grass, Black Oat-grass, and Muhlen- bergias, while in deep woods we search for shade-loving grasses, the tall, slender Bottle-brush Grass, the lower Mountain Rice, and the Nodding Fescue. Marshy meadows are full of interest to the student of grasses: Reed Canary-grass with broad, blue-green leaves borders narrow brooks, and nearby the Blue-joint Grass, slender and stiff, rises bearing narrow, deeply coloured panicles; graceful Manna Grasses fill the marshes of early summer, and later the rough leaves and stems of Rice Cut-grass form tangled masses in low grounds. By river-borders grows the great Gama Grass whose leaves are so broad as to resemble those of our cul- - tivated corn, and in wet soil, also, is found the tall Indian Rice on which the reed-bird feeds. A country dooryard of an acre may show more than a dozen different grasses, while in the garden near half a score of other species invade the cultivated land as weeds. A large collection of grasses, preserved either as herbarium specimens or in the more artistic impression prints made upon photographic paper, may be gathered in a short time, and dif- ferences perhaps little noticed by the casual observer will seem marked indeed to the student who at the close of a summer’s study will deem it as unpardonable to mistake one of our common grasses for another as to mistake an elm for an oak. Corn, wheat, oats, the day of the first cultivation of these cereal grains long antedates history, and how seldom is it realized 7 The Book of Grasses that they are grasses. Vergil and Columella wrote long ago of the care of meadows and fields. Indeed the word cereal stands as an article of faith in the goddess Ceres, who searched with torches for the grain carried off by winter frost, and on finding the seed raised it to its flower once more. Bertha was the Ceres of German mythology, and winds and rains affecting crops were believed to be under her control. Corn-spirits there were which were sym- bolized under the forms of wolves and goat-legged creatures, similar to classic satyrs. To the older peasantry of Germany and Russia these corn-spirits still haunt and protect the fields which show the “Grass-wolf” or ‘‘ Corn-wolf” to be abroad when the wind, as it passes, bends the grass and the ripening grain. The last sheaf of rye is occasionally left afield as shelter for the “ Roggen- wolf,” or “Rye-wolf,” and it is not long since the Iceland farmer guarded the grass around his fields lest the mischievous elves, hiding among the grasses, and ever waiting to harm him, should invade his cultivated land. In old herbals the word grass, gres, gyrs meant any green plant of small size, and though we have restricted the meaning of the word it still is carelessly applied to a multitude of sedges and rushes which in manner of growth and form of flower differ markedly from the true grasses. To the casual observer the grasses are but “grass,” and to few is their diversity, their beauty, and their value apparent. We are blind to the infinite variety shown by Nature in these common plants, of which we often know scarcely more than do the cattle that feed upon them; yet on no other family of flowering plants does the beauty of the green earth and its adaptation as a home for man so largely depend. UTILITY OF GRASSES THE MOST IMPORTANT FAMILY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM “And he gave it for his opinion, that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.” — Gulliver's Travels. Can one imagine the world grassless — a barren waste? The shifting soil, exposed to the elemental workers, wind and water, could offer no sure abiding place for man, since, lacking a tenacious network of grass roots firmly binding the soil, the road of to-day might be obliterated to-morrow, and the loftiest building gradually buried beneath wind-blown sand. As soil-binders the grasses performed a leading part in the important task of rendering the globe habitable to the human race, and still sending their roots far and wide through the surface of the ground the grasses form a turf which holds in check the de- structive forces of wind and rain, and gives secure anchorage not only to the lower growth of plants but also to trees and shrubs. Grasses were abundantly developed in prehistoric days, as numerous remains of grass-like leaves attest, and since the earliest tribes chipped rude implements for cultivating the soil, or for their use in war, the grasses have exceeded in importance to man- kind any other family of the vegetable kingdom. The green herbage of meadow and pasture is the chief food of domesticated animals, and in this country the value of hay alone exceeds that of any other crop except corn, which, be it remem- bered, is itself a grass. Even the salt marshes yield their hay, and in New England pastures, where rocks seem as numerous as grass blades, sheep crop the wiry grasses of dry hillsides. A noted grass-garden was owned in Woburn a century ago by the Duke of Bedford, and in this garden George Sinclair carried on valuable researches of which he wrote in his “Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis.” Tirelessly were the experiments made, in cultiva- II The Book of Grasses ting the grasses, in drying them, in dissolving their soluble parts, in evaporating the solution, and finally in submitting the residuum to chemical analysis. Grass stems contain a large amount of silica, and in such seed as that of the species known as “ Job’s Tears”’ the hardness due to a silica deposit nearly equals that of agate. Minute particles of silica in the outer cell walls serve in keeping grass stems firm and erect, and if we carefully burn the vegetable matter from one of these stems a perfect skeleton of the structure is left. It is said that wheat straw, without the addition of other material, may be melted into colourless glass, and that barley melts into glass of topaz yellow. The varied form and texture of the grasses adapt them to many uses, and even the common grasses of our northeastern states have been made into ropes, mats, paper, baskets, and many fine- plaited articles. Fragrant fans of dark-coloured fibres are made in India from the aromatic rootstocks of a grass, and the entire plant is woven into screens which, when dampened and placed in a current of air, perfume the breeze. Lemon Grass and Ginger Grass, natives of tropical Asia, yield oils strongly scented, as their names imply, and the rootstock of a grass in South America is sometimes used as a substitute for soap. A few grasses have been used medicinally, and have been cultivated for medicinal purposes. But it is as food for man, and for the domesticated animals on which he is most dependent, that the grasses have attained their highest importance, and it is on them largely that the great human family is fed to-day. The world has seemed to draw a line between the grasses of the fields and those plants that produce well-filled heads of cereals, and has ceased to regard the latter as grasses. Yet the useful grains — corn, wheat, rye, barley, rice, and oats — belong to one family, and are but grasses that have been brought by man to a superior degree of excellence. Rice and wheat have been cul- tivated from time immemorial, and although a century ago wheat was wheat, yet to-day new strains have been developed which grow where in older days the grain could not have been raised. Indian corn originated in tropical America, and is one of the few cereals whose native condition is known. It had attained a wide distribution when this country was discovered, and the grain must have been in use in very ancient times. Early explorers 12 Utility of Grasses found the Indians cultivating corn with primitive implements — hoes made of a sharpened stone or the shoulder blade of a moose —and even then the seeds were described as “somewhat bigger than small peason,” while later the Pilgrims could boast the cultiva- tion of varieties of which “the graine be big.” Botanically, corn is one of the most interesting of the grasses and is very unlike those found in daily walks through the country. The stamens of corn are in ornamental spikes which terminate the stems, while below, on spikes which are borne in the axils of the leaves, are the fertile flowers. These are densely crowded on a_ thickened rachis, commonly known as the corn-cob, and are covered with husks which are the sheaths of abortive leaves and which have the leaf- blades more or less developed. The flowering scales and palets are found in the chaff covering the cob, and the silken “tassels” at the summit of each ear are elongated pistils. Aerial roots, thrown from the lower nodes, serve as prop-roots, supporting the stem, and imitating in a small way the growth of a few other tropical plants. Sugar Cane is also a grass that has been brought from the wilderness and has been made to pay the toll of usefulness which man would fain exact of all vegetation. In warmer countries the great Bamboos, which are but grasses of a larger growth, are utilized as shelter, clothing, and food. Of these giant grasses houses are built which may be entirely furnished with articles made of Bamboo, and the household, wearing jackets and hats made of the same material, may gather tender shoots of the plant for use as a vegetable. A small section of the stem forms a cup, and a larger section a pail; paper and ropes are manufac- tured from the plant; umbrellas and exquisite boxes are made of the split internodes, and intricate appliances for spinning are fashioned entirely of Bamboo. And these are but a few of the uses that the several species of these grasses serve. Indeed, a complete list of articles made of Bamboo would be a catalogue far too long for insertion in these pages. Impenetrable “canebreaks” of the South are formed of two grasses similar to the Bamboos, though smaller in growth. The stout, jointed stems of the more southern species (the Large Cane), are used for fishing rods and are made into canes and pipes. As thatching the stems form a strong and serviceable shelter, and when split are woven into baskets and mats. The Small Cane 13 The Book of Grasses (Arundinaria técta) grows as far north as Maryland, and by streams and river banks forms evergreen thickets from three to twelve feet in height. A reed of southern Europe and Palestine belongs to a closely related genus, and from this grass the heroes of Homer are said to have made their arrows and with it to have thatched the tent of Achilles. Pan-pipes, such as Orpheus might have used in charming the Dryads from their leafy shelters, were also made from the smooth stems of this reed. Of all flowering plants the grasses are the most widely distrib- uted, and innumerable are the ways in which they have served mankind since, in the story of Eden, the earth brought forth these common plants as the first of its flowers. STEM, LEAF, AND FLOWER Vip oma ih dea y _ Ae ik ia e ‘a ay iW, oo rab: st bon ih STEM, LEAF, AND FLOWER Roots.— Many grasses spread in all directions by strong run- ners, or rootstocks, as they are called, which are, in reality, underground stems. These runners differ from the true, fibrous roots in consisting of a succession of joints from which upright stems arise, and from which true roots penetrate the soil and anchor the rootstock as it stretches far from the parent plant. Such grasses rapidly take possession of the ground, and as the rootstocks, interlacing in endless network, are thickened with a large amount of nourishing material, these grasses are enabled to endure drouth and unfavourable seasons. Rootstocks of the more vigorous grasses grow many feet in a season, and the thorny, needle-like points of the growing ends often penetrate tubers and roots. Grasses that develop only fibrous roots grow more frequently in tufts and bunches. Of these grasses the Bitter Panic-grass and the common Orchard Grass are examples. Perennial grasses are more numerous than annual grasses and may usually be recognized by the presence of sterile shoots growing from the lowest joint of the stem. The greater number of perennial grasses bloom earlier than do the annual grasses, though some perennials are late in flowering, as, for example, the Beard-grasses and the Muhlen- bergias. ‘ Stems.— Grass stems are divided by joints into internodes (the space between the base of one sheath and that of the next), the point from which each sheath rises being called a node. Although nearly all grasses, with the exception of Indian Corn, Sugar Cane, Gama Grass, and the Beard-grasses, possess hollow stems, which are always closed at the nodes, the rootstocks are usually solid, and the internodes of the young stems are also solid, becoming hollow by the separation of their original pith cells, which cease to grow. The nodes remain solid and, being darker in colour, appear as bands encircling the stems. Nodes perform an interesting and important function in rais- ing stems that have been bent down. Internodes play little or 17 The Book of Grasses no part in such service, but if one notices grasses that have been beaten to earth by heavy showers, it will be seen that the lower nodes have lengthened on the side turned earthward, and that the stems are thereby bent upward at sharp angles. Sheaths — The broad, basal portion of each grass leaf is known as the sheath, and, encir- cling the stem, is an important vA protection to the growing inter- A re node. Each sheath is usually 4 . a, split, or open, on the side oppo- Ss) i? -< site the leaf, and the edges of the nfloresces sheath overlap or partly encircle the stem a second time. In suc- cessive internodes these edges lap alter- nately to right and left, and the rolling of young leaves also alternates in like man- ner. Ina few grasses —e. g., Kentucky Blue-grass and Orchard Grass — the sheaths are perfectly closed at first and are split only as the inflorescence forces its way up. Ligule— At the summit of the sheath is usually a thin membrane, the ligule, which closely embraces the stem and appears as an additional upward growth of the sheath or a continuation of its delicate lining. In each species the ligule is constant in form, some- times consisting of but a tiny ring or frequently appearing as a fringe of hairs. Leaves.— Grass leaves are borne alternately on opposite sides of the stem, in what is tech- nically called the two-ranked growth. The leaves of a few tropical grasses ap- proach in form those of other families of plants, and in certain species a true petiole is inserted between sheath and blade, but in temperate regions grass leaves vary only in width and length and are always “ grass-like,’’ show- ing long, parallel veins Roorstocn ne ES) Roors Stem, Leaf, and Flower The leaves of many grasses are twisted (to the right in some species, to the left in others), as twining plants twist with or against the sun. It is said that the leaf blade in a few grasses is sensitive, and slowly folds together when briskly rubbed. In dry weather and in dry soil it will be noticed that the leaves of certain grasses are rolled tightly, becoming involute, as it is called. As the cells on the upper surface of the leaf lose their moisture and contract under a burning sun the edges of the leaf curl inward until the stronger cuticle of the lower surface is outer- most, and thus an added protection is given against an excessive loss of moisture. The response to the external stimuli of heat and cold, of light and darkness, in the vegetable world is exquis- itely delicate. In the growth of plants, in their “sleep” at night, and in their many so-called “adaptations” to varying conditions, the student may read the life of Nature in an ever open book. INFLORESCENCE A Spike is formed when the spikelets are apparently sessile on the main axis — e. g., Couch-grass. A Panicle is formed when the spikelets are on secondary or further-divided branches —e. g., Orchard Grass and Old Witch- grass. The Rachis is that part of the stem on which the spikelets or spikelet-bearing branches are borne. FORMS The small flowers of the grasses bear little resemblance, at first glance, to the distantly related lilies; yet if some of the lilies that bloom in spikes were to crowd their flowers more and more, and were to reduce their petals to mere scales, such plants would be well 19 The Book of Grasses on the way toward a grass-like appearance. The three stamens of many grasses suggest the characteristic, three-parted form of the true lilies, while the flower- ing scale and palet of each grass blossom are a reminder of the lily calyx, the two green keels of the palet suggesting that two divisions of the calyx have been merged in one. Our wind-fertilized flowers are represen- ted chiefly by the grasses and sedges, and by early blooming trees and shrubs. Such flowers are small and produce no nectar. They have little fragrance, and their chief colouring frequently appears in the large an- thers which are so hung on hair-like filaments as to shake out pollen grains on every breeze. Spikelets — The flowers of grasses are borne in spikelets which vary in size and which are composed of one, several, or many flowers. The short stem, on which the flowers of a spikelet are placed, is known as the rachilla; this is sometimes prolonged, and, under the microscope, may be seen as a tiny thread lying outside the uppermost flower. Spikelets are arranged in spikes or panicles. In bloom the lower flow- ers of the spikelets bloom before the others, as the spikelets bloom from below upward, but in panicles the uppermost spikelets are the first to open, since the flowering-heads bloom downward, and often the upper branches of a panicle are widely spread with open flowers while the lower branches remain erect and closely appressed to the stem. Ls Ao WV \ 7 WN a | | SV Spike she = Scales.— Instead of flowering-leaves of sepals and petals the grasses show bracts, called scales, or glumes, surrounding each flower. The two lower scales of each spikelet are usually empty, and in the axil of each succeeding scale (except sometimes the 20 Stem, Leaf, and Flower seeps rescue: (Pesiuca ove: |: het 0) Gres ag AiR) eae Slender Fescue (F. octoflora) . . PARA HOCON Lad Une ai tani Nerved Manna-grass (Glyceria era) Baa Se MARA RN ot 27 The Book of Grasses Rattlesnake Grass (G. canadensis) Sharp-scaled Manna-grass (G. acutiflora) Tall Manna-grass (G. grandis) Floating Manna-grass (G. seplentrionalis) Densely flowered Manna-grass (G. obtusa) Wavy Hair-grass (Deschampsia flexuosa) Tufted Hair-grass (D. caespitosa) . Red Fescue (Festuca rubra) Nodding Fescue (F. nutans) Meadow Fescue (F. elatior) Scribner’s Panic-grass (Panicum Saree Starved Panic-grass (P. depauperatum) . Round-fruited Panic-grass (P. Viana Hispid Panic-grass (P. clandestinum) Blue-joint Grass (Calamagrostis canadensis) . Nuttall’s Reed-grass (C. cinnoides) Squirrel-tail Grass (Hordeum jubatum) Timothy (Phleum pratense) : Marsh Foxtail (Alopecurus ea Marsh Oats (Sphenopholis palustris) . Bottle-brush Grass (Hystrix patula) . Bermuda Grass (Cynodon Dactylon) Fringed Brome-grass (Bromus ee Chess (B. secalinus) Smooth Brome-grass (B. Wary Quaking Grass (Briza media) . Fowl Meadow-grass (Poa triflora) Red-top (Agrostis alba) . Thin-grass (4. perennans) . Wire-grass (Eleusine indica) Marsh Spike-grass (Distichlis eae) Couch-grass (Agropyron repens) Fox-grass (Spartina patens) z Gama Grass (Tripsacum dactyloides).. Goose-grass (Puccinellia maritima) Spreading Spear-grass (P. distans) Tall Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) . Purple Oat (Melica striata) Terrell-grass (Elymus virginicus) Slender Wild Rye (E. striatus) 28 2006 206 206 206 206 136 136 217 PAG | a17 Fi 71 71 7h 121 121 238 111 112 134 248 163 229 229 230 187 198 115 115 165 184 232 V44 49 214 214 164 181 247 247 The Common Grasses Nodding Wild Rye (E. canadensis) Ray-grass (Lolium perenne) July 2oth to October ist: Gauze-grass (Sporobolus uniflorus) . Bur-grass (Cenchrus carolinianus) . Rice Cut-grass (Leersia oryzoides) White-grass (L. virginica) Slender Paspalum (Paspalum Es : Field Paspalum ((P. laeve) : Large Crab-grass (Digitaria to aaikats) Small Crab-grass (D. humifusa) Slender Finger-grass (D. filiformis) Indian Rice (Zzzania palustris) Yellow Foxtail (Setaria glauca) Green Foxtail (S. viridis) Cockspur Grass (Echinochloa ma) Old Witch-grass (Panicum capillare) . Tall Smooth Panic-grass (P. virgatum) . Sea-beach Panic-grass (P. amaroides) Large-fruited Panic-grass (P. latifolium) Spreading Panic-grass (P. dichotomiflorum) . Wood Reed-grass (Cinna arundinacea) Slender Wood Reed-grass (C. latifolia) Tall Red-top (Tridens flavus) . A Sand-grass (Triplasis purpurea) Marram Grass (Ammophbila arenaria) Salt-meadow Leptochloa (Leptochloa eons) Lace-grass (Eragrostis capillaris) Purple Eragrostis (E. pectinacea) . Strong-scented Eragrostis (E. ea Creeping Eragrostis (E. hypnoides) Broad-leaved Spike-grass (Uniola lala Slender Spike-grass (U. laxa) . : Meadow Muhlenbergia (Mublenbergia earn Rock Muhlenbergia (M. sobolifera) Wood Muhlenbergia (M. sylvatica) Nimble Will (/. Schrebert) Long-awned Hair-grass (M. capitan) Long-leaved Rush-grass (Sporobolus asper) . 29 247 231 The Book of Grasses Sheathed Rush-grass (S. vaginaeflorus) Small Rush-grass (S. neglectus) Sand Dropseed (S. cryptandrus) Northern Dropseed (S. beterolepis) Cord-grass (Spartina Michauxiana) Salt Reed-grass (S. cynosuroides) . Creek Sedge (S. glabra) Poverty Grass (Aristida Le Slender Aristida (A. gracilis) . Purplish Aristida (A. op es Sea-beach Aristida (A. tuberculosa) Little Blue-stem (Andropogon scoparius) . Broom Sedge (A. virginicus) Bushy Beard-grass (A. eens) Forked Beard-grass (A. furcatus) . Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans) Reed (Phragmites communis) 30 ACCORDING TO LOCATIONS hy UN ay hy Mite ave fa ine ay ty uy ui & iy ) eral Na ely Saiay f vip if VN Ny ) ; MA | PLN Sr heh Ne i) yi Hi PO, Ways i rat i mec) eu A ms Wenn 1 Vu Mau ihe Pe st A LIST OF GRASSES ARRANGED ACCORDING TO LOCATIONS (In each division the grasses are given in their order of flowering.) Grasses found in cultivated land: Low Spear-grass (Poa annua) . Downy Brome-grass (Bromus Cuan Squirrel-tail Grass (Hordeum jubatum) Chess (Bromus secalinus) Smooth Brome-grass (B. 1 LENO Wire-grass (Eleusine indica) Couch-grass (Agropyron repens) : Large Crab-grass (Digitaria sanguinalis) Small Crab-grass (D. bumifusa) Yellow Foxtail (Setaria glauca) Green Foxtail (S. viridis) Cockspur Grass (Echinochloa ars eaili) Old Witch-grass (Panicum capillare) . Meadow Muhlenbergia (Mublenbergia Movieanea) Grasses found in fields and meadows: Low Spear-grass (Poa annua) . Sweet Vernal-grass (Anthoxanthum botany) Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis) . Orchard Grass (Dactylis glomerata) : Meadow Oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius) . Kentucky Blue-grass (Poa pratensis) Canada Blue-grass (P. compressa) Velvet Grass (Holcus lanatus) . Brown Bent-grass (Agrostis canina) Sheep’s Fescue (Festuca ovina) Meadow Fescue (F. elatior) Timothy (Phleum pratense) 33 The Book of Grasses Red-top (Agrostis alba) . Couch-grass (Agropyron repens) Ray-grass (Lolium perenne) Grasses found on sands and salt marshes: Marsh Spike-grass (Distichlis spicata) Fox-grass (Spartina patens) ‘ Goose-grass (Puccinellia maritima) Spreading Spear-grass (P. distans) Tall Smooth Panic-grass (Panicum splined Sea-beach Panic-grass (P. amaroides) Sand-grass (Triplasis purpurea) Marram Grass (Ammophila arenaria) . Salt-meadow Leptochloa (Leptochloa aeicuianeS) Salt Reed-grass (Spartina cynosuroides) . Creek Sedge (S. glabra) : Sea-beach Aristida (Aristida Pieri) Grasses found in woodlands: White-grained Mountain Rice (Oryzopsis asperifolia) . Slender Sphenopholis (Sphenopholis nitida) . Black Oat-grass (Stipa avenacea) : Long-awned Wood-grass (Brachyelytrum yates Black-grained Mountain Rice (Oryzopsis racemosa) Nodding Fescue (Festuca nutans) . Bottle-brush Grass (Hystrix patula) Fringed Brome-grass (Bromus ciliatus) Purple Oat (Melica striata) Wood Reed-grass (Cinna ES Slender Wood Reed-grass (C. latifolia) Rock Muhlenbergia (Mublenbergia tual Wood Muhlenbergia (M. sylvatica) Grasses found in dry soil: Slender Mountain Rice (Oryzopsis pungens) Downy Brome-grass (Bromus tectorum) Early Bunch-grass (Sphenopholis obtusata) Silvery Hair-grass (Azra caryophyllea) Common Wild Oat-grass (Danthonia spicata) Rough Hair-grass (Agrostis hyemalis) 34 115 232 231 184 144 214 214 71 71 171 127 166 144 144 101 99 134 100 108 99 217 248 229 181 128 128 105 105 99 222 134 132 143 115 According to Locations Slender Fescue (Festuca octoflora) Wavy Hair-grass (Deschampsia flexuosa) Red Fescue (Festuca rubra) Scribner’s Panic-grass (Panicum SS Starved Panic-grass (P. depauperatum) Round-fruited Panic-grass (P. sphaerocarpon) Squirrel-tail Grass (Hordewm jubatum) Bermuda Grass (Cynodon Dactylon) Quaking Grass (Briza media) . Y Tall Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) . Bur-grass (Cenchrus carolinianus) . Slender Paspalum (Paspalum setaceum) . Field Paspalum (P. laeve) . . Slender Finger-grass (Digitaria Plifurmis) Tall Red-top (Tridens flavus) . Av 4 to Lace-grass (Eragrostis capillaris) Purple Eragrostis (FE. pectinacea) . ‘ Strong-scented Eragrostis (EF. ovadiankyay Slender Spike-grass (Uniola laxa) Nimble Will (Mublenbergia Schrebert) Long-awned Hair-grass (M. capillaris) Long-leaved Rush-grass (Sporobolus asper) . Sheathed Rush-grass (S. vaginaeflorus) Small Rush-grass (S. neglectus) Sand Dropseed (S. crypitandrus) Northern Dropseed (S. heterolepis) Poverty Grass (Aristida dichotoma) Slender Aristida (A. gracilis) : Purplish Aristida (A. purpurascens) Little Blue-stem (Andropogon scoparius) Broom Sedge (A. virginicus) ; Forked Beard-grass (A. furcatus) Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans) Grasses found in moist soil: Meadow Sphenopholis (Sphenopbolis pallens) Reed Canary-grass (Phalaris arundinacea) Vanilla Grass (Hierochloé odorata) Rough Hair-grass (Agrostis hyemalis) Nerved Manna-grass (Glyceria nervata) 35 217 136 217 71 71 71 238 163 187 164 78 60 60 50 170 172 172 172 183 105 105 113 113 113 113 113 101 101 101 53 53 a2 55 134 90 97 115 206 The Book of Grasses Rattlesnake Grass (G. canadensis) Sharp-scaled Manna-grass (G. acutziflora) Tall Manna-grass (G. grandis) . Floating Manna-grass (G. pieniaea) Densely flowered Manna-grass (G. obtusa) Tufted Hair-grass (Deschampsia caespitosa) . Hispid Panic-grass (Panicum clandestinum) . Blue-joint Grass (Calamagrostis canadensis) . Nuttall’s Reed-grass (C. cinnoides) Marsh Foxtail (Alopecurus geniculatus) Marsh Oats (Sphenopholis palustris) . Fowl Meadow-grass (Poa triflora) Thin-grass (Agrostis perennans) Gama Grass. (Tripsacum dactyloides) . Terrell Grass (Elymus virginicus) . Slender Wild Rye (E. striatus) Nodding Wild Rye (EF. canadensis) Gauze-grass (Sporobolus uniflorus) Rice Cut-grass (Leersia oryzoides) White-grass (L. virginica) Indian Rice (Zizania palustris) Large-fruited Panic-grass (Panicum Lafeliaey © Spreading Panic-grass (P. dichotomiflorum) . Creeping Eragrostis (Eragrostis hypnoides) Broad-leaved Spike-grass (Uniola latifolia) . Meadow Muhlenbergia (Mublenbergia mexicana) Cord-grass (Spartina Michauxiana) Bushy Beard-grass (Andropogon ea Reed (Phragmites communis) ee 36 KEY TO THE GRASSES sn by a) alee ahs A PE hee Ty He are pets ae Ly i 7 KEY TO THE’ GRASSES IN THE illustrated description of the grasses the species follow one another in the order given in modern botanical works, such arrangement being based on the characteristics of spikelet and flower. Technical descriptions are given of the more common species of a genus. The general descriptions include other species and note their chief characteristics. The key, being intended for use in the field, is based on the characteristic form of the flowering-head. Somewhat arbitrarily the terms used in describing the form of the infloresence have been restricted to spike and panicle, omitting the word raceme and, instead, using the term spike to include any flowering-head in which the spikelets have the appearance of being placed directly on the main axis of inflorescence. Thus, the apparent form of the flowering-head is noted and that of Timothy is given as a spike, since it has that appearance, although it is, in fact, a spike-like panicle; the spike-like racemes of Bur-grass, Gama Grass, and others are given as spikes. The generic and specific names are those given in Gray’s “New Manual of Botany” (Seventh Edition). ; In the key and the technical description in the following pages the measurements are in feet, inches, and lines. The symbol ’ is used after figures to indicate inches, and the symbol ” is used to indicate lines. A line is the twelfth part of an inch, hence 3’ equal one quarter of an inch, 8” equal two thirds of an inch, etc. ARTIFICIAL KEY Based on the more noticeable characteristics of the inflores- cence: Inflorescence consisting of spikes or spike-like panicles — I. Inflorescence consisting of short panicles, one to four inches in length — II. a9 The Book of Grasses Inflorescence consisting of longer panicles, size variable, usually more than four inches in length — III. ].— INFLORESCENCE CONSISTING OF SPIKES OR SPIKE-LIKE PANICLES. PAGE Spikes solitary or several, 4/-9’ long; upper spikelets staminate; lower spikelets pjstillate, deeply embedded in the rachis. Gama)Grass on 400 S40" 49 Spikes numerous, 1’-2’ long, slender, loosely flowered, very hairy, terminal and along the stem. Beard (Grass 4) opis 155 Broom Sedge . . 54 Spikes 2-5, 2’-5’ long, hairy, spreading from the summit of a tall stem. A grass of late summer. Forked Beard-grass 55 Spikes solitary or several, 2’-4’ long, narrow, 1-sided; spikelets small, roundish and seed-like. Slender Paspalum . 61 Field Paspalum . 61 Spikes 2 to many, 2’-8’ long, narrow, I-sided, spreading from sum- mit of stem or nearly erect; spikelets oblong, in 2’s or 3’s. Large Crab-grass . 60 Small Crab-grass . 59 Slender Finger-grass 59 Spikes 3-5, 3’-2’ long, 1-sided, spreading from summit of stem. Bermuda Grass . 163 Spikes 2 to many, 1’-5’ long, 1-sided, alternate. Cord-arass)!./ 2 e9G2 Salt Reed-grass . 162 FOx-grasse 0G Ree aG2 Creek Sedge . . 162 Spikes 2-8, thick, 1’-3’ long, spreading from summit of stem; spike- lets several-flowered. Wire-grass eh 165 Spike cylindrical, 1’-4’ long, densely flowered, clothed in short yellow or green bristles. Yellow Foxtail ris) Green .Foxtaik’ 3! 34 977 Spike cylindrical, 1’-7’ long, densely flowered, harsh; empty scales awn-pointed. Timothy yw ee ev eae Spike cylindrical, 1’-3’ long, densely flowered, soft; empty scales not awned, flowering scales short-awned. Meadow Foxtail . 113 Marsh Foxtail . .) 113 Spike cylindrical, 2’-4’ long, densely flowered, clothed in long, slender awns. Squirrel-tail Grass 240 Spike 1’ 3 long, composed of 6-20 spiny burs. Bur-grass . . 83 Spike 3’-9’ long, narrow; spikelets several-flowered, alternate, placed with the edge turned toward the rachis. Ray-grass . . 232 Spike 2’-8’ long, narrow; spikelets several-flowered, alternate, placed with the flat side turned toward the rachis. Couch-grass. . 238 Bearded Wheat-grass 237 Purple Wheat-grass 238 40 Key to the Grasses Spike 3’-10’ long, coarse; spikelets several-flowered, in 2’s or 3’s on alternate notches of the rachis; empty scales conspicuous. Terrell Grass. Slender Wild Rye Nodding Wild Rye Spike 3’-7’ long; spikelets 2-4-flowered, usually in pairs; empty scales minute or awn-like, flowering scales long-awned. Bottle-brush Grass Spike-like panicle 1’-4’ long; spikelets 1-flowered, narrow; scales 5; 3d and 4th scales short-awned. Sweet Vernal-grass Spike-like panicle 2’-18' long; spikelets 1-flowered, narrow; flower- ing scale bearing 3 awns. Poverty Grass Slender Aristida. Purplish Aristida Spike-like panicle 5’-12’ long, cylindrical, densely flowered; spike- lets long and narrow; scales not awned. A grass of sands and sea beaches. Marram Grass . Spike-like panicle 8’-15’ long, composed of numerous, short, spread- ingor downward-pointing spikes. Tall Grama Spike-like panicle 4’-12’ long; spikelets short, several-flowered; empty scales minute. Slender Spike-grass . Spike-like panicle 1’-23’ long; spikelets many-flowered. Staminate and pistillate flowers on separate plants. Marsh Spike-grass Spike-like panicle 2’-4’ long, rough; spikelets of two forms in numer- ous clusters. Dog’s-tail Grass [].— iNFLORESCENCE CONSISTING OF SHORT PANICLES, ONE TO FOUR INCHES IN LENGTH. Panicle pyramidal; spikelets roundish, only 1 fertile flower in each spikelet; scales 4. Scribner’s Panic-grass Starved Panic-grass . Round-fruited Panic-grass Panicle pyramidal; spikelets 3-flowered; scales 5. Vanilla Grass Panicle pyramidal; spikelets 2-flowered, small; scales 4. Silvery Hair-grass . 3 Panicle pyramidal, often 1-sided; spikelets 3-6-flowered, small; flowering scales with short hairs at the base. Low Spear-grass Canada Blue-grass Panicle not many-flowered; spikelets loosely 2-5-flowered; flower- ing scales hairy on nerves, minutely awned. Sand-grass 4I PAGE 248 247 247 250 97 187 195 74 71 71 08 132 205 197 172 The Book of Grasses Panicle not many-flowered; spikelets 4-10-flowered, bearing short, spreading awns. Wild Oat-grass . Flattened Oat-grass Silky Oat-grass ; Panicle narrow, not many-flowered; spikelets 1-flowered, broad; scales 3; flowering scales slightly downy. Slender Mountain Rice. . White-grained Mountain Rice Panicle narrow, contracted; spikelets 1-flowered, small; scales 3. Leaves very narrow. Grasses of late summer. Sheathed Rush-grass Small Rush-grass Panicle narrow; spikelets 3-5-flowered ; flowering scales short- awned. Leaves thread-like. SheepissFescue vnc, II1].— INFLORESCENCE CONSISTING OF LONGER PANICLES, SIZE VARI- ABLE, USUALLY MORE THAN FOUR INCHES IN LENGTH. Division A. Spikelets 1-flowered: Panicle 3’-10’ long, narrow, contracted; spikelets small, not awned. Long-leaved Rush-grass Northern Dropseed 4 ; Panicle 4’-9’ long, narrow; spikelets broad; flowering scale dark, bearing a terminal, straight awn 8’’-12”’ long. Black-grained Mountain Rice : Panicle 2’-6’ long, slender, few-flowered; spikelets narrow, 5’’-6’ long; flowering scale bearing a straight, terminal awn 9/’-12” long. Long-awned Wood-grass . Panicle 2’-8’ long, narrow; spikelets small. Leafy, wiry-stemmed grasses of late summer. Rock Muhlenbergia Meadow Muhlenbergia . Wood Muhlenbergia Nimble Will . ‘ Panicle 4’-8’ long, many-flowered; numerous white hairs at base of flowering scale. Blue-joint Grass Nuttall’s Reed-grass Panicle 4’-12’ long, oblong, many-flowered; spikelets yellowish brown, hairy, awned. A tall grass of late summer. Indian Grass Panicle 12’-24’ long; upper portion composed of long-awned, erect, pistillate flowers; lower portion composed of awnless staminate flowers borne on spreading branches. Indian Rice Panicle 3’-8’ long, pyramidal, contracted after flowering; spikelets crowded; scales 5, but 3d and 4th scales reduced to hairy rudiments. Reed Canary-grass Panicle 5’-8’ long, branches slender; spikelets few, narrow; flower- ing scale dark, long-awned. Leaves thread-like. Black Oat-grass 42 PAGE 144 144 144 99 100 115 114 217 114 115 100 III 106 107 106 106 122 122 56 89 94 IOl Key to the Grasses Panicle 5’-8’ long, branches slender; spikelets few, narrow; flower- ing scale bearing 3 spreading awns. Sea-beach Aristida ; Panicle 3’-10’ long; spikelets flat; scales 2. Leaves very rough. Grasses of wet grounds. White-grass Rice Cut-grass ERS Panicle 5’-15’ long, many-flowered; scales 3; stamen 1. Tall, leafy grasses of woods and swamps. Wood Reed-grass Pata? Slender Wood Reed-grass . Panicle pyramidal; scales 4, lowest scale small; flowering scale white, porcelain-like, shining. Several species of Panic-grasses . Panicle 2’-10’ long, pyramidal, open; spikelets small, about 1/’ long. Palet one third as long as flowering scale. Red-top Palet minute or wanting. Brown Bent-grass Thin-grass Panicle 3’-10’ long, pyramidal, open; Spiieclets small. Panicle many-ilowered, base enclosed in upper sheath. Sand Dropseed Panicle very delicate. Gauze-grass Panicle 6’-24’ long, pyramidal; branches hair-like, long and widely spreading; spikelets small. Rough Hair-grass Panicle 6’-18’ long; branches hair-like, widely spreading; spikelets small on hair-like pedicels; flowering scale bearing a straight, terminal awn 3’’-9”’ long. Long-awned Hair-grass . Division B. Spikelets more than 1-flowered. Panicle 2’-8’ long, narrow, yellowish; spikelets 2-flowered; scales 4; flowering scale of upper flower bearing a bent and twisted awn. Marsh Oats Panicle 4’-10’ long, narrow; spikelets 2-flowered; scales 4; lower flower staminate, its scale bearing a dorsal awn, upper flower perfect and awnless. Meadow Oat-grass . Panicle 1’-6’ long, narrow; spikelets 6-12-flowered; flowering scales short-awned. Slender Fescue Panicle 2’-8’ long, contracted; spikelets 2-3-flowered; 1st scale nar- row, acute, 2nd scale much broader, obtuse. Grasses of early summer. Early Bunch-grass Meadow Sphenopholis Slender Sphenopholis , Panicle 2’-12’ long; spikelets 3-10-flowered, 23’’-6’ long. Panicle narrow and:contracted after flowering. Meadow Fescue Panicle slender, nodding, branches few. Nodding Fescue Panicle erect, short, branches spreading. Red Fescue 43 PAGE 105 90 9o 131 131 61 120 116 116 115 115 120 108 The Book of Grasses Panicle 3’-10’ long, branches few; spikelets one to several-flowered, few, about 4’’-5”’ long, nodding on slender pedicels. Narrow Melic-grass Panicle 2’-8’ long; spikelets 3-10-flowered; flowering scales not aac nerved. Grasses of salt marshes and sea beaches. Goose-grass . Spreading Spear-grass RE a: Panicle 3’-5’ long; spikelets 3-6-flowered, few, purple, 8’’-12” long; flowering scale bearing a dorsal awn. Purple Oat ys a2. Panicle 3’-9’ long, branches few, coarse; spikelets 3-5-flowered, densely clustered. Grass of early summer. Orchard Grass Panicle 2-8’ long, heavy; spikelets large, flattened, 8-35-flowered. Grass unpleasantly scented. Strong-scented Eragrostis Panicle 13’-5’ long, branches hair-like; spikelets 5-12-flowered, few, heart-shaped, inflated, on drooping pedicels. Quaking Grass Panicle 4’-12’ long, base usually enclosed in upper sheath; spikelets 5-10-flowered, sessile on the branches, narrow, erect, 3’’-5’’ long. A grass of salt marshes. Salt Meadow Leptochloa Panicle 2’-12’ long, pyramidal, open; spikelets 3-5-flowered, small, flattened; flowering scales webby at base. Kentucky Blue-grass . Fowl Meadow-grass Panicle 3’-15’ long; spikelets 3-12-flowered; flowering scales dis- tinctly nerved. Grasses of wet grounds. Panicle open, nodding; spikelets inflated. Rattlesnake Grass Panicle contracted, densely flowered. Densely flowered Manna-grass Panicle pyramidal, open. Nerved Manna-grass Tall Manna-grass Panicle branches few; spikelets long and narrow. Floating Manna-grass Sharp-scaled Manna-grass . . Panicle 6’-18’ long, branches long and spreading; spikelets ‘4-8- flowered, about 4” long, purple, shining. Tall Red-top Panicle 5’-12’ long, branches slender, drooping; spikelets many- flowered, broad, 9’’-15’’ long. Broad-leaved Spike-grass Panicle 2’-10’ long; spikelets long, many-flowered, drooping from slender pedicels; flowering scales awned. Fringed Brome-grass Downy Brome-grass Chess 44 PAGE 171 184 230 230 220 Key to the Grasses Panicle 2’-20’ long, pyramidal, open, branches spreading; spikelets 2-15-flowered, 1’’-4” long, flattened. Lace-grass ; Tufted Eragrostis Purple Eragrostis ; Panicle 2’-9’ long, pyramidal, open, branches slender; spikelets 2- flowered; scales thin and shining; flowering scales toothed, short-awned. Leaves narrow and involute. Wavy Hair-grass Tufted Hair-grass Panicle 6’-15’ long, pyramidal, many-flowered, very plumose in maturity; spikelets 3-7-flowered. Tall, reed-like grass of wet soil. Reed 45 PAGE 179 179 181 139 136 170 hy ‘ Nitya ee ! KN ¥ tk i i ay we c 4) MNS a * } LLAMA LW (ny Watnn AN a. = ae Age! ILLUSTRATED DESCRIPTIONS OF THE GRASSES “Where thou with grass, and rivers, and the breeze, And the bright face of day, thy dalliance hadst.” ea ry, PARC AM WATERY, ey ‘ nS iG Ah ib GAMA GRASS Tue day when this grass is first seen, and is recognized as a member of the same family whose smaller species are commonly trodden under foot, is a day unforgotten by the nature-lover. With stems more than shoulder-high, with leaves so large as to resemble Indian Corn, and with thick spikes of oddly formed blossoms, the Gama Grass, as it grows in low meadows and along streams, is one of the largest and most remarkable grasses of the Eastern States. The coarse, branching stems rise from stout rootstocks and, unlike those of the majority of grasses, are solid, being filled with pith. The blossoming spikes are peculiar in form; the stamens and pistils are in separate flowers, and in midsummer long, orange- coloured anthers clothe the upper portion of each spike, while for a short time feathery stigmas of dark purple hang from the pistil- late flowers below. These fertile flowers are deeply embedded in boat-shaped cavities which are closed by hard and shining scales, and as the upper portion of the spike soon falls, the thick basal part is left,and easily breaks into short joints each containing a seed. Although smooth and shining, these seed-capsules lack the symmetry of form and the agate-like surface which char- acterizes the fruit of “ Job’s Tears,” a closely related species which is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental grass and whose seeds are sometimes used for rosaries. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTiON Gama Grass. Tripsacum dactyloides L. Plant perennial, from stout rootstocks. Stem 3-8 ft. tall, solid, stout, erect, branching. Leaves 1 ft. long or more, 6-18” wide. Spikes 2-4, 4'-9' long at summit of main stem, solitary spikes on the branches. Spikelets of two forms; upper part of spike composed of 2-flowered, staminate spikelets about 4” long, outer scales obtuse; 1-flowered pistillate spikelets below deeply imbedded in the rachis, outer scale of pistillate spikelets hard and shining, enclosing the 49 50 CHARACTERISTIC TUFTS OF BROOM SEDGE (Andropogon virginicus) on s stems have grown andy soil in early summer, before the blossoming Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses recess in which the flower is embedded. Stamens 3, anthers 4 i x orange colour, large. | # ™ Stigmas purple, long. Z Moist soil, swamps, and borders of streams. June to September. Rhode Island to Florida, Texas, Mis- souri, and Kansas. BEARD-GRASS, BROOM SEDGE,. FORKED BEARD-GRASS, AND BUSHY BEARD-GRASS When the royal purple and gold of asters and goldenrod paint the waysides, and mark the turning to- ward harvest of the tide of midsum- mer, the Beard-grasses also appear as the vanguard of autumn and show the advanc- ing season as surely as do the more brilliant flowers. In every state, from coast to coast, these grasses grow, characteristic of dry, sandy soils, and easy of recognition. The species are looked upon with little favour in the East, but in Western pastures, on prairies and ranges, the Blue-stems, as these plants are locally called, yield a valued her- bage. Tufts of Beard-grass, the most common of the genus in Eastern States, are fre- quently seen by waysides, in sandy fields, and near the borders of dry woods. This grass, sometimes known as Indian Grass or Little Blue-stem, is late in starting and the leaves, often tinged with red and bronze, E\\ are seldom noticeable until June. In July Forked Beard-grass the slender, rigidly erect stems appear, Andropogon furcatus — ysyally bluish purple in colour and at last fringed with small solitary spikes of hairy blossoms which hang to the winds their orange and terra-cotta anthers and purple ay The Book of Grasses stigmas. Not until September, however, is the plant in its greatest beauty, as the spikelets at maturity change to tiny silvery plumes adorning the ripened and richly coloured stems. In similar locations, though less common in the North, is the Broom Sedge (Andropdgon virginicus), which may be distinguished by an examination of the spikes; those of this species being borne in pairs or several together. In the South this grass is much stouter, and on mountainsides and in lowlands it covers the fields with its rank growth. Aside from its value to the farmer in early summer, Broom Sedge, as its name indicates, finds later a more humble use in the household. Great hand- fuls of the stout stems are tied together, and when the hairy spikelets are beaten out, and the slender tips cut off, a service- able, brush-like broom is ready for immediate use on hearth and floor. Stiff, brown groups of Beard-grass and Broom Sedge remain standing through all the winter months, and are as easily recog- nized in March as they were in the preceding summer. Brilliant colours are rare when Nature is clothed in the dull brown of faded leaves, but these grasses, beneath their neutral tones, hold a colour more striking than in summer. On a wintry day strip from the stem one of the dry sheaths. The inner surface glistens with colour varying from pale yellow to copper colour and bright orange-red, while in a closely related species of the South (John- son Grass, Sérghum halepénse) the long sheaths are lined with glowing crimson. Forked Beard-grass blooms by fences and hedges in early autumn. The tall stems, rich in colouring, are surmounted by short, spreading spikes of reddish brown or purple, and by this finger-like inflorescence the grass is easily recognized. Bushy Beard-grass (Andropogon glomerdtus) is found in damp soil from New York southward. It is rarely more than three feet tall, and as the branches which bear the spikes are elongated the stems are crowned with dense, terminal panicles of hairy blossoms. Aromatic perfumes are prepared from certain foreign grasses of this genus. Citronella oil is distilled from a species of Hindostan, and the roots of another are woven into the “Vessaries,” or fan- screens, which, when dampened and hung in a current of air, be- fore door or window, perfume and cool the house. 54 Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses Beard Grass. Little Blue-stem. Andropogon scoparius Michx. Perennial, usually tufted. Stem 1-4 ft. tall, solid, slender, erect. Ligule less than 1” long. Leaves 4’-10' long, 1'’-3”" wide. Spikes numerous, 1’-2’ long, loosely flowered, solitary, terminal and along the stem. Spikelets in pairs on a hairy rachis, hairs dull white, conspicuous; 1 spikelet of each pair sessile, perfect, 1-flowered, about 3’ long, bearing a twisted, bent awn 5’’-7”’ long; the other spikelet of the pair sterile, borne on a hairy pedicel and reduced to an awn- pointed scale. Stamens 1-3, anthers terra-cotta or yellow. Dry soil. July to October. New Brunswick to Alberta, south to Florida, Texas, and southern Cali- fornia. Forked Beard-grass. Big Blue-stem. Andropogon fur- catus Muhl. Perennial. Stem 3-6 ft. tall, stout, erect. Ligule 1’ long or less. Leaves 6’-16’ long, 2’’-6"" wide, roughish. Spikes 2-5, purplish, 2’-5’ long, rather thick and rigid, spreading from summit of culm and lateral branches. Spikelets in pairs on hairy rachis, hairs short; 1 spikelet of each pair sessile, perfect, 1-flowered, 4’’-5” long, bearing a loosely twisted, bent awn 5”’-8” long; the other spikelet staminate, awnless, consisting of 4 scales. Stamens 3, anthers yellow, orange, or brownish. Dry or moist soil. August to September. Maine and Ontario to the Rocky Mountains, south to Florida and Texas. INDIAN GRASS Indian Grass can hardly be passed unnoticed by the wayfaring man, even though he knows little of the herbage of the fields. Tall stems, leaves a foot in length, and panicles painted in colours of autumn are too striking to be ignored, although they are “nothing but grass.” Blooming in late summer, when the earlier grasses have faded, the long, hairy panicles of Indian Grass are not uncommon in dry fields and in dry places by the waysides. The stems and leaves are often deeply coloured, while the fertile spikelets are brilliant in chestnut-tinted scales and yellow anthers. The soft, densely flowered panicles are rather narrow, and the perfect spikelets are awned, but the sterile spikelets are so reduced and altered that they resemble tiny plumes. 5 The Book of Grasses Sorghastrum nutans Indian Grass. Sorghdstrum nutans (L.) Nash. Stem 3-8 ft. tall, erect. Ligule 1-2” long. Leaves 6-18’ long, 2’’-8” wide. Panicle 4'-12’ long, dense, branches erect or slightly spreading. Spike- lets 1-flowered, in pairs or 3’s; 1 spikelet of each group sessile and perfect; sterile spikelets reduced to hairy pedicels; perfect spikelets 3-4" long, hairy, shining chestnut brown; scales 4; flowering scale bearing a twisted awn 5-10” long. Stamens 3, anthers yellow. Dry soil, fields, waysides, and borders of woods. August to October. Ontario to Manitoba, south to Florida, Texas, and Arizona. LARGE CRAB-GRASS, SMALL CRAB-GRASS, AND PURPLE FINGER-GRASS The two Crab-grasses, large and small, are among the many weeds that have obtained a foot- hold in America by smuggling their seeds through the port of entry with those of more important plants. Many of the most com- mon weeds — how many can hardly be known — are those that have emigrated with the white man and have tirelessly followed his footsteps through the New World. Such unwelcome foreign- ers usually take the highways of civilization for their own, and remaining near waysides and in cultivated lands keep the agricul- turist forever busy “plucking up the naughty weeds.” 56 LARGE CRAB-GRASS (Digitaria sanguinalis) Three quarters natural size Oni te ae” a ‘ a e ao * t qu : ears) er. tural . « 7 > > : 7 f . ef > | = : » —— 5 : > ee ; } BG): 7 99 y * 1 ‘ - j se = 2 i a) i a cs d us oe 5 of , 4 ‘ < é ’ or. an m4 ‘ - Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses Large Crab-grass " 1 isa weed only whenit \ \ is out of place, as it so \ frequently is in thiscountry. In \ X \ some localities the * Me MLR stems yield a valued ~ % \ pasturage, and in south- A western Europe this grass is ¢ ; cultivated for its seeds, which “ are used in porridge. eT Small Crab-grass (Digitaria humifusa) and Large Crab-grass bloom in midsummer and later and are very similar in appearance, differing chiefly in size and in the number of spikes. Small Crab-grass is usually less common, and the second scale of each spikelet is much longer than is the second scale of the larger species. In many a dooryard and near many a garden Large Crab-grass is the most noticeable growth of August and September, when the dark green stems spread over the ground and lift their narrow, deeply coloured spikes which, from the summits of the stems, spread widely, like the rays of an umbel, or like the open fingers of a hand. Near the Large Crab-grass we often notice the contrast of great spreading panicles of Old Witch-grass (Pénicum capillére) which raises its blos- soming-heads like shower-fountains of green, and soon rigidly extends the slender branches until the panicles are sometimes two feet across. Me Purple Finger-grass, or Slender Finger- BN x 5) grass, (Digitéria filiférmis) is a native / ah species and therefore is not so often found Large Crab-grass near dwelling houses. It is an exceedingly Digharia) sampuinclis delicate grass in stem, leaf, and inflorescence, the filiform spikes carrying out the slender character of the plant by remaining 59 IN S The Book of Grasses nearly erect instead of spreading from the stem. This grass is often so slender as to be little noticed, but in early autumn we may frequently find it blooming in sandy fields and by dry roadsides where the Wild Oat-grass still retains dry and faded panicles of springtime. The glistening stems of Purple Finger-grass are often beautifully CSS Sts S Stem 1-3 ft. in length, much branched, erect or spread- ing and rooting at lower joints. Sheaths rather loose, smooth or hairy. Ligule short. Leaves 2'-10’ long, 2’-6’ wide, often hairy, rough on edges. Spikes 4-15, often deep reddish purple, 2’-7’ long, narrow, I-sided, spreading from summit of stem. Spikelets 1-flowered, lanceolate, acute, 1/-13” long, in pairs or 3’s on one side of the flat rachis. Scales 4; lowest scale minute; 2nd scale about half as long as spikelet. Stamens 3, anthers small. Stigmas lavender. Cultivated grounds and waste places. July to September. Throughout North America, except in the extreme north. E § tinged in rose and purple, colours which, though x 4 not looked for among the grasses, are theirs ' : % during many months of the year. i ; Large Crab-grass. Digitaria sanguindlis \\y % (ey OcOD: i : Annual. Naturalized from Europe. \" 4 \ SLENDER PASPALUM AND FIELD PASPALUM Paspalums are characteristic grasses of the Southern States, and in warm countries take fi the place of the abundant Fescues and Bent- / grasses of Northern fields. There are many species, some tall and stout, and others low and spreading, rooting at the joints and car- peting the ground with a dense growth. Two species only are common in the North, and these, the Slender Paspalum and the Field Paspalum setaceum Paspalum, are low-growing grasses which do 60 Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses not bloom until midsummer and later. The plump flowers are borne in very narrow, one-sided spikes which even before bloom- ing seem beaded with ripened seed. Walk through a dry field in late July, and where the earlier grasses have matured and faded green spikes of Slender Paspalum are seen just peeping from their enclosing sheaths. The terminal spike is borne on a slender stem which at length rises many inches above the short upper leaf, while later, other spikes on shorter stems usually protrude from the same sheath. The blossoms of this species are slightly smaller than are those of the Field Pas- palum (Péspalum laéve) which blooms at the same season in moister locations. The two species are distinguished not alone by the more hairy leaves of Slender Paspalum, but also by the fact that the Field Paspalum bears two to five spikes where the other species commonly bears but one. Slender Paspalum. Péspalum setdceum Michx. Perennial. Stem 1-2 ft. tall, slender, erect or spreading. Ligule short. Leaves and sheaths hairy, leaves 3’-7’ long, 1’’-3”” wide, flat. Spike 2'-4’ long, 1-sided, very slender, usually solitary on a long peduncle, additional solitary spikes on shorter peduncles from the sheaths of upper leaves; spikelets 1-flowered, green, about 2” long, round on outer surface, flat on inner surface. Scales 3. Stamens 3. Dry fields. July to September. Massachusetts to Nebraska, south to Florida and Texas. THE PANIC-GRASSES Panic-grasses are bewildering in their profusion and their variety. No other genus of the grass family offers such a number of species in the Eastern States. Abundant by waysides, in old fields, and on river banks, Panic-grasses are equally common on sandy soils near the coast. Diverse in form, low species, often less than a foot in height, are like miniature bushes; slender ones are lost amid the surrounding taller growth; broad-leaved Panic- grasses, shoulder-high, form dense green thickets by our roadsides; stout species, burned by a hot sun to purple and copper colour, grow in clumps on the beaches, and with long rootstocks bind the wind-blown sands; and a more delicate Panic-grass bearing great flowering-heads of long, hair-like branches is a common tumble- weed in many states. In some species the pyramidal flowering- 61 The Book of Grasses heads seem loaded with cereal-like grain, so large are the blossoms; in others the flowers are few and far apart; while still others bear small blossoms, abundant and crowded. It is a comparatively easy matter to refer each Panic-grass to the genus Panicum; the spikelets with their shining, porcelain-like flowering scales are so characteristic of the genus that they form an easily distinguished feature, but even with the microscope it is often difficult to determine those of the several species that closely resemble one another. Cockspur Grass, formerly included in this genus, which it closely resembles, save in its awn-pointed scales, is common in cultivated lands, where its coarse, erect’ panicles blossom soon after midsummer. The plant varies greatly, sometimes cloth- ing the flowering-heads in long awns, and again ap- pearing practically awnless. In rich soil the plants are often six feet tall, but in low grounds near thickets and brooks this grass sometimes blooms when it is less than six inches in height. Old 62 meunt cepillare OLD WITCH-GRASS (Panicum capillare). One third natural size BITTER PANIC-GRASS (Panicum amarum). A beach grass growing on sandy shores from Virginia southward COCKSPUR GRASS (Echinochloa crusgalli). One third natural size. Awn-bearing plants of this very variable species resemble E Walteri; the latter may be recognized by its rough sheaths 9Z{S [PINJVU SjafOH!dS “J9YDYI B AvaU [fos yslour Ul (7497/04 DO/4YI0ULYIT) SSVUD ANdSNOOD HSUVW-LIVS AO HLMOW ANVU V Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses Witch-grass (Pdnicum capilldre), is a beautiful weed of dry soil and is easily recognized, since, even to the most superficial observer, it is unlike any other grass of late summer. The large, yet delicate, flowering-heads, composed of innumerable fine branches, are soft and silky when they first break from the enclosing sheaths; later, when the flowers bloom and the seeds ripen, the panicles are widely open and stiff, and, soon broken by the wind, are blown as tumble-weeds across the fields to scatter their seeds and give them to the care of another year. Small members of the genus are common by roadsides and in fields, where in short flowering-heads of green and purple spikelets Panic-grasses bloom from spring until autumn. Among those most commonly found are the Forked Panic-grass (Panicum dich6- tomum) bearing short, spreading leaves on slender, wiry stems which support scantily flowered panicles; Starved Panic-grass (Pdnicum depauperatum) recognized by its narrow, erect leaves which often equal the stem in height; the several species of Hairy Panic-grass clothed in short, white hairs; Scribner’s Panic-grass, with short, coarse leaves, rough on the margins, and borne on hairy sheaths, the panicles composed of large, plump flowers; Round-fruited Panic-grass (Pdnicum sphaerocdrpon) bearing many flowered, purple panicles, hairy-margined sheaths, and broad, rough-edged leaves; Small-fruited Panic-grass (Pdnicum microcarpon) with longer, oblong panicles of many tiny flowers; and Porter’s Panic-grass (Pénicum Boscii) bearing a few large spikelets, the nodes of the stems barbed with soft hairs, and the sheaths and broad leaves clothed in soft pubescence. The larger Panic-grasses do not begin to bloom until mid- summer or later. Many of these are common in damp soil. The Large-fruited Panic-grass (Pdnicum latifolium) bears pyramidal panicles of large, seed-like spikelets; in Hispid Panic-grass, which, like the preceding species, borders with leafy stems our wayside thickets, the spikelets are more oblong and the sheaths are rough- ened with short, stiff hairs. Spreading Panic-grass (Pdnicum dichotomiflorum) branches abundantly, spreading over the surface of the ground, and the smooth, stout stems and flattened sheaths are surmounted by flowering-heads which are often a foot or more in length. Sea-beach Panic-grass (Pdnicum amaroides) and Tall Smooth Panic-grass (Pdnicum virgdlum) are characteristic plants of the Lewd ih ais (Pio PANIC Scribner’s Panic-grass Panicum Scribnerianum Panicum clandestinum | iS) Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses beaches. The former spe- “&& wy, cies is distinguished by SY, 1] narrow panicles of erect Ie branches, the latter species Aa B (which is also found in = é sandy soil inland) by large, widely opened flowering- heads brilliantly painted te as CI with vivid-coloured anthers and stigmas. Nor is the above a com- 55... plete list of the Panic- FE, grasses that bloomin Eastern States: in some _ localities nearly a score of species SS, may be gathered within the as 7) . . . . A = radius of a mile. Brilliant =n tints are given to many, ff) purple and reddish brown colour the green spikelets; orange and terra-cotta tinge the anthers of some, purple the anthers of others. Often in the smaller species a few leaves are dyed in crimson, and in the majority of the Panic-grasses the feathery stigmas are of deep purple. CockspurGrass. Barnyard Grass. Echinochloa crusgalli (L.) Beauv. Annual. Naturalized from Europe. Stem 1-6 ft. tall, coarse, erect, branching. Sheaths usually smooth, flattened. Ligule wanting. Leaves 6’-24’ long, 3/’-12” wide, rough margined. Panicle 3'-12' long, coarse, branches erect or spreading, densely flowered on lower side. Spikelets ovate, 1-flowered, 1/’-1}’" long. Scales 4; 1st scale minute, 2nd and 3d scales rough, about equal, 3d scale awned Cockspur Grass or awnless; flowering scale shining, enclos- area at ing a palet of similar texture. Stamens 3. A variable species. Cultivated grounds, waste places, and by ditches. August to September. Throughout North America, except in the extreme north. 73 The Book of Grasses Scribner’s Panic-grass. Pénicum Scribnerianum Nash. £ Perennial. ee Stem 6'-24’ tall, erect, branched, often reddish. Sheaths usually _ bristly. Ligule of short hairs. Leaves 2’-4’ a long, 3’’-6” wide, flat, rounded at pet base, rough-margined, usually hairy on margins below. Panicle 1'-3' long, pyramidal, few- flowered. Spikelets 1-flower- ed, roundish, about 13” long. os Scales 4; Ist scale small: flowering scale shining, en- closing a palet of similar texture. Stamens 3, anthers purple. Stigmas purple. Dry or moist soil, waysides, fields, and near borders of ponds. June ; to September. Re Maine to Ontario and Wyoming, south to Tennessee, Texas, and Arizona. Characteristic of this species, and of several other Panic-grasses, are dense rosettes of short, broad, basal leaves, formed in au- tumn and noticeable during winter and spring. Hispid Panic-grass. Pénicum clan- destinum L. Perennial. Stem 2-4 ft. tall, erect or ascending, branched. Sheaths usually longer than internodes, bristly with short, stiff hairs. Ligule very short. Leaves 2’-9’ long, 6’’-12’’ wide, rough-margined, hairy on margins at base. Panicle 3'-6' long, pyramidal, open, panicles on branches usually included in upper sheaths. Spikelets 1-flowered, oblong, about 1” long. Scales 4; Ist scale about 4 as long as spikelet; flowering scale shining, enclosing Tone Panicoerise a palet of similar texture. Stamens 3. Panicum agrostoides Stigmas purple. Damp soil, thickets and river banks. June to i= September. Quebec to Michigan, south to Georgia and Texas. 74 rass, and Snake Gra o 5 Crab-Grass, Cockspur Grass, Old Witch- ss, oxtail Gras THE DESERTED GARDEN, where grow F Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses GREEN FOATAIL,. YELLOW FOATAIL, BRISTLY FOX- TAIL, AND ITALIAN MILLET These are stout coe 7/ grasses, usually oc- curring as weeds in cultivated lands and by 2 y waysides, and blooming in ' heavy cylindrical spikes of / seed-like flowers. Both the Green Foxtail (Sefdria viridis) and the Yellow Foxtail are very common near gardens, and the y smooth stems, red-tinged at the base, and bearing flattened sheaths and many leaves, are so character- istic of the genus that the grasses are easily recognized, even before the blossoming spikes appear. In bloom the two species are distinguished from one another by the colour of the clus- tered bristles which clothe the spikes, as the bristles of Yellow Foxtail are yellow, or even yellowish brown, while the bristles of Green Foxtail are green, as the name implies. Bristly Foxtail (Setdria verticillata) is less common. It is a more slender spe- cies with smaller spikes whose few bristles are downwardly barbed, thus differing from the two preceding species, the tiny barbs of whose bristles point upward. Italian Millet (Sefdria itdélica) is a grass that has escaped from cultivation and is not unfrequently found in waste places and by roadsides. It is of stout and rapid growth, and the purplish flowering-heads, as they bend with a load of ripened seed, are often six inches or Bey ees more in length and more than an inch in Setaria glauca vi The Book of Grasses thickness. Millets were among the most ancient of cultivated grains, being planted long ago in China each spring by princes of the royal house. And in lake dwellings of the Stone Age the grain has been found in such quantities that it must be assumed to have yielded the chief bread supply of prehistoric men. Yellow Foxtail. Pigeon-grass. Setaria glauca (L.) Beauv. Annual. Naturalized from Europe. Stem 1-4 ft. tall, smooth, branched, erect. Lower sheaths loose and flattened. Ligule a ring of short hairs. Leaves 2’-12’ long, 2’’-5”’ wide, somewhat hairy at base. Spike (spike-like panicle) 1’-4’ long, cylindrical, densely flowered, clothed in tawny yellow bristles. Spikelets 1-flowered, about 13” long, sur- rounded by a cluster of 5-10 upwardly barbed bristles which rise from below the base of each spikelet and exceed the spikelet in length. Scales 4; outer scales unequal; 3d scale sometimes enclosing a palet and staminate flower; flowering scale of perfect flower wrinkled, thick, and very convex. Stamens 3, purple. Stigmas purple. Cultivated ground and waste places. July to September. Throughout North America, except in the extreme north. BUR-GRASS Nature has decreed that the gatherers of her harvests shall be disseminators of the plants they use. But those weeds which are tramps of the wayside, like Spanish needles, burdock, and Bur- grass, having nothing of value to commend their transportation to new fields, have developed an insistent scheme for pushing new generations out into the world, and bind burdens upon all passers- by. Most appropriately do botanists comment upon Bur-grass as “a vile and annoying weed,” since it is one that causes trouble from the Atlantic to the Pacific. No one who has walked along railways, to find them Elysian fields in their variety of flora, can forget climbing sandy embankments through a hindering growth of this plant. Bur-grass is more abundant in the Southern than in the North- ern states. It is low and spreading, sometimes carpeting the ground on waste land and near sandy shores, and the flowering spikes, composed of numerous, spiny burs, present a peculiar ap- pearance, leading one to doubt if this can be grass at all. A red- dish tinge is often noticeable in the flat sheaths as well as in the 78 / GREEN FOXTAIL (Setaria viridis). Plant was three feet high - a Pave . > : a Setaria italica FOXTAIL GRASSES, ALL NATURAL SIZE c. Setaria glauca infested by smut b. Setaria viridis d. Setaria glauca normal spike Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses stems, and in the burs, which are really involucres enclosing the spikelets. Before the blossoming-head breaks from the sheath each involucre is short =u and cup-like, sur- y= mounted by _ broad oS “he . . Me) /e dh Re green bristles, but at “A 7 maturity these bristles ere | a are grown together into a a hard bur which encloses the =; seeds and is beset with spines NE \ | of needle-like sharpness. Later aN \ in the season the burs readily become detached and, adhering to ‘ passing objects, are carried long f distances until they fall on new soil | where the seeds establish new colonies of this troublesome grass. Bur-grass. Sand-grass. Devil- burs. Hedgehog-grass. Cénchrus ca- rolinianus Walt. IN Annual. Stem 6’-24' in length, much branched, erect or spreading. Sheaths loose, smooth, flat- tened. Ligule a ring of short hairs. Leaves 2’-6’ long, 2’’-4”’ wide. Spike 1'-3’ long, composed of 6-20 round, spiny burs enclosing the spikelets; burs more or less downy, sometimes reddish; spines very rigid at maturity. Spikelets 2-flowered, about 3” long. Scales 4, thin. Stamens 3. Sandy soil. July to September. Maine and Ontario to South Dakota, south to Florida, Texas, and southern California. ee INDIAN RICE “And I will cut a reed by yonder spring And make the wood-gods jealous.” Many who are but superficially fa- miliar with the low herbage of the fields hesitate to name as grass such large 83 Bur-grass. Cenchrus carolinianus. The Book of Grasses plants as Indian Rice, and attempt to solve the question by calling them reeds. But reed or grass, it is the same, and grass- like characteristics are constant whether measured by inches or if/, disguised by a gigantic growth. In shallow water and on ‘ muddy shores the Indian Rice grows, a tall, stout grass whose long flowering heads seem like a combination of flowers from two dissimilar plants; the upper, fruit- bearing portion of the panicle consist- ing of narrow, erect branches with long-awned flowers, while below them awnless, staminate flowers droop from branches that are widely spreading. The dark seeds are \ half an inch or more in length, and where the grass grows by lakes in Minnesota and the \\ Northwest the Indians paddle their canoes among thickets of Indian Rice and beat off the grain, gathering it as a_ cherished article of food, while in the water hungry fishes eagerly eat the scattered seed. On the Jersey marshes, and south- ward by tidal waters of the Middle States, multitudes of bobolinks in sober dress stop, during their journey toward warmth and sunshine, and find bountiful fare spread for them on ripening panicles of this grass. The bobolink’s flood of melody poured over June fields is lost in autumn, and name as well as plum- age is changed; ricebird, or reedbird, is the sobriquet under which he travels. These birds are, alas! a favourite target Indian Rice Si iala ‘pasta inks for fall sportsmen, and it may be re- 84 wvai}s B JO Japioq AdweMs 94} Ul SuLMoIS (stjsnjog viIuPs17) AOTA ATIM Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses membered that the charm bag of Brer Rabbit carried “one ricebud_ bill.” Indian Rice. Wild Rice. oe Reeds. Zizdnia palustris L. Stem 3-10 ft. tall, smooth, stout, erect. Sheaths loose. Ligule about 3” long. Leaves 1-3 ft. long, 3/’-16" wide. a Panicle 1-2 ft. long, pyramidal. Spikelets 1-flowered. Scales 2. The upper portion of panicle consists of erect branches bear- Qx i, | ia ing narrow pistillate spikelets | a iN 4-12” long; outer scale bearing . Z a rough awn 1’-2’ long; the lower v4 portion of panicle consists of CESSES Sen, widely spreading branches bear- ing staminate, awnless spikelets 3-6’ long. Stamens 6. Grain about 6” long. ether and borders of streams. June to | October. New Brunswick to Manitoba, south to Florida and Texas. RICE CUT-GRASS AND WHITE- GRASS Brook borders offer so much of beauty in their flora that the less noticeable leaves and blossoms of such waterside plants as Rice Cut-grass and White-grass often serve only as a background, intensifying the bril- liancy of cardinal-flowers and emphasizing the deep blue of gentians. But if one at- tempts to walk through a tangle of these grasses, in order to reach some flower that grows between the rocks at the water's edge, rough leaves and sheaths clothed in & minute, hooked prickles delay progress, and Rice Cut-g ; Phe optics if the hand is used in pushing the grasses The Book of Grasses aside it suffers sorely. Indeed, it is unpleasant to pick even one piece of Rice Cut-grass for analysis, so determinedly do the leaves catch on hands and clothing. Both White-grass (Leérsia virginica) and Rice Cut-grass bloom in late summer in wet places, where the stems, branching abun- dantly, bear panicles of green or whitish-green blossoms. Rice Cut-grass is the stouter species and bears larger panicles, while enclosed in the lower sheaths cleistogamous blossoms may often be found. In White-grass the few branches of the panicles spread stiffly and bear comparatively few spikelets, while the leaves are shorter, broader, and less rough than are those of the larger species. It is said that the leaves of certain species of the genus are sensitive in the same manner as are the leaves of the sensitive plant. One species, known as Catch-fly Grass (Leérsza lenticu- laris) bears wide spikelets armed with strong bristles. Of this grass and its blossoms, Pursh, an early botanist, writes: “ Found on islands of Roanoke River, N. C., and observed it catching flies in same manner as Diondea muscipula (Venus’s Fly-trap).” The scales certainly look as if they might close like steel-traps and im- prison insects, but as the most modern text-books say nothing of this habit his record may remain as an “evidence of things not seen” by less fortunate botanists of later times. Rice Cut-grass. Cut-grass. Leérsia oryzoides (L.) Sw. Perennial. Stem 2-4 ft. tall, much branched, erect or spreading. Ligule very short. Sheaths and leaves rough, clothed in minute, downward-pointing, hooked prickles. Leaves 4’-10' long, 2’’-5’’ wide. Panicle 5’-10' long, branches spreading, not numerous. Spikelets 1- flowered, flattened, light green, 2’’-23’’ long. Scales 2, nearly equal in length, downy; outer scale rough on keel and margins; inner scale rough on keel. Stamens 3, anthers pale yellow. Marshes and along streams. July to September. Nova Scotia to Ontario, south to Florida and Texas. REED CANARY-GRASS “Thou should’st have gathered reeds from a green stream.” A broad ribbon of dull rose often borders the winding streams and brooks of June when, for a few weeks, the Reed Canary-grass blooms. In spikelets and lightly poised anthers this grass offers QO omy Aq padivjua yinrq “azis [PANyeN “(09215410 184997) SSVAD-ALIHM oa} Aq pasavjua sjajaxidg ‘azis [vinjeu [ey euQ “(sapzozk4o 0154997) SSVAD-LND ATA most attractive colour- ing, and even before flowering the dense growth of blue-green leaves is noticed in marked contrast to the lighter colour ofthe marsh. A stout perennial with creeping rootstocks, this grass grows most luxuriantly in wet mead- ows and in shallow water, where the profusion of Enlarged spikelet of Phalaris arundinacea leaves, which are always darker in colour than the smooth and shining stems, forms a mass of verdure shoulder - high. In bloom the short branches of the panicles spread from the stem, but they are soon drawn closely to it again as the flowers fade, and in the ripening head the fungus commonly knownas ee Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses J i (REED CANARY-GRASS | a) Phalaris arundinacea ergot often appears as black spurs issuing from between the scales. The true Canary-grass (Phélaris canariénsis), cultivated in The Book of Grasses Europe for the seeds, which have been used as a cereal as well as for bird food, has been introduced in this country and may now be found in waste places. The short, thick spikes are about an inch in length and are strikingly marked by their white and green scales. Under the names of Ribbon-grass, Lady’s Ribbons, Gardeners’ Garters, Painted-grass, and French-grass, a variety of the Reed Canary was planted in the gardens of earlier days. Gerard, in his “Herball,” describes the leaves of this plant as fashioned “like to laces or ribbons woven of white or greene silke, very beautiful and fair to behold,” and these striped leaves with their rare, silver-like lustre, are occasionally found by our waysides where the grass has escaped from cultivation. Reed Canary-grass. Phélaris arundinacea L. Stem 2-5 ft. tall, stout, erect. Sheaths smooth. Ligule 1’’-2’’ long. Leaves 4’-12’ long, 3’’-9’’ wide, roughish, flat. Panicle 3'-8’ long, densely flowered, open in flower, contracted before and after blossoming. Spikelets 1-flowered, 23’’-3’’ long, green strongly tinged with rose-purple. Scales 5; outer scales rough, about equal; 3d and 4th scales reduced to hairy rudiments; flowering scale hairy. Stamens 3, anthers yellow or lavender. Moist ground and shallow water. June to August. Nova Scotia to British Columbia, south to Maryland, Tennessee, and Arizona. SWEET VERNAL-GRASS “Two gentle shepherds, and their sister-wives, With thee, ANTHOXxA! lead ambrosial lives.” The student is fortunate who begins the analysis of grasses with the Sweet Vernal, as did Darwin, who wrote of it: “I have just made out my first grass, hurrah! hurrah! | must confess that fortune favours the bold, for, as good luck would have it, it was the easy Anthoxanthum odoratum; nevertheless it is a great discovery; I never expected to make out a grass in my life, so hurrah! It has done my stomach surprising good.” Sweet Vernal is the first grass to attract one in early spring as in April it pushes up its compact, spike-like panicles to expand them soon with the open blossoms, whose large, violet anthers, as in many wind-fertilized plants, furnish the colour that is lacking in the tiny flower. 94 REED CANARY-GRASS (Phalaris arundinacea). One third natural size. Panicle contracted after flowering he to - a ae —> ag ie os Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses Although many of our common grasses possess a faint and agreeable odour in blossoming time, as well as in the hayfield, Sweet Vernal-grass and Vanilla Grass are our only strongly fragrant species, and after a May shower the sweetness of country air is due, not to the more noticeable blossoms of spring, but to the countless spikes of Sweet Vernal, so abundant by waysides and in upland meadows. The resinous principle, coumarin, to which the fragrance is due, is similar in odour to benzoin, and is found in a number of other plants; one of these, the Blue Melilot, is, in Switzerland, mixed with cheese to which the plant imparts its peculiar odour, and it has been said that in Italy water distilled from Sweet Vernal-grass has been used as a perfume. The slender, satiny stems of this grass are of beautiful texture and, with those of June Grass, have been used in the weaving of imitation Leg- horn hats, as well as in basketry. Sweet Vernal-grass. Anthoxanthum odord- tum L. Perennial. Naturalized from Europe. Stem 1-2 ft. tall, slender, erect. Ligule 1’’-2” long. Leaves 1’-6’ long, 1” 3” wide, flat, smooth or spar- ingly downy. Spike-like Panicle 1’-4' long, green or brownish. Spike- lets 1-flowered, narrow, 3’’-4” long. Scales 5; outer scales very unequal, often downy; 3d and 4th scales hairy and bearing dorsal awns; awn of 4th scale bent and twisted, more than twice the length of the scale. Stamens 2, anthers violet. Stigmas white. Plant very fragrant in drying. Waysides, meadows, and pastures. April to July. Throughout nearly the whole of North America. VANILLA GRASS “And because, the Breath of Flowers, is farre Sweeter in the Aire, (where it comes and Goes, like the Warbling of Musick) then in the hand, therefore nothing is more fit for that delight, then to know, what be the Flowers, and Plants, that doe best perfume the Aire.” o7 _Sweet Vernal-grass Anthoxanthum odoratum The Book of Grasses In all the fragrance of outdoor life the grasses bear their part in diffusing that most subtle essence which is as untraceable as the Vanilla Grass Hierochloé odorata odour of spring. Vanilla Grass is one of the most fragrant grasses, and its perfume in the air. sug- gests that of delicate orchids hidden among sedges and rushes by the brookside. Vanilla Grass is found in abundance only in the more Northern States and in Canada, but as far south as New Jersey it is occasionally found in damp soil. In bloom the short panicles are ornamented in chestnut-brown and purple, but it is the long-leaved sterile shoots which have gained for the plant a wide recognition far from its mative meadows. These leaves are very fragrant in drying, and are gathered by Indians who weave them into many varieties of baskets and placques. It is even said that European peasants attach to the plant some mysterious power of inducing sleep, and that bunches of the leaves are sold in the north of Europe to be suspended in sleeping-rooms. When, in olden time, the custom still lingered of scattering sweet-scented grasses before the churches of northern Europe on Saints’-days and holy festivals, this plant received the name of Holy Grass and was used with the less strongly scented Sweet Vernal-grass to make fra- grant the pathways leading to shrines of the saints. Fragrant grasses were at one time much lauded by agriculturists, who thought that sweet grasses should improve the flavour of butter and milk, but alas for theories! it was proved that Vanilla Grass and Sweet Vernal-grass were not only valueless, but were even disliked by cattle. VanillaGrass. Holy Grass. Seneca Grass. Hieréchloé odorata (L.) Wahlenb. Perennial, from creeping rootstocks. : Stem 1-24 ft. tall, slender, erect. Ligule 1’’-2” long. Stem leaves very short, basal leaves, and those of sterile shoots, long and narrow. 98 Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses Panicle 2'-4’ long, pyramidal, open, somewhat t-sided. Spikelets 3- flowered, 2’’-3’’ long, chestnut-brown or purplish; upper flower perfect; lower flower staminate. Scales 5; outer scales nearly equal, smooth; 3d and 4th scales hairy; flowering scale hairy at apex. Stamens 2 or 3. A very fragrant grass. Moist grounds. May to July. Newfoundland to Alaska, south to New Jersey and Colorado. WHITE-GRAINED MOUNTAIN RICE, BLACK-GRAINED MOUNTAIN RICE, SLENDER MOUNTAIN RICE “The grass flames up on the hillsides like a spring fire . . . not yellow but green is the colour of its flame; the symbol of perpetual youth.” The early flowers of Northern woods, y arbutus, yellow adder’s tongue, and dicen- tra, have long been honoured as heralds of spring, while the lesser blossoms of shade- loving early grasses and sedges have been passed unnoted. Yet, the grasses, too, brave inclement winds and frosts, and without them the forest floors would seem bare indeed. White-grained Mountain Rice 1s one of the earliest of the woodland grasses, and the common name refers to the large seed of which it is said that a white flour has been made. The tufts of long basal leaves remain green during the winter, and in early spring the slender stems rise (often purple- tinged at the base) bearing short, narrow panicles of a few pale-coloured flowers. Slender Mountain Rice (Oryzopsis puin- gens) is another grass of early spring, and, although it is usually less common than the : other species, it may be looked for near open ohksll/h ie Hil Bee woods and on dry and rocky soil. The Oryzopsis asperifolia a | The Book of Grasses short, narrow panicle rises above thread-like leaves, and the whitish spikelets are occasionally tinged with purple. > f WH Black-grained Moun- Gan Vay is tain Rice (Oryz6psis ra- < cemosa) is a later, a broad-leaved VL species found in woods ly ee - | ; and on ledges, where it blooms in midsummer. The y, plant is larger than White- pty Yj Black Oat-grass Stipa avenacea. grained Mountain Rice and usually bears a longer panicle of darker flowers; nor are the stem-leaves minute, as are those of that earlier species. White- grained Mountain Rice. Winter-grass. Oryzé6psis asperifolia Michx. Perennial. Stem 8'-20’ tall, slender, erect. Ligule very short. Stem leaves very short, basal leaves long and narrow, 2’’-4”’ wide. Panicle 2'-4' long, few-flowered, narrow and contracted. Spikelets 1-flowered, broad, 3'’-4"" long. Scales 3; outer scales slightly unequal; flowering scale whitish, sparingly downy, bearing a terminal awn 4’’-5”’ long. Stamens 3. The leaves remain green during winter. Woodlands. April to June. Newfoundland to British Columbia, south to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota; also in the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico. BLACK OAT-GRASS Through some selective process of Nature her longest-awned grasses are most frequently found on dry and rocky soil. The Aristidas, and the different genera known under the name of Oat- grasses, often grow near dry woods, in that interesting borderland where wild black- 100 Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses berries and strawberries crowd beneath white birches and spire- like cedars. Bottle-brush Grass retreats farther into the woods, and Black Oat-grass is also found within their shelter, usually on the southern slope of some open woodland where the sunlight penetrates the leafy shade. The greater number of the species of this genus (Stipa) are found west of the Mississippi, and form the Bunch-grasses, Feather-grasses, and Needle-grasses of the plains. Black Oat-grass is common eastward in early summer, when the loose, few-flowered panicles rise above the tightly rolled and thread-like leaves. The ripened flowering-heads often remain on this grass until autumn, and the long awns, bent near the middle and twisted below, spread widely from the scales. These twisted awns uncoil during damp weather but coil tightly again when the sun shines, and from this habit the Stipas, in older days, were known as “weather grasses.” A foreign species, with silky-feathered awns nearly a foot in length, has been cultivated for its beauty, and a species of southern Europe is an important article of commerce, baskets, ropes, and paper being made from the tough leaves. Black Oat-grass. ‘Stipa avendcea L Perennial. Siem 1-3 ft. tall, slender, erect. Ligule about 1” long. Leaves in- volute, thread-like, stem leaves 3’-5’ long, basal leaves longer. Panicle 4'-8’ long, few-flowered, open, branches slender. Spikelets 1-flowered, narrow, 4’’-5” long. Scales 3; outer scales narrow, nearly equal, acute; flowering scale blackish, hairy at base and bearing a bent, loosely twisted, terminal awn about 2’ long. Stamens 3. Dry, open woods. May to July. Southern New England to Ontario and Wisconsin, south to Florida and Mississippi. POVERTY GRASS, SLENDER ARISTIDA, PURPLISH ARISTIDA, AND SEA-BEACH ARISTIDA The height of the grass season continues through all the summer months, and even in September the student will find fresh grasses by the wayside. These are not always giant species like the Reed, which uses the entire season in maturing its growth; several of the smaller grasses of wiry stem and narrow leaf have, in the long evolution of the grass family, found it more advantageous to wait 101 The Book of Grasses until the pressure of midsummer was past before giving their seeds to the care of Nature. Among other grasses of late summer the Aristidas are common in dry soil throughout the country. The English name of Three- awned Grass is descriptive of a peculiarity of the genus, as each flowering scale bears triple awns. In Poverty Grass and Slender Aristida the outer awns of the flowering scale are shorter than the middle awn and are upright, while the long middle awn spreads stiffly at right angles to the spike. When the spikelets are comparatively few, as in the species mentioned above, these horizontally spreading awns are so characteristic that from them alone the grasses may easily be recog- nized. Poverty Grass (Aristida dichétoma) is the smallest of the eastern Aristidas and bears but short awns. Slen- der Aristida has a slightly ‘ larger flowering-head whose horizontal awns are fre- quently one half inch in y length. The panicles of Purplish Aristida are long and very bristly; the outer awns of each flowering scale Slender Aristida nearly equal the horizontal Purplish Aristida Aristida gracilis middle awn in length, and Aristida purpurascens 102 SEA-BEACH ARISTIDA (Aristida tuberculosa). Connecticut specimen Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses spread slightly from the spike-like purple panicle; the plant is usually larger than either of the preceding species and bears longer leaves. The awns of Sea-beach Aristida (Aristida tuber- culosa) are of nearly equal length and are united at their base for one quarter of an inch or more. The panicles of this grass are few-flowered, and the awns are widely spreading or even reflexed. The several species of eastern Aristidas are locally known as Poverty Grasses, from their appearing most frequently on waste land and on soil that is too poor to support a richer vegetation. Many species are common in the West and Southwest, where, among others, is found the well-named Needle-grass, whose triple awns sometimes attain a length of four inches. Slender Aristida. Aristida gracilis Ell. Annual. Stem 6’-24’ tall, slender, erect, often branched. Ligule very short. Leaves bristle-like, 1’-4’ long, hardly 1’ wide. Sptke-like Panicle 3'-7' long, slender, not densely flowered. Spikelets I-flowered, narrow, about 3” long. Scales 3, narrow, outer scales nearly equal, awn-pointed; flowering scale bearing 3 awns, middle awn horizontal, 3’’-9” long, lateral awns erect, 1’’-4’’ long. Stamens 3. Dry and sandy soil. August and September. Massachusetts to Nebraska, south to Florida and Texas. Purplish Aristida. Aristida purpurdscens Poir. Perennial. Stem 1-3 ft. tall, slender, erect. Ligule very short. Leaves long and narrow, sometimes involute, 4’-10’ long, about 1” wide. Sptke-like Panicle 6’-18’ long, slender. Spikelets 1-flowered, 3’’-5” long, narrow, purplish. Scales 3, narrow; outer scales unequal; flowering scale bearing 3 awns, middle awn horizontal, about 1’ long, lateral awns slightly shorter, erect or spreading. Stamens 3. Dry and sandy soil, and in dry woods. August to October. Massachusetts to Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas. THE MUHLENBERGIAS WOOD MUHLENBERGIA, ROCK MUHLENBERGIA, MARSH MUHLEN- BERGIA, MEADOW MUHLENBERGIA, NIMBLE WILL, AND LONG-AWNED HAIR-GRASS With one exception the common species of this genus are un- attractive grasses, which, although they add the verdure of their leaves to waysides and to country dooryards, bear but incon- 105 The Book of Grasses spicuous flowering-heads of little beauty. As the Muhlenbergias are native grasses they are found in many localities, and grow from Meadow Muhlenbergia Muhlenbergia mexicana ut ox open woods to dry fields Wy OG and on moist banks of Wey ae In certain soils \ '/7N the tough, matted root- stocks are but too fre- quently seen in gardens. The smooth stems, rising in early summer, are very leafy, but as the season advances and the stems lengthen the leaves thereby become more remote, and in maturity the grasses are hard and wiry. All the species bloom in late summer, and throughout the season the fresh plants have a taste peculiar to the genus. Wood Muhlenbergia (Mublenbérgia sylvatica) and Nimble Will (Mublenbérgia Schrebéri) are frequent along the borders of woods, and in rocky places one nat- urally looks for Rock Muhlenbergia (Mublenbérgia sobolifera). These are slender grasses that are usually much branched and that bear narrow, spike- like panicles of small, green flowers. Marsh Muhlenbergia (Muhblenbérgia racemosa) grows in wet places and has much stouter and more compact flower- ing-heads, which sometimes resemble spikes of Timothy. Meadow Muhlenbergia frequently grows near dwelling houses, where in early summer it offers the contrast of spreading clumps of yellowish green leaves to the darker colour of June Grass and Orchard Grass. Meadow Muhlenbergia is the last of the common dooryard grasses to bloom, and after one . has watched the branching stems the season through, and has waited with 106 Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses Long-awned Hair-grass Muhlenbergia DN oes (i capillaris curiosity for the blossoms to appear, there is small reward in seeing but short panicles of finy : green and lead-coloured flowers. The more \ slender Nimble Will, mentioned before, is | also found in dooryards, where it hastily spreads wherever it has opportunity. Long-awned Hair-grass is found only on | dry soil and is a delicate and beautiful grass, very distinct in appearance from our other species of Muhlenbergia. The gossamer-like, purple panicles are long and glistening, while the awned, solitary flowers are borne on such widely spreading pedicels that the flowering- |, heads are frequently a foot across, and in late summer are gauze-like and graceful until the first frost touches them. | r= Meadow Muhlenbergia. Mexican Dropseed. Mublen- bérgia mexicana (L.) Trin. Perennial, from creeping rootstocks. Stem 14-3} ft. tall, smooth, wiry, much branched, erect or spreading. 107 The Book of Grasses wr tt Ligule less than 1” long. Leaves 3’-8’ long, 1-4” wide, roughish. Panicle 2'-6' long, narrow, many-flowered. Spikelets 1-flowered, 1’’- 13’ long. green or bluish purple. Scales 3; outer scales acute, slightly Long-awned Wood-grass Brachyelytrum erectum unequal; flowering scale acute. Stamens 3. An exceedingly variable species. Damp soil and in shaded places. August and September. New Brunswick to Ontario, south to North Carolina and Oklahoma. Long-awned Hair-grass. Mublenbérgia capillaris (Lam.) Trin. Perennial. Stem 13-33 ft. tall, slender, erect, not branched. Ligule 1/’-2’” long. Leaves long and narrow, 6’-15’ long, 1'’-2’" wide. Panicle 6’-18’ long, open, delicate, usually purple, branches hair-like, lower branches 3’-8’ long. Spikelets 1-flowered, about 2”” long, narrow, on hair-like pedicels. Scales 3; outer scales slightly unequal, acute; flowering scale bearing a slender, terminal awn 3-10” long. ‘Stamens 3. Sandy and rocky soil and open woods. August to October. Massachusetts to Missouri, Florida, and Texas LONG-AWNED WOOD-GRASS The narrow brooks threading their way through woods and swamps are the haunts of many plants whose location makes them the more rare to the ordinary pedestrian. Here, where the bladderwort hangs its tiny yellow sunbonnets far from travelled paths, and the wild calla unfolds pallid against the velvet mud, may be found the Long-awned Wood- grass growing luxuriantly on a dryer bank of the brookside. The grass is distinctly graceful, and at first glance the slender, nodding panicle might suggest the flowering-head of a Brome-grass, but the form of the leaves separates the Long- awned Wood-grass at once from that genus, while the one-flowered spikelets differ from 108 LONG-AWNED WOOD-GRASS (Brachyelytrum erectum). One half natura: size. Spikelet enlarged by two and a half Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses the many-flowered spikelets of the Brome-grasses, If the micro- scope is used it discloses the thread-like prolongation of the rachilla lying against the palet which closely embraces the narrow seed. The slender stems bear a profusion of spreading leaves, and the whole plant has a slightly unpleasant odour. Long-awned Wood-grass. Brachyélytrum eréctum (Schreb.) Beauv. Perennial from rootstocks. Stem 1-4 ft. tall, slender, erect. Nodes and sheaths downy. Ligule less than 1” long. Leaves 2’-6’ long, 3’’-8’ wide, rough above, downy on lower surface, tapering at both ends, flat. Panicle 2'-7' long, narrow, slender, few-flowered, branches erect, 1’-4’ long. Spikelets 1-flowered, narrow, 5-6’ long. Scales 3; outer scales small, unequal; 1st scale very minute; flowering scale 4-6" long, 5-nerved, bearing a rough, terminal awn 9-12” long. Rachilla prolonged and lying as a slender bristle in the groove of the palet. Stamens 2, anthers and stigmas long. Plant has faint unpleasant odour. Open woods and moist grounds. June to August. Newfoundland to Ontario and Minnesota, south to North Carolina and Missouri. TIMOTHY “Tt is full summer now, the heart of June.” In many of the states Timothy is one of the most common of cultivated grasses, and it is, perhaps, the one most generally known and easily recognized. By waysides and in fields its bright green bayonets rise, stiff and rigid, and tipped with cylindrical flowering-heads which bloom at about the same time as Red- top, a grass with which this species is often associated in the fields, though Timothy is noticeable earlier in the season, when the sunlight, touching the tips of the spikelets, seems to gem the spikes with dew-drops. The flowers are densely crowded, and in bloom the III Phleum pratense The Book of Grasses anthers, borne on long filaments, increase the apparent size of the heads by encircling them in filmy lavender. The stalks, in rich soil, are sometimes five feet tall, with blos- soming heads six to ten inches in length, but in dry places the plant is much smaller, and by developing bulbous thickenings of stored- up nutriment at the bases of the stems it is enabled to survive periods of drouth. Leaf-smut occasionally attacks this grass and reduces the leaves to shreds covered with dusty brown spores. A few of the flowering-heads of aftermath develop leaves from the tips of the scales and cover the spikes with tiny green blades, as if to shield the unripened seed from early frosts. The common name of Timothy preserves that of its earliest cultivator, Timothy Hanson, a Maryland planter of the early days of the eighteenth century. He must have been a genial man, proving himself friendly, or we should have had Hanson Grass instead of Timothy, although the more local name of Herd’s Grass need be considered no reproach to the Mr. Herd who cultivated it in New Hampshire long ago. Timothy. Herd’s Grass. Cat’s-tail Grass. Phléum pra- iénse L. Perennial. Stem 1-5 ft. tall, erect, not branched. Ligule 1’’-2”’ long. Leaves 3’-12' long, 2’’-4’’ wide, flat, rough or nearly smooth. Spike (spike-like panicle) 1'-7' long, cylindrical, green, densely flowered, 3’’-43"’ in diameter. Spikelets 1-flowered, flat, about 13’ long. Scales 3; outer scales compressed, about equal, hairy on keels, abrupt- ly awn-pointed; flowering scale thin and translucent, truncate, much shorter than outer scales. Stamens 3, anthers usually lavender. Stigmas white. Meadows, fields, and waysides. June to August. Throughout nearly the whole of North America. MEADOW FOXTAIL AND MARSH FOXTAIL The resemblance that Meadow Foxtail bears to Timothy might be confusing were it not that the former, being one of the first grasses to mature its seed, begins to bloom a month before the green spikes of Timothy appear. The whole plant is more soft than is Timothy, the leaves shorter and borne on somewhat inflated sheaths, and the spikes are slightly softer, broader, and shorter than are the stiff, rough heads of the later-flowering grass. Meadow 112 Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses Foxtail is exceedingly hardy, thriving on all soils but the driest, and after the early growth of May and June it yields later a luxuriant aftermath. Common in low meadows and along shallow streams is the Marsh Foxtail, (Alopecttrus geniculatus,) a widely dis- tributed grass of rich, dark-green colour. A more slender plant than Meadow Foxtail, it bears shorter spikes and spike- lets, while there is an important differ- ence in the empty scales of the two species, those of Marsh Foxtail being not only much shorter but also quite obtuse. The slender stems, bending and spread- ing at the base, are sparingly branched, and it will be noticed that the upper leaf is as long as its sheath, as is seldom the case in Meadow Foxtail. Meadow Foxtail. Alopecirus praténsis L. * Perennial, with short rootstocks. Naturalized from Europe. Stem 1-3 ft. tall, erect, not branched. Sheaths loose. Ligule very short. Leaves 1'-4' long, 1'’-3’’ wide, flat, rough or nearly smooth. Spike (spike-like panicle) 1'-4' long, cylindrical, green, densely flowered, 4-6” in diameter. Spikelets I-flowered, compressed, 2’’-3 long. Scales a outer scales acute, equal, united at the base, hairy on the keels; flowering scales nearly as long as empty scales, thin and translucent, obtuse, bearing a slender, dorsal awn about 3” long; palet often lacking. Stamens 3. Stigmas long. Fields and meadows. May to July. Labrador to southern New York, Ohio, and Michigan, also in Oregon and California. THE DROPSEED GRASSES GAUZE-GRASS, SHEATHED RUSH-GRASS, SMALL RUSH-GRASS, LONG-LEAVED RUSH-GRASS, SAND DROPSEED, AND NORTHERN DROPSEED The common species of this genus are very dissimilar in appearance: the panicle of Gauge- 113 Alopectrus praténsis The Book of Grasses grass is lacy and open, like that of a miniature Eragrostis; Sheathed Rush-grass and Small Rush-grass bear short, narrow Sheathed Rush-grass flowering-heads; and the panicles of certain other species show a superficial resemblance to those of the Bent-grasses. Gauze-grass is so small and . delicate that it hides beneath one’s feet, and hundreds of the plants may grow unnoticed by ' the margin of a brook where ! taller grasses have been gathered. Indeed this grass is seldom seen at all, save by accident, as it were, when the student, down on bended knee, is searching for the smaller flowering plants of wet, sandy soil. Often the Rough Hair-grass grows in similar loca- tions and bends its great ripen- ing panicles over the later-flower- ing ones of Gauze-grass. Our other species of these grasses grow in dry or sandy soil and may be looked for in late summer and early autumn, when with a low growth they frequently cover the ground be- tween tufts of the Beard-grasses, or rise among the slender, rose- purple stems of Purple Finger- grass. Small Rush-grass (Sporéd- bolus negléctus) and Sheathed Rush-grass are small and very slender,with short, narrow, leaves, and very short, narrow flowering- heads which, in the latter, bear anthers of deep red in vivid con- trast with the white stigmas. Sporodolus vaginaeflorus Long-leaved Rush-grass (Spor6- 114 Gauze-grass Sporobolus uniflorus Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses bolus dsper), also, bears a narrow panicle, but the stem is often three feet in height and the leaves are very long. The bluish or lead-coloured panicles of Sand Dropseed (Sporé- bolus cryptandrus) are open and many-flowered; Northern Drop- seed (Spordbolus heterdlepis) bears an open, less heavily flowered panicle, and long, thread-like leaves. Sheathed Rush-grass. Southern Poverty-grass. Sho- robolus vaginaeflorus (Torr.) Wood. Annual. Stem 6'-20' tall, slender, tufted, erect. Sheaths somewhat inflated. Ligule very short. Leaves 1’-4’ long, 1’ wide or less, upper leaves rather rigid and bristle-like, lower leaves much longer. Panicles }/-2’ long, terminal and lateral, very narrow and contracted, lateral panicles enclosed in the sheaths. Spikelets 1-flowered, 14/’-2’’long. Scales 3; outer scales slightly unequal, very acute; flower- ing scales very acute, rough toward the apex. Palet very acute, as long as flowering scale. Stamens 2 or 3, anthers dark red, large. Stigmas white. Dry and sandy soil. August and September. Vermont to Wyoming, south to Georgia and Texas. Gauze-grass. Sporébolus uniflérus (Muhl.) Scribn. & Merr. Perennial. Stem 6/-18’ tall, very slender, somewhat flattened, erect. Ligule very short. Leaves 2’-6’ long, about 3” wide, flat. Panicle 3'-8' long, very delicate, branches hair-like, erect or ascending. Spikelets 1-flowered, (occasionally 2-flowered), minute, about 2 long, light purple, on slender pedicels. Scales 3; outer scales obtuse, about equal, half the length of the acute flowering scale. Stamens 2 or 3. Wet, sandy soil. July to September. Maine to Michigan, south to New Jersey. THE BENT-GRASSES BROWN BENT-GRASS, THIN-GRASS, ROUGH HAIR-GRASS, AND RED-TOP “Soon will the high midsummer pomps come on.” Neither the earlier nor the later grasses so monopolize field and wayside as do those of this genus, whose hundred species are scattered through all the temperate regions of the world. As typical of midsummer warmth as goldenrod is of the largesse of autumn, they begin to bloom by the waysides of June, and symbol- 115 The Book of Grasses ize, as do no other plants, the heat of summer with its hay fields and the endless, iterant call of the cicada. ~ oa In drier places Brown Bent- Kat WL ZA .' grass (Agrostis canina) is often i ~ found in bloom a month before the common Red-top, and it is also frequently seen in moister meadows as a red-brown mist closery following the blossoming of Velvet Grass. In bloom the plant calls to mind a miniature Red-top, but the leaves are narrower than those of the latter species, the basal leaves being almost bristle-form, while the flowering scale differs in devel- oping a dorsal awn. Brown Bent is often seen on lawns and it is also quite common near the coastwise marshes of New England and New Jersey, where under the hot sunlight the widely open panicles of this grass rarely vary in colour from brown or brownish purple, flecked with white by the small anthers. Thin-grass (Agrostis perénnans) is well de- scribed by its common name. The panicles are very pale green, rarely tinged with purple, and the short branches, with the branchlets and pedicels, are widely spreading. The whole plant is weak and slender, and the tiny flowers, open- ing soon after Brown Bent blossoms, are in out- ward appearance not unlike those of a small Red-top that has lost its colour through growing ‘ in a shaded place, but in examininga blossom with the microscope the palet is seen to be minute or lacking. Thin-grass is most frequently found in the damp soil of shaded pastures, and it is one of ed the comparatively few grasses that ascend the Red-top Agrostis alba highest mountains of the Appalachians. 116 RED-TOP (Agrostis alba). Three quarters natural size Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses Among our common wayside grasses there are few more beau- tiful than the Rough Hair-grass, with its shining stems and wonderfully deli- cate panicles which glisten in the sun- light like purple cobwebs. When the Fescues are past, and the Red- top is in its glory of midsummer colour- ing, the slender stems of this grass droop by the way- side and may be passed a score of times unnoticed, for, although the flowering-heads are often a foot and a half long and half as broad, the widely spreading branches are so infinitely fine that the panicles seem to have gathered “fern-seed,” since they so nearly “walk invisible.” To see the plant in its greatest beauty one should seek an upland plain where the land- scape gardening of Nature has planted the dark green of bush-clover and tick-trefoil against the summer grasses. Here, where the Wild Oat-grass was earlier abundant, and where later the Beard- grasses will endure throughout the autumn, arelarge tufts of Rough Hair-grass — the whole flowering- head, stem, branch, and spikelet, burned to rose- purple by the July sun. Before the panicles ex- pand they are sometimes gathered and sold as “Silk-grass,” but the name of Fly-away Grass is more appropriate as the seeds ripen, for the light panicles are soon broken by the wind and drift over S the fields as the earliest tumble-weed. The Red-top and its varieties are among the 119 Rough Hair-grass Agrostis hyemalis The Book of Grasses chief grasses of July fields, and in midsummer acre upon acre is clothed by them in varying tones of reddish purple. Perhaps native in the North and Northwest, Red-top was brought to the Eastern States from Europe in the eighteenth century and was cultivated as “English Grass,’ but its various uses and ap- pearances under many conditions of soil and climate have given it a multitude of names. As Bonnet-grass it was common along the valley of the Connecticut River, where the stems were formerly cut to be braided into hats. As Fioren a variety which produces a smooth and velvet-like turf was most highly extolled in England and Ireland as a winter fodder grass, and its sponsor was at one time caricatured as mowing grass in winter while snow lay upon the ground. The most common form of Red-top is found in nearly all the states, and as in early summer the un- opened panicles, in narrow spikes of green or purple, rise above the leaves the grass may be recognized several weeks before it is in bloom. Where the earth is moist the blossoms are darker in colour, and in the more luxuriant growth of rich soil rootstocks are formed, which in gardens are as difficult to eradicate as are those of the too-common Couch-grass. Red-top. Herd’sGrass. Bent-grass. Agrostis alba L. Perennial. Exceedingly variable. Stem 1-4 ft. tall, erect, not branched. Ligule 4’’ long or less. Leaves 2’-10’ long, 1’’-4’’ wide, flat, rough. Panicle 2'-10' long, open, branches many. Spikelets 1-flowered, about 1” long, green or reddish purple. Scales 3; outer scales acute, about equal, rough on keels; flowering scale obtuse or acute; palet not less than one third as long as flowering scale. Stamens 3, anthers white, short. Fields, meadows, and waysides. June to September. Throughout nearly the whole of North America. Rough Hair-grass. Fly-away Grass. Agréstis hyemdlis (Walt.) BSP. Root biennial. Stem 1-23 ft. tall, erect, slender, not branched. Ligule 1’’-2’’ long. Leaves 2’-6’ long, 4/’-13’’ wide, rough, basal leaves usually involute and bristle-form. Panicle 6'-20' long, widely open, usually reddish purple; branches many, hair-like, rough, divided near the middle, spikelet bearing at the extremities, lower branches 3’-8’ long. Spikelets 1-flowered, 1’ 120 Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses longorless. Scales 3; outer & WAZ scales nearly equal, acute, RN p Wy = fd rough on keels; flowering \ scale obtuse; palet minute. soy ‘\ Wig Stamens 3, anthers small. QQ i Dry or moist soil. June to Sah U7 Wi August. = a \\\\ \¢ ! Throughout nearly the whole a ‘ of North America, except ~SS . r in the extreme north. ENN BLUE-JOINT GRASS AND Sy at NUTTALL’S REED-GRASS SN « Though that “bank where sg 4 the wild thyme blows’’ be in- Sy accessible, the country holds many WX a marshy meadow wherein all man- ner of delightful acquaintances may be made. In such ‘“‘marish places” grow pitcher-plants, dotting the swale with fairy parasols of rose and maroon, orchids, fragile and beautiful in pink and lavender, while treacherous sundews, plants of doom to the lesser members of the insect kingdom, are scattered among the sedges and rushes above which rise the taller grasses of moist grounds. In June when the season is at its height — though in reality it is only ap- preciation that is more vivid in early summer, for each week brings new bloom and colour to the marsh —the Blue-joint often covers large areas, or appears in isolated specimens among the sedges. This grass is tall and slender, bearing narrow flowering-heads which are usually y strongly tinged with bluish purple, and ie on some soils the dark green leaves Blue-joint Grass ; : Calamagrostis canadensis change to a dull purplish colour that 1s noticeable even from a distance. The seeds ripen early, and in some localities the grass is a difficult one to find in bloom, as 121 The Book of Grasses the flowers fade rapidly, leaving only pale-brown panicles of ripen- ing seeds. Occasionally the whoie panicle fails to mature, and Calamagrostis cinnoides 122 then the spikelets remain empty and faded. In the same wet meadows Nuttall’s Reed-grass (Calama- grostis cinnoides) is found in midsummer. A_ stout, reed- like grass is this species, with broader leaves than Blue- joint, and with contracted panicles which in the sunlight look as if they had been dip- ped in dye of royal purple, so deeply coloured are the tips of the individual spikelets. The leaves of this grass are oc- casionally tinged with red as are, here and there, those of other summer grasses that thus anticipate the brilliancy of autumn. The flowering scales of these grasses are surrounded by soft hairs, and among these hairs the slender awn of Blue- joint is almost lost. In Nut- tall’s Reed-grass the stouter awn is readily seen under the microscope, as Is also the pro- longed rachilla which bears a tiny thistle-head of white hairs at its summit. Blue-joint Grass. Cala- magréstis canadénsis (Michx.) Beauv. Perennial. Stem 2-5 ft. tall, erect. Ligule 1’’-3’’ long. Leaves 6-15’ long, 1’’-4"" wide, rough. ga Lake Cayu aa} n a _— qe ad nH] i =| vo 4 | tal = = a 5 & = bo & 3 iS = bo 5 FS Lv 3 S = 2 S 3 S ~ Vs) = = 3 aS 3 Lo n wn . _ e a BPs, vs & ; ee 7 : , ' © ies Te yy TSA ‘ = esse fa _ ee = atts ; te ae a 7 = a s * - * k 7 Fi ; 4 " £ f Lo " * 7 ek eee ee 44: aus Ke a 7+ 7 Fal tad és ae _— nate ae ‘e a t » = aie ay tae Med nye * Pi? < * Mae iby a wile © ¢ < ; ri hoe) . ray ‘= rr 7 ee - ay eee ray,” ~ = te ,% : ‘ , ne 4 Nee : . a - - ») — “—e e 4 Win ’ ae d . zl » ne c= : as ~ * D8 o — - ‘ ¢ . ' > il -* j } - , ‘ ae = — r, a 4 : + ~ . ‘ - . rT ’ ¢ x a t y ~ . “ - 4 : 4 - = t » oa Py ia r ; pn — - , 7 a 7 ~ = x > ies ¢ . “ z = >) a ‘ = a des | € 2 . Jee . 7 ; vy ? LA , oO i a r ® ; P @ 7 » @ Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses open panicles tinged with blue and purple. This grass is spoken of by one writer as among the tallest of British grasses, often attaining a height of six feet in that country, where its stems are Oc- casionally used in weaving coarse floor-mats. Here, theTuf- ted Hair-grass is from x» 1, two to four feet tall,a sys variable species with flat * a= S© leaves, somewhat smaller ee = spikelets, and _ stouter stems than are seen in Wavy Hair-grass. Wavy Hair-grass. Deschdmpsia flexu- ésa (L.) Trin. Perennial, tufted. Stem 1-23 ft. tall, slender, erect. Sheaths much shorter than internodes. Ligule 1’’-2” long. Leaves 1’-7’ long, involute and bristle-like, those of the stem very short. Panicle 2’-8’ long, widely open, branches _ hair- like, spreading, wavy, spikelet-bearing toward the extremities. Spikelets 2-flowered, about 21” long, green tinged with rose, silvery and translucent in fading. Scales 4; outer scales acute, slightly unequal; flowering scales acute, divided at apex, hairy at base, bearing a bent and twisted dorsal awn about 3” long. Rach- illa prolonged. Stamens 3. Dry soil. June to August. Labrador to Ontario, south to North Carolina and Tennessee. OATS, CULTIVATED AND WILD “It is their chiefest bread-corn for Iannocks, Haver cakes, Tharffe cakes, and those which are called generally Oten cakes: and for the most part they call the graine Haver, whereof they do likewise make drinke for want of Barley.” Who does not remember a field of oats under a July sky? The bright leaves “Green, and all of a height, and unflecked with Wavy pada a light or a shade.” Deschampsia flexuosa 139 The Book of Grasses One of the grains cultivated in ancient times, this is still the principal cereal of the extreme north of Europe, where the grain is used daily in the kitchens of the working people, who from it make their “fladbrode,” or oaten cakes. Many varieties of this cultivated grass (Avéna sativa) have been devel- oped in more modern days, the chief forms of which are Panicled Oats and Banner Oats — the former with symmetrical, and , the latter with one-sided panicles — and the large, drooping flowering-heads frequently bloom by the waysides where seed has been accidentally dropped. Although there are many species in this genus, none of them is common in the Eastern States. The Wild Oats (Avéna fatua) is, perhaps, the most inter- esting, but it is not often found east of the Mississippi. The peculiar flowering scales of this grass are half an inch long and are covered with stiff, brown hairs from among which projects a bent and twisted awn more than an inch in length. Like the twisted awns of other grasses, the awn of Wild Oats, when dampened, quickly uncoils and moves in a most weird manner, as if suddenly endowed with life. It may be that the apparent inward volition of this strange awn was looked upon as an evidence of influence from the under-world, for it is certain that the term ‘‘wild-oats”’ has long beena synonym fs for the worthless —and enjoyable. Where Cultivated Oats the Norse mythology credited the dwarf 140 Cultivated Wheat 141 The Book of Grasses Loki with troubling poor mortals by his evil deeds, that grass was called “Loki’s Grass,” or “ Dwarf’s Grass,” the common proverb about the scapegrace being: “Loki is sowing his seed in him.” Jugglers of former days used the awn of Wild Oats in foretelling future events, and imposed on the credulous by calling it “the leg of an enchanted fly” or “the leg of an Arabian spider.” Surely such pseudo- sciences as palmistry and astrology would lose their charm when one could place unwavering faith in the fortune-telling based on the strange movements of this enchanted awn. An English book speaks of the use of the flowering scale as an artificial fly in trout fishing. The twisted awn, uncoil- ing as it is dropped in water, whirls the hairy scale about and causes it to appear like a struggling insect. MEADOW OAT-GRASS For some long lost reason the unusual name of ‘Grass of the Andes” was once given to the Meadow Oat-grass which in early spring is often found growing in loose tufts near fields and hedges. A rapid and rigidly erect growth soon lifts the narrow blossoming-heads of this plant above the leaves of later flowering Fes- cues and Bent-grasses, and in bloom a rare combination of colouring is shown in the brownish-green spikelets and yellow anthers. As an important meadow grass this species was introduced from Europe many years ago, yet when one of the earlier American writers on agriculture Meadow Oat-grass : Arrhenatherum elatius speaks of Meadow Oat-grass as being 142 Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses cultivated “by a few curious farmers” he leaves the interpretation of the adjective to the prejudices of his readers. The long, fibrous roots, on which bulbous formations are occasionally developed, give to the plant great drouth-resistant qualities, but, though valued in the South and extreme West, Meadow Oat-grass has hardly proved itself worthy of extensive cultivation north of Mason and Dixon’s line. Meadow Oat-grass. Arrhenathérum eldtius (L.) Beauv. Perennial. Stem 2-4 ft. tall, erect. Ligule about 1” long. Leaves 3’-12’ long, 1’’-4"’wide, flat, rough. Panicle 4’-10' long, narrow, branches short, erect or ascending. Spikelets 2-flowered, 3’’-5” long, brown- ish, lower flower staminate, upper flower perfect. Scales 4; outer scales acute, unequal; flowering scales sparingly hairy, scale of lower flower bearing a bent and twisted dorsal awn about 6” long, scale of upper flower bearing a very short, straight awn between its teeth. Rachilla prolonged. Stamens 3, anthers yellow. The fresh plant has a decidedly bitter taste. Fields, waysides, ana waste places. May to August. Maine and Ontario to Georgia and Tennessee, also on the Pacific coast. WILD OAT-GRASS, FLATTENED OAT- GRASS, AND SILKY OAT-GRASS In rock-strewn pastures, where the scanty soil supports low sumac and fragrant bayberry, a slender, wiry grass covers the dry knolls and blossoms in early spring soon after Sweet Vernal blooms in moister fields. This grass, so common on poor soil from Canada to the Gulf States, is Wild Oat-grass, a species that varies not only in size but also by occasionally clothing with silky hairs its lower leaves. The larger plants differ little from a small growth of Flattened Oat-grass (Danthonia compréssa) which blooms a few weeks 143 Wild Oat-grass Danthonia spicata The Book of Grasses later and has a more limited range. Both of these grasses have narrow leaves and are easily recognized, as the short, few-flowered panicles bear but few branches and are unlike those of other grasses of early summer. In Flattened Oat-grass, which is especially abundant in mountain meadows and ascends the highest peaks of the Appalachians, the stems are flattened and the flowering scales terminate in longer and more slender points than do those of Wild Oat-grass. Silky Oat-grass (Danthénia sericea), another early species of sandy soils, is less common in the Northern States than are the other two grasses. It is slightly stouter than either and is usually very silky on leaves and sheaths, while the flowering scales are whitened with soft hairs. Wild Oat-grass. Danthonia spicata (L.) Beauv. Perennial. Stem 1-2} ft. tall, slender, erect. Lower sheaths often downy. Ligule very short. Leaves 4’-6’ long, 1” wide or less, often involute. Panicle 1'-2' long, branches few. Spikelets 5-8-flowered, 4”-5” long, green, few. Outer scales long and narrow, smooth, usually extending beyond the uppermost flower; flowering scales broad, 2-toothed, downy, bearing from between the teeth a bent and twisted, spreading awn about 4” long. Awn purple in the twist, green above. Stamens 3. Dry and rocky soil. May to August. Newfoundland to Dakota, south to Florida and Texas. THE SPARTINAS FOX-GRASS, CREEK SEDGE, CORD-GRASS, AND SALT REED-GRASS “By a world of marsh that borders a world of sea.” Spartinas are lovers of strong salt breezes, and with Marram Grass and Bitter Panic-grass are characteristic plants of sea sands and salt marshes. With long rootstocks, sharp-tipped with scaly points, the grasses of this genus grow to the water’s edge, and with- stand the daily flooding of the tides. Pull up a portion of the strong rootstock from some large Spartina and the growing point is sharp as any needle. These subterranean stems, pushing their way in endless, interlacing network through the sands and creek mud, aid in firmly binding the unstable shores. Fox-grass, the earliest, and by far the most slender of the com- mon species, blooms through July and August and covers large 144 md Aen Fd iN eR RRM EE Ye > go a ae tm ei li PR eae Ay ie it bi, i, 3 w CREEK SEDGE ON THE MARSH (Spartina glabra, var. pilosa) CREEK SEDGE IN BLOOM (Spartina glabra, var. pilosa) In the blossoms on the left the pistils are mature, on the BLOSSOMING SPIKES OF CREEK SEDGE (Spartina glabra, var. pilosa). right the stamens > ep PO PR ap et + oe mo SALT REED-GRASS (Spartina cynosuroides) by the ditch in the marsh SALT REED-GRASS (Spartina cynosuroides) by the edge of the marsh ; me — ae a Ds bey or es . » Se Calle a ae ee ® — ¥ = . t=” iz ~_e 2 a's og: an = Lake oe rr re vo Ae 7 D 7 ¥ : ; ‘ : an oo a 7 e a 4 a 4 7 . a et tat Sa i a AAT. uf, ; . SAP ee ¥ Fae Dy bit ; : wh ey + "s,s ’ r 7 pur * ‘ aie é Panicle about two thirds size a S 3 ina cynosuroi t eet ais: ar, De 2S a ag ~ 2 ines aS aE nn SALT REED-GRASS (Spar <= ra) i So o 7) & - o at = 3 Lb 2 = rz) o = 3 | i= v > 3 = BY) a a Es) cs) = ~ 5 ° - pe) a Se ° uo) 0 £ 8 ° ° o » S 5 — an co) - a uc) [=I 3 = ie} n FOX-GRASS (Spartina patens). CRA EL ‘ SHY 4; Lee WS gee w FOX-GRASS (Spartina patens). Acres of it. Locally called ‘‘White Salt” ; ry PMN ¢ ff a Cy Pe t \) ci he Ve THE MARSH HAS BEEN COVERED WITH SAND AND THROUGH IT STRUGGLE STRAY PLANTS OF FOX-GRASS. (Spartina patens) f FOX-GRASS (Spartina patens). Natural size Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses areas With its smooth, dark green leaves and stems and its vividly coloured flowering spikes of purple flecked with yellow anthers. This and the Black-grass — really a rush —are valuable plants of the seaside, and their low, dense growth of leaves and stems, so fre- quently seen by tidewaters, is easily recognized by the characteristic dark green colour. These plants yield a large amount of the salt hay gathered each year, and the wiry stems of Fox-grass are much used in packing. This, also, is one of the many plants that have , been proved to yield fibres 7 suitable for spinning and weaving, and it is said that although the fibre from the stems of Fox-grass is defi- cient in length it is equal in strength and fineness to that of flax. Creek Sedge advances into the water and one must wait until low tide before approaching by land the pale green spikes which are so beautifully fringed with their white anthers. This grass is common everywhere along our coasts and by creek margins, where it borders the water with im- passable thickets of reed- like stems which remain green until late autumn. Creek Sedge Spartina patens' The stout stems, leafy tO Spartina glabra, var. pilosa 161 Fox-grass The Book of Grasses their summits, are sometimes used for thatching, but the plant, until thoroughly dry, has an unpleasant odour. Cord-grass (Spartina Michauxiana), found by river and lake borders, as well as near the coast, is a tall, stout grass whose smooth stems bear an inflorescence composed of five to thirty light-coloured, erect or spreading spikes. Paper and twine have been manufactured from this species, and, like Creek Sedge, Cord-grass is used to form a waterproof thatch. Salt Reed-grass (Spartina cynosuroides) is the largest of the genus and bears broad, rough leaves, and a dense inflorescence of many spikes, which are often tinged with purple. On the Jersey marshes, acres are covered by this grass, which sometimes attains a height of ten feet, with stems an inch in diameter at the base. Fox-Grass. Salt-meadow Grass. Spartina pdiens (Ait.) Muhl. Perennial from creeping rootstocks. Stem 1-3 ft. tall, slender, erect, sometimes reddish. Sheaths and lower surface of leaves very smooth. Ligule a ring of very short hairs. Leaves 4’-14’ long, 1’’-2’’ wide, dark green, involute, rather rigid. Spikes 2-7, alternate, narrow, 1-sided, 1’-2’ long, erect or spreading, on short pedicels. Spikelets 1-flowered, narrow, 4-5” long, in 2 rows, green or pinkish purple. Scales 3; outer scales acute, unequal, rough on keels; flowering scale slightly 2-toothed; palet slightly longer than flowering scale. Stamens 3, anthers purple or reddish brown. Salt meadows and sandy shores along the coast. June to September. Newfoundland to Virginia. Creek Sedge. Creek Thatch. Smooth Marsh-grass. Spartina glabra Muhl. var. pilosa Merr. Perennial, from stout, creeping rootstocks. Stem 2-9 ft. tall, stout, reed-like, erect. Sheaths and leaves smooth. Ligule a ring of short hairs. Leaves 5’-24’ long, 2-8” wide. Spikes usually many, 1’-4’ long, erect, 1-sided, forming a terminal, spike-like inflorescence. Spikelets 1-flowered, narrow, 6-8” long, in 2 rows. Scales 3; outer scales acute, unequal, rough on keels; palet slightly longer than flowering scale. Stamens 3, anthers light coloured. Stigmas long, white. A variable species. In salt marshes and by the borders of creeks. July to October. On the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. 162 Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses BERMUDA GRASS In the beauty of old mythology, when the white clouds were cattle driven through the wide pasture of the sky, the sacred Vedas cele- brated Bermuda Grass as the “ Shield of India,” and “Preserver of Nations,” a plant sacred to the Hindoos, as without it the herds would perish and famine consume the people. The twentieth century, with face turned traffic- ward, notices Bermuda Grass merely as “the most valuable forage grass of the Southern States.” A lover of heat and sunshine, this grass is seldom found in the North, but from southern New York State to the Gulf the short, finger- like spikes are not uncommon in dry soil where the low stems rise bearing narrow leaves which are crowded at the base of the stems and on the prostrate runners. The blossoming spikes are painted with dark purple stigmas, and Sir William Jones, in his “Asiatic Researches,” long ago praised the extraordinary beauty of the flowers. Spreading extensively over the surface of the ground, the plant is tenacious of life, even during the driest seasons, and is highly valued as a lawn-grass in the South. Seed is rarely produced north of the Gulf States, but the runners often grow over rocks six feet across, or down precipitous embank- ments, and are most useful in holding arid and shifting sands. Bermuda Grass. Scutch-grass. Cynodon Dactylon (L.) Pers. Perennial, extensively creeping. Naturalized =e from Europe. Bermuda Grass Stem 6'-24' tall, erect. Ligule composed of soft Cynodon Dactylon hairs. Leaves 1’-23’ long, 1-2" wide. Sptkes 3-5, narrow, 1/-3’ long, spreading from the summit of stem. Spikelets 1-flowered, about 1” long, borne on one side of the spike. 163 The Book of Grasses Scales 3; outer scales acute, slightly unequal, rough on keels; flower- ing scale longer and broader; palet slightly shorter than flowering scale. NN | Wy Sz FZ He iN Tall Grama Bouteloua curtipendula Rachilla prolonged. Stamens 3. Stigmas purple. Fields and sandy soil. June to September. Southern New York to Florida and Texas. TALL GRAMA The Gramas, or Mesquites, are characteristic grasses of the Southwest, where they are a valued herbage of the ranges, but with the ex- ception of two species that appear to have been introduced into Florida the Tall Grama is the only eastern member of the genus. Tall Grama can hardly be classed among our common grasses of the Eastern States, yet the dense, leafy tufts are occasionally seen on dry hillsides and plains. The plant blooms in mid- summer and is easily recognized by the spreading or downward-pointing spikes of the long and narrow inflorescence, which for a short time is hung with anthers nearly as brilliant in colour as are the petals of the cardinal-flower. Tall Grama. Side-oats. Racemed Bou- teloua. Bouteloia curtipéndula (Michx.) Torr. Perennial, tufted. Stem 1-3 ft. tall, erect. Ligule a ring of short hairs. 1-2" wide. Spike 8’-15’ long, somewhat 1-sided, composed of 20-60 spreading or downward-pointing spikes 3’’-8” long. Spikelets 1-flowered, 33’’-5’” long, in 2 rows on one side of the rachis. 4-12 spikelets in each spike. Outer scales roughish, acute, slightly unequal; flowering scales terminating in 3 short, awn-pointed teeth. Rachilla prolonged and bear- ing an awned rudiment of a second flower. Stamens 3, anthers red. Sheaths loose, sparingly downy. Leaves 3/-12’ long, Dry soil. June to September. Ontario and Manitoba, south to New Jersey, Kentucky, Texas, and California. 164 Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses WIRE-GRASS AND EGYPTIAN GRASS The coarse leaves and stems of Wire-grass form a thick, green carpeting in dooryards and by footpaths in many of the states during the middle and latter part of summer. This grass is a native of warm countries of the Eastern Hemis- phere, and, although gradually becoming common in southern New England, is most abundant in the South, where it usually suffers the reproach of being called a weed, so rarely are plant immigrants honoured unless they pay the toll of use- fulness. Wire-grass is low and leafy, sending up numerous flowering-heads which in appearance call to mind the familiar Crab- grass, though the most casual observer could hardly mistake it for that species, since the spreading spikes of Wire-grass are so much heavier and thicker. On the “coasts of Coromandel” a stout species of this genus was cultivated for its large, farinaceous seeds which were used as food. Egyptian Grass (Dactylocténium aegyp- ttum), whose grain has been used for food and also medicinally, resembles Wire-grass and is found in similar locations, though Wire-grass it is less widely distributed in this country. rua Ma It blooms in late summer and from the preceding species it may be distinguished by the sharp terminal points of 165 FS The Book of Grasses the spikes where the prolonged rachis ex- tends beyond the uppermost spikelets. Wire-grass, Goose-grass. Yard- grass. Fleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. Annual, tufted. Naturalized from Asia or Africa. Stem 6'-24' tall, flattened, erect or spreading. Sheaths loose. Ligule very short. Leaves 3’-10' long, 1’’-3’” wide, flat, rather thick. Spikes 2-8, 1’-3’ long, spreading from the sum- mit of the stem. Spikelets 3-6-flowered, 13-2” long, in 2 rows on one side of the rachis. Outer scales acute, about equal; flowering scales acute. Stamens 3. Cultivated grounds and waste places. June to September. Southern New England to Ohio and Kansas, south to Florida and Texas. SALT-MEADOW LEPTOCHLOA The salt marshes and beaches — what wonderfully successful plants they contain, securely anchored, though on drifting sands, and braving the power of waves and winds! The greater number of our seaside plants bloom in late summer and spend their earlier strength in developing strong roots, which hold them firmly in place, and thick leaves which are unwithering beneath burning skies. Like other flowering plants of the shore, all of the true salt-water grasses are late in blooming and bear coarse leaves that endure the lashing of storms. Salt-meadow Leptochloa is a low grass that grows in tufts in brackish marshes or meadows and also on saline soil toward the interior of the fs \ country. The stems are spreading, abund- Salt-meadow Leptochloa antly branched, and frequently send out Beene roots from the basal joints. The leaves are long and narrow and the uppermost leaf encloses the base of the long panicle which is composed of erect, nearly sessile spikelets. 106 Anosstjy Woy Ue wIT99¢ S11OSNUDESSETAT Ic n ) ) yn Se wod} UIWIDIdS OoIxa yy Wooly usu roadca S { Ww J . N x9, J SIMYVTNOIOSVaA VOTHOOLdAT STYVTNOISVa VOTHOOLdAT (St4vjnoq9sD{ 001490497) YOTHOOLdAT MOGVAN-LIVS Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses Salt meadow Lep- SWB WA AZ tochloa. Leptdchloa x SAE N ge ft Whe fascicularis (Lam.) ARN aie | WA. Gray. ee: ag 4 A Annual, tufted. LY BE | PBs iB GE Stem 1-24 ft. tall, erect NSS, ee S td or spreading, usually much branched. Sheaths loose, upper one enclosing the base of the panicle. Ligule 1’’-2”’ long. Leaves 3/-12' long, 17-3” wide, flat. : Panicle 4'-12' long, & composed of nu- © merous slender spikeson which are borne the nearly sessile, erect spikelets. Spikelets 5- 10-flowered, 3’’-5”’ long. Outer scales unequal, acute, rough on keels; flowering scales hairy on margins near base, 2-tooth- ed at apex and bearing a short awn between the teeth. Stamens 3. Salt marshes. July to September. Southern New England to Florida and Texas, also in saline soil from western New York to Nevada and Mexico. REED This is one of the largest of our native grasses. On the borders of ponds and in marshes it forms tropic-like jungles of stout, leafy stems that at last bear panicles of violet and purple which change to plumes of silvery white as the blossoms fade. To brackish marshes along the coast the Reed adds a wonderful beauty as in early autumn the warm light of sunset steals over Reed ““A league and a league of marsh-grass.” Phragmites communis Tones of deep rose, lavender, and brown, that were unthought of in the light of noontime, are brought out, and panicles of Reed, 109 The Book of Grasses rising above the tall marsh grasses, seem touched with frosted silver. This grass blooms in late summer but is not in its greatest beauty until September and October, as the silky hairs clothing the flowers are scarcely perceptible until the spikelets begin to ripen; then the hairs spread widely, and the leafy stems, sometimes more than ten feet tall, are surmounted by feathery panicles which resemble the soft plumes of Pampas Grass and remain until after the first snows. The Reed, with its long rootstocks, is one of the many plants used by Nature as she slowly changes the land’s surface, and transforms swamps and stagnant pools into fertile meadows. The horizontal rootstocks, spreading far from the stem, form a densely interwoven mat that holds mud and decaying vegetation and so affords a resting place for water-loving plants, which in turn are held and give firmer soil to marsh plants and grasses. Day after day these transformations are in process around us, but so slowly does Nature perform her work that decades pass without appre- ciable change. The Old World has demanded more utilitarian service from her plants than we have, and although the Reed is sometimes culti- vated in American gardens it is seldom used, as it is in Europe, to cover the roofs of farmhouses and outbuildings with a durable, water-proof thatch. Reed. Phragmites communis Trin. Perennial, from stout rootstocks. Stem 5-15 ft. tall, stout, leafy, erect. Sheaths loose. Ligule a ring of short hairs. Leaves 6’-24’ long, 3’-2’ wide. Panicle 6'-15’ long, pyramidal, many-flowered. Spikelets 3-6-flowered, 5’’-8” long, lowest flower often staminate. Outer scales acute, un- equal, flowering scales awl-shaped, pointed, thrice the length of the palet. Rachilla bearing long, silky hairs which equal the flowering scales in length. Stamens 3. Borders of ponds and rivers, and in coast marshes. July to September. Throughout the United States and in southern Canada. TALL RED-TOP In dry fields, where the chief grasses of late summer are low, bushy Panic-grasses, slender Paspalums, and spreading tufts of Eragrostis, Tall Red-top, often shoulder-high and bearing long, 170 Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses tapering leaves, rises in striking contrast to the lower growth. This grass, which is found from southern New England to the Gulf, blooms in August and September, with the Purple Eragrostis, at a season when the sunshine brings from the earth the warm odour of pennyroyal and other mints that are common on dry hillsides, and that seem to have absorbed the summer’s heat to give it out againin fragrance. The flower- ing-head of Tall Red-top, which is some- what sticky to the touch in the axis of the panicle and below, is often more than a foot long and nearly as wide, and as the slender, rather rigid branches spread widely the panicles are very beautiful when the shining purple spikelets open. Tall Red-Top. Tridens flavus (L.) Hitche. Perennial. Stem 3-6 ft. tall, erect. Sheaths hairy at the summit. Leaves long, tapering, flat or some- times involute. Panicle 8'-20' long, branches spreading, lower branches 3’-8’ long. Panicle sticky in axis and below. Spikelets purple, 4-8-flowered, 3’’-4"’ long. Outer scales unequal, keeled, abruptly pointed; flowering scales 3-nerved, slightly 3-toothed, nerves silky below. Stamens 3. Dry fields. July to September. Southern New England to Missouri, and south- ward. SAND-GRASS Sand-grass, thick and rigid of leaf, is a tufted plant of the beaches, and, like a few other salt-water grasses of the Atlantic coast, it is also found on Western ranges. It is very different in appearance from such species as Marram Grass, Bitter Panic-grass, and Creek Sedge, which also 171 AGERE 5B ea Ss CO — =" ees LAY ( Sand-grass Triplasis purpurea The Book of Grasses erow by the shore, but like them it does not bloom until late summer. Many stems, usually less than two feet tall, spring from one root and bear very short, narrow, rough leaves. The panicles, also, are short, with but a few stiff branches, and bear loosely flowered, rose-purple spikelets. The outer scales are smooth but the flowering scales are fringed and bearded, pre- senting a distinguishing feature by which this grass may easily be recognized, and the acid taste of the plant is also peculiar to “ab, Sand-grass. Triplasis purpurea (Walt.) Chapm. Perennial, tufted. Stem 1-3 ft. tall, erect or spreading. Nodes usually downy. Ligule a ring of short hairs. Leaves rigid, awl-shaped, 3’-3’ long, 1” wide or less. Panicle 1'-3' long, branches few, at length spreading. Lateral panicles usually included in the sheaths. Spikelets 2-5-flowered, 2’’-4” long, loosely flowered. Outer scales about equal, smooth; flowering scales very hairy on nerves, 2-lobed at apex and bearing a short, straight awn between the lobes; palets hairy on upper part of keels. Stamens 3. Sandy soil, especially along the coast. July to September. Maine to Florida, westward to Nebraska and Texas. PURPLE ERAGROSTIS, LACE-GRASS, TUFTED ERA- GROSTIS, PURSH’S ERAGROSTIS, STRONG-SCENTED ERAGROSTIS, AND CREEPING ERAGROSTIS When the warm colour of Bent-grasses has faded, these grasses of late summer intensify, with deep violet and purple, the gold of harvest. One of the most common species, Purple Eragrostis, called by children ‘‘ Tickle-grass,” grows in low tufts on dry and sandy soil, where the gauzy flowering-heads, a foot long or more, spread above the dark green, hairy leaves. As the sunlight of early morning falls “Across the meadows laced with threaded dew” the flowering-heads of this grass glisten with an intense colour which is reflected in each crystal dewdrop that gems the spikelets. In dry fields, where the September sun has burned to a golden brown the shorter growth of grasses, ripening panicles of Purple 172 SAND-GRASS (Triplasis purpurea) SNAKE-GRASS (Eragrostis megastachya). Natural size TUFTED ERAGROSTIS (Zragrostis pilosa). | ‘Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses Eragrostis, like a reddish purple mist, often cover the ground, and although October frosts fade the flowering-heads to a pale straw-colour, they are BN XY still noticeable during ems oye autumn, when, as one ONE S AN ( Salty Ne of the tumbleweeds of <=) 2: \ R the East, they are carried x) ess & by the wind and piled in ~ Weary) | huge drifts against way- ._--S$ > AS side fences. peaeee, In similar locations x aaa a ”, fe — pes , 4 = >) 7S = == Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses pbylla) are the earliest of the genus and are found in woods from New York State southward. They bloom in March, when the first arbutus opens, and are slender grasses, with loose panicles which bear but a few green spikelets at the extremities of the branches. Each flowering scale in the majority of the species of this genus shows a small tuft of cobwebby hairs at the base, and under the microscope this tuft forms a distinguishing feature by which the grasses may be recognized. In Canada Blue-grass and Flexuous Spear-grass the tufts are lacking, but the flowering scales are downy below the middle. Low Spear-grass. Dwarf Meadow-grass. Pda énnua L. Root annual. Naturalized from Europe. Stem 2'-12' tall, erect or spreading, flattened. Sheaths loose. Ligule about 1” long. Leaves 3/-4’ long, about 1” wide, flat. Panicle 3/-4' long, pyramidal, open, often 1-sided, branches short. Spike- lets 3-6-flowered, about 2” long. Outer scales slightly unequal, Ist scale acute, 2nd scale obtuse; flowering scales obtuse, hairy at the base. Stamens 3. Fields, waysides, and cultivated grounds. April to October. Throughout nearly the whole of North America. Kentucky Blue-grass. June Grass. Poa praténsis L. Perennial, with rootstocks. Naturalized in the Eastern States, in- digenous elsewhere. Stem 8'-4 ft. tall, slender, erect. Ligule very short. Leaves 1’’-3’’ wide, flat, stem leaves 2’-6’ long, basal leaves much longer. Panicle 2'-8’ long, pyramidal, open, branches slender, lower branches 1/3’ long. Spikelets 3-5-flowered, about 2” long, green or purplish. Outer scales acute, unequal, roughish on keels; flowering scales acute, webby at base, downy below on marginal nerves and mid-nerve; palets nearly as long as flowering scales. Stamens 3, anthers often deep purple. Waysides, fields, and meadows. May to August. Throughout nearly the whole of North America. False Red-Top. Fowl Meadow-grass. Poa trifléra Gilib. Perennial. Stem 2-5 ft. tall, erect, rather slender. Ligule 1’’-2’’ long. Leaves 4’-10’ long, 1’’-2’’ wide, flat. Panicle 6'-12' long, branches rough, slender, divided and spikelet-bearing above the middle, lower branches 2’-5’ long. Spikelets 2-5-flowered, 12/’-2’’ long, on short pedicels. Outer scales acute, slightly unequal; flowering scales obtuse, webby at base, downy below on marginal 205 The Book of Grasses nerves and mid-nerve, usually tawny orange or reddish at apex; palets nearly as long as flowering scales. Stamens 3. Wet meadows and swampy places. June to August. Nova Scotia to Vancouver Island, south to New Jersey, Illinois, and Nebraska. THE MANNA-GRASSES NERVED MANNA-GRASS, TALL MANNA-GRASS, RATTLESNAKE GRASS, DENSELY FLOWERED MANNA-GRASS, FLOATING MANNA-GRASS, AND SHARP-SCALED MANNA-GRASS In June, when the low swales by the brooks are full of interest, and a score of flowering plants may be gathered from the vantage ground of a drier tussock in the marsh, the graceful Manna-grasses cover large areas and bloom in tones of dull green and purple, darker where the sun has burned them longer, but typical of spring as are the nearby orchids, and ever lacking that suggestion of mid- summer heat which the reddish purple Bent-grasses bring to July fields. Nerved Manna-grass usually precedes the other species by a fortnight, and is perhaps the most common in a majority of the states. Growing luxuriantly in the borderland between pasture and marsh it furnishes an important part of the herbage of wet meadows, and, though it varies greatly in different soils, the gracefully drooping panicles may be recognized by their spread- ing and drooping branches and their tiny, purple and green spikelets. Tall Manna-grass (Glycéria grandis), a stout, handsome species, is often seen in wet grounds, where the ample panicles and broad leaves rise above sedges and low grasses. Like others of the genus, Tall Manna-grass is a species of which cattle are fond and wade through miry bogs to reach, and water fowl, during the fall migration, find resting places along streams where these grasses grow abundantly, as the seeds yield a feast to thousands of birds. Tall Manna-grass is from three to five feet in height and bears large panicles of many spikelets. Heavy, drooping panicles of Rattlesnake Grass are found lean- ing over narrow brooks and ditches, and by damp waysides where meadow-rue and sedges luxuriate. With pendent, inflated spike- lets of pale green and purple this grass is the most beautiful of the 206 Rattlesnake Grass. Glyceria canadensis Densely flowered Manna-grass. Glyceria obtusa 207 The Book of Grasses tZ7 ea genus, and is in its greatest 4 (= perfection in late June, when the low grounds are L— “paynted all with variable flowers, And all the meades adorned with daintie gemmes.” The flowering-heads of this grass retain their beauty until late fall, and are easily recog- nized throughout the season, though the colours which tinge the broad scales fade as the seeds ripen. Densely flowered Manna-grass is less widely distributed, and in bloom is quite unlike other marsh grasses. It should be recognized by the erect, bunch-like inflorescence of crowded spike- lets. Floating Manna-grass is often found in shal- low, running water, but the long panicles bear little resemblance to the flowering-heads of Nerved Manna-grass or Rattlesnake Grass. The spikelets of Floating Manna-grass are long and narrow, and the branches, at first closely appressed, at last spread rather stiffly from the stem. The manna crop of Germany and Poland is gathered from a species similar to this, and the seeds are there considered desirable in soups and gruels. Bread made from the meal is said to be very little inferior to that made from wheat, but the American farmer has little time to experiment with so small a grain when the product of years of cultivation is ready for his BAD a canst sowing, and in this country birds gather the harvest by the water’s edge, while, as the tall stems lean over streams, the fallen seeds are eagerly eaten by fish. Sharp-scaled Manna-grass (Glycéria acutiflora) is a pale green 208 ysry yaa} aaryy JurTq “(p70 7249987) SSVAD-VNNVW ATV azis [vINjvU J[PY aUo ajuRg “(S7pHDAT D1429K7~) SSVAD-VNNVW TIVL NERVED MANNA-GRASS (Glyceria nervaia). One half natural size Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses grass, recognized by the long, narrow spikelets which protrude through the enclosing sheaths as the plant begins to bloom. This grass has a slight resemblance to Floating f Manna-grass, but is much smaller, though the spikelets are longer, being from one to one ‘ and three quarters inches in length. The panicles are long and narrow, with short, erect branches, and the acute flower- ing scales are shorter than the Lf long-pointed palets. be a Rattlesnake Grass. Gly- “NF ceria canadénsis (Michx.) Trin. iT “A Perennial. \ Stem 2-3 ft. tall, erect. Ligule about 1’ long. Leaves 6’-15’ long, 2’’-4" wide, rough, flat, spreading at right angles to stem. Panicle 5’-10' long, nodding, branches rough, spread- ing or drooping, lower branches 2’-6’ long. Spike- lets 5-12-flowered, 24’’-4’’ long, broad, inflated, flattened, green tinged with purple. Outer scales acute, unequal, shorter than flowering scales; flowering scales broad, obtuse or acute, ob- scurely 7-nerved; palets broad, slightly shorter than flowering scales. Stamens commonly 2. Wet meadows, brooksides, marshes, and swamps. June to August. Newfoundland to Ontario and Minnesota, south to New Jersey and Kansas. Densely flowered Manna-grass. Gly- céria obtusa (Muhl.) Trin. Perennial. Stem 1-3 ft. tall, stout, erect. Ligule very short. Leaves 6’-15’ long, 2’’-4”” wide, flat, dark green. Panicle 3'-8' long, densely flowered, contracted, branches erect. Spikelets 3-7-flowered, 2’’-3’’ long, somewhat inflated. Outer scales acute, unequal, shorter than flowering scales; flowering scales broad, obtuse, obscurely 7-nerved; palets slightly shorter than flowering scales. Stamens E 2 or 3. Floating Manna-grass | SWamMps and wet places. July toSeptember. _ Glyceria septentrionalis © NewBrunswickto NewYork,south to NorthCarolina. 213 The Book of Grasses “4 _Nerved Manna-grass. Glycéria nervata (Willd.) rin. Perennial. Stem 1-3% ft. tall, slender, erect. Ligule 1’’-2’” long. Leaves 6’-12’ long, 2’’-5’’ wide, flat, smooth on lower surface, rough above. Panicle 3'-10' long, pyramidal, open, somewhat nodding, branches slender, spreading or drooping, rough, lower branches 2’-6’ long. Spikelets numerous, 3-7-flowered, 1’’-2” long, dark green tinged with purple. Outer scales obtuse, unequal, shorter than flowering scales; flowering scales obtuse, sharply 7-nerved; palets as long as flowering scale. Stamens 2 or 3. Wet meadows, brooksides, and marshes. June to Sep- tember. Newfoundland to British Columbia, south to Florida and Mexico. Floating Manna-grass. Glycéria septentriondalis Hitchce. Perennial. Stem 2-5 ft. tall, rather stout, somewhat flattened, erect or spreading at base. Sheaths loose. Ligule 2’’-3’ long. Leaves 6’-15’ long, 2’’-6”’ wide, flat, roughish. Panicle 8’-14' long, branches appressed, finally spreading, not numerous, lower branches 3’-6’ long. Spikelets 7-13-flowered, 4'’-12’” long, narrow, green, appressed on the branches. Outer scales unequal; 1st scale obtuse or acute; 2nd scale obtuse; flowering scale obtuse, roughish, 7-nerved; palets slightly longer than flowering scales. Stamens 2 or 3. Wet places and in shallow water. June to September. Maine to North Carolina and westward. GOOSE-GRASS AND SPREADING SPEAR-GRASS These grasses, which in their spikelets bear a resemblance to the Manna-grasses, are found only on the salt marshes and beaches. They are slender grasses blossoming in midsummer and later when Goose-grass_ the beautiful sea-pink, or rose of Plymouth, blooms Puccinellia maritima , ; in salt meadows, and the marsh rosemary, growing to the water’s edge, colours the sand with a mist of lavender flowers, like purple spray borne inland on the waves. 214 s}Jasnyoesseyy JO YINOS UOWIWIOD JON *(DMYIADUL DINJaU1IINT) SSVAD-ASOOD (SuDjsip DYIaU1IINT) SSVAD-UVAdS ONIGVAUdS Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses From Spreading Spear-grass (Puccinéllia distans) Goose-grass differs in that it rises from rootstocks and bears narrow panicles of v long spikelets. Spreading Spear-grass, on the other hand, is tufted, without rootstocks, and opens wide panicles of small, crowded spikelets. The latter species is slightly stouter than Goose-grass, and bears wider leaves. Goose-grass. Sea Spear-grass. Puccinéllia maritima (Huds.) Parl. Perennial, from rootstocks. Stem 8’-24' tall, slender, erect or spreading at base. Ligule short. Leaves 3/-5’ long, 1” wide or less, flat or in- volute. Panicle 2’-6’ long, narrow, branches short. Spikelets 3-10-flowered, 3-6” long, narrow. Outer scales un- equal, obtuse or acute; flowering scales broad, obtuse, nerves very obscure; palets nearly as long as flowering scales. Stamens 3. Salt marshes and sea beaches. July and August. Labrador to New Jersey, also on the Pacific Coast. THE ‘FESCUES SLENDER FESCUE, SHEEP'S FESCUE, MEADOW FESCUE, RED FESCUE, AND NODDING FESCUE “The grass-blade, like a long green ribbon, streams from the sod into the summer, checked indeed by the frost, but anon pushing on again, lifting its spear of last year’s hay with the fresh life below.” When the beauty of the earliest grasses is pas- sing the Fescues appear, and in the calendar of the grasses mark the beginning of summer. Fora short time they take the primary position in the fields. Slender Fescue and Sheep’s Fescue are among the first to bloom, and closely following the opening of their flowers the graceful stems of Meadow Fescue, abundant in pastures and meadows, are seen also by the wayside bending over ripening spikes of Sweet Vernal-grass. Sheep’s Fescue (Festi#ca ovina) and Slender 217 Slender Fescue Festuca octoflore The Book of Grasses Fescue, whose narrow panicles rise above tufts of bristle-like gray-green leaves, are the smallest of all, and are usually found in } ly ne dry locations. The latter Fav Aa species is distinguished ASE by slightly longer flower- ing-heads, more numer- ously flowered spikelets, and longer awns. The stems of both these grasses are usually about a foot in height, or in sterile soil they are often much smaller, though one occasionally finds a tall variety of Sheep’s Fescue which bears a more open panicle and larger spikelets. Red Fescue is locally common by waysides and is found in the shade as well as in the sun- light. Like the two preceding species it has a profusion of involute basal leaves, but unlike them it springs from extensively creeping root- stocks and so is one of the useful soil-binders on drier slopes. This species is variable and is perhaps most easily recognized by the tufts of bristle-like, dark leaves which surround the base of the stems. The most common of the genus is the Meadow Fescue, which was introduced from Europe many years ago. For so tall a grass the smooth stems are quite slender, and with their tapering, shining leaves are a wide contrast to Timothy, which begins to bloom before the Meadow Fescue has faded, and is so often asso- ciated with it in the fields. The long spikelets of Meadow Fescue are green, frequently tinged with reddish purple, and in bloom the flowers for a short time are broadly open, giving delicacy to the one-sided, drooping panicle, which after flowering is narrow and closely contracted. Rocky woodlands in nearly all the states Red Fescue : 5 5 Festuca rubra shelter the Nodding Fescue (Festica nutans), 218 MEADOW FESCUE (Festuca elatior). One half naturai size. Spikelets enlarged by three Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses a slender, dark green grass with loose, few-flowered panicles. The spikelets are small, and as they are borne only at the ends of the panicle branches the S\ plant should not be con- fused with other shade- ; loving grasses. AQ The plants of this genus are very variable under different conditions of soil and climate, and a number of varieties are listed under . the species given. s ei Slender Fescue. Festuca oc flora Walt. Root annual, often tufted. Stem 4'-20’ tall, slender, erect, wiry. Ligule very short. Leaves bristle-like, 1’-3' long, in- volute, occasionally downy. Panicle 1'-6’ long, narrow, contracted, often 1-sided, branches short. Spikelets 5-13-flowered, 3/’-5”” long. Outer scales very acute, slightly unequal, smooth; flowering scales rough, bearing a term- inal awn 1’-3’" long; palets nearly as long as flowering scales. Stamens 2. Dry sterile soil. May to August. New Brunswick to Florida, west to Washington and California. Red Fescue. Festuca rabra L. Perennial, with creeping rootstocks. Stem 1-23 ft. tall, slender, erect. Ligule very short. Leaves of sterile shoots involute, bristle-like, 3-10’ long, stem leaves shorter, involute in dry- ing, minutely downy on upper surface. Panicle 2'-6' long, branches ascending, spreading in flower, not numerous, lower branches 1’-3’ long. Spikelets 3-9-flowered, 3’’-5’” long, green or red- dish. Outer scales acute, unequal; flowering scales bearing each a short terminal awn; palets as long as flowering scales. Stamens 3, anthers yellow or purplish. Dry soil. June to August. Labrador to Alaska, south to North Carolina and Meadow Fescue Colorado. Festuca elatior 221 The Book of Grasses Meadow Fescue. Tall Fescue. Fesiica eldtior L. Perennial. Naturalized from Europe. Stem 2-5 ft. tall, erect. Ligule very _ short. Leaves 3’-15’ long, 2’’- 4’ wide, flat, often rough. Panicle 4’-12' long, nar- row, usually nodding attop,branchessspread- (Hn! ing in flower, erect 7 before and after blos- soming. Spikelets 4- 9-flowered, 4’’-6’ long, green or tinged with purple. Outer scales acute, unequal; flowering scales acute or short-pointed; palets nearly as long as flower-scales. Stamens 3, anthers reddish purple or yellow. Meadows, fields, and waysides. June to August. Nova Scotia to Ontario and southward. THE BROME-GRASSES DOWNY BROME-GRASS, FRINGED BROME-GRASS, CHESS, AND UPRIGHT CHESS Many of the Brome-grasses, as emigrants | from Europe, have become weeds in this country, and from May until August are found blooming \ by waysides and in waste places, where the beau- tiful panicles of large drooping spikelets should | be quickly recognized. Downy Brome-grass, the earliest species, is common along railway embankments and by \ dry roadsides and is resembled by closely related \ species which have a more southern range. The plant is a low, slender annual whose panicles of \/ awned, drooping spikelets resemble the heavier heads of cultivated oats. The stems are reddish i near the nodes and soon turn to shining purple, while the ripening flowering-head is tinged with ‘Ss the same colour. In sandy locations the whole _! si A , Fringed Brome-grass plant dries in a few weeks, and, faded toa pale — Bromus cilcarus 222 FRINGED BROME-GRASS (Bromus ciliatus). One half natural size - Puls < os Sons pale 7 : @@¢ Cw oe 5 : 4 . ~*~ 4 7 ‘ot . ar : oF ~ <> a ae ae a es Fo . 7 . 3 _. oe : ot = * ; 4.@ ¢ not 4 a] an < i) < i 2 “ | e | , a7 ‘ ° Ps - , ' i) _ » 1 ' tT] a 4 c* " = 2 ‘ , ° : 7 : . . - 1 Piel - s _ % o - ¥ 4 " e+ = q » oo ' # Bs —e =) . ? 7 7 mo : 7 7 ‘] a 2 en) 2: * ‘ a > 7 - ’ —_ } a. 1 er. ’ ? Pha f ‘ BROME-GRASS (Bromus altissimus). One third natural size. Connecticut to Pennsylvania and westward Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses straw-colour, remains throughout the season, the heads bristly and lacking the gracefulness that was theirs in early spring. Fringed Brome- grass, one of the native species, is most frequently found in low grounds, where mead- ow and wood- ]| land meet in f f 5 AR a debatable border of half . Vf f | i thicket, half marsh, as the i Al meadow grasses give place to | sedges and a few stragglers from the thickets advance toward more open country. Thestems of Fringed Brome-grass are stout and leafy, usually rising in groups which are very noticeable above a lower growth of plants. , The panicles are large and are composed of slender branches bearing silky, short-awned spikelets. Handsome groups of Chess are frequently seen in old grain fields and on waste land, where this grass appears as a weed, and in midsummer opens heavy panicles of large spikelets. If every plant is sometime “‘to be of utility in the arts’? Chess has as yet shown nothing but beauty as its excuse for appearing so often where it is least wanted. The panicles are striking and ornamental, but Chess has met little favour either in this country or abroad. With gifted imagination, and un- troubled by the constancy of Nature, the peas- antry of the Old World considered this grass a degenerated wheat, and supplied the missing links in the lineage by assuming sundry transmutations in which a grain of wheat should send up a stalk of rye, and the rye being sown should produce barley, while from barley a Chess should be grown that later, under favorable conditions, theca ie tataerie might awaken to life under the form of oats. Bromus tecorum 229 The Book of Grasses Even the earlier farmers of this country thought this grass a wheat that had fallen to low estate, and so called it “Cheat.” WY) => ce DS Hiss AAS YS OS) LAR Sh a. {} GE ya Chess Bromus secalinus Upright Chess (Bromus racemosus), also found in grain fields and in waste places, is sometimes mistaken for Chess, from which it differs in the more slender stem, narrower, shorter, and more erect panicles, plainly nerved flowering scales, and shorter palets. Fringed Brome-grass. Swamp Chess. Bromus cilidtus L. Perennial. Stem 2-4 ft. tall, erect, usually stout and leafy. Sheaths closed, split near top, frequently downy. Ligule very short. Leaves 5’-12’ long, 2'’-6"’ wide, flat, roughish, usually downy on upper surface, dull or pale green. Panicle 4'-10' long, branches slender, widely spreading or drooping, lower branches 2’-5’ long. Spikelets 5-8-flowered, about 1’ long, green. Outer scales acute, unequal, rough on keels; flowering scales 4’’-6’ long, obtuse or acute, downy near margins, 2-toothed at apex and bearing a short, straight awn 2’’-4” long; palets slightly shorter than flowering scales. Stamens 3. Damp soil in open woods and borders of thickets. June to August. Newfoundland to New Jersey, west to Manitoba and Minnesota. Downy Brome-grass. Bromus tec- torum L. Root annual. Naturalized from Europe. Stem 6'-24' tall, slender, erect or spreading. Sheaths downy. Ligule 1’’-2” long. Leaves 1’-4' lorg, 1’’-2"” wide, downy, flat. Panicle 2'-6’ long, branches slender, drooping. Spikelets 5-8 flowered, 6’’-12” long, on slender, drooping pedicels. Outer scales acute, un- equal, rough-hairy, 2nd scale slightly 2-toothed; flowering scale 3-6” long, rough or hairy, acute, 2-toothed and bearing from between the teeth a straight awn 5-8” long. Stamens 3. Waste places and waysides. May to July. New England to Illinois and southward. 230 Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses y Chess. Cheat. Bromus secalinus L. Bb Annual. Naturalized from Europe. Stem 1-4 ft. tall, erect, rather stout. Sheaths usually smooth. — Ligule short. Leaves 3’-10' long, 2'’-4’ wide, flat, some- what hairy, conspicuously veined. Panicle 2'-8’ long, pyramidal, branches spread- ing or drooping, lower branches 3/4 long. Spikelets 6-10-flowered, 6-10” long. Outer 1\ scales unequal; 1st scale acute; 2nd scale } obtuse; flowering scales 3’-4” long, obtuse, y , {| often downy on upper margins, awnless or eZ Y bearing a short, straight awn from between | IF tf the obtuse teeth; palets about as long as i} | flowering scales. Stamens 3. YW y Fields and waste places, especially in grain fields. June to August. Nearly throughout North America except in the extreme north. RAY-GRASS, DARNEL, AND ITALIAN RYE-GRASS Honour should be granted the Ray-grass, since it was probably the first of the grasses noticed and cultivated as a forage plant. In Europe its use extends over many scores of years, and it is certain that in England Ray- grass has been held in esteem since the days of Charles II, though it was not until after the middle of the eighteenth century that other grasses were considered worth the care of gathering and sowing. Like many of the field grasses Ray-grass has long been naturalized from Europe, but it is less frequently cultivated in this country than are other grasses more suited to our soil and climate. The slender elongated spikes, rising in midsummer, are beaded with edge- Ray-grass wise placed spikelets which open stiffly in pe Aare flower and are light green in colour with pale pendent anthers. Closely related tothis species is the “ infelix lolium”’ of Vergil— 231 The Book of Grasses Lolium temuléntum — supposed by some to have been the “tares among the wheat” mentioned in St. Matthew’s Gospel. This latter species, the Darnel, an annual occasionally found as a weed in grain fields, is remarkable for the poisonous quality of its seeds which cause serious trouble if the “tares” are gathered with the wheat and the seeds find their way to the mill with the pure grain. The most noticeable difference between this grass and Ray-grass, to which the name of Darnel is sometimes erroneously applied, is that in the true Darnel the long outer scale fully equals, and often exceeds, its spikelet in length. In Scotland the name of “Sleep- ies”’ has been given to Darnel on account of the narcotic effect of its seeds, though more recently it has been said that only the dis- eased, or ergotized, grain is poisonous. Italian Rye-grass (Lolium multiflorum) has been brought in later years to the United States. From either of the preceding species it is distinguished by its ten to twenty-flowered spikelets. Ray-grass. Rye-grass. Ray-darnel. Lolium perénne L. Perennial. Naturalized from Europe. Stem 1-3 ft. tall, erect. Ligule short. Leaves 2’-8’ long, 1’’-23’’ wide, flat, roughish. Spike 3’-9' long, narrow. Spikelets 5-12-flowered, 4’’-8’’ long, green, solitary, sessile on alternate notches of the rachis; edge of each spike- let (or backs of the scales) turned toward the rachis. Two empty scales in terminal spikelet, only one empty scale in other spikelets. Empty scale acute or obtuse, dark green, thick, strongly nerved; flowering scales acute or short-awned, occasionally obtuse; palets nearly as long as flowering scales. Stamens 3. Fields, waysides, and waste grounds. June to August. Canada to North Carolina and Tennessee, also in California and Arizona. COUCH-GRASS, BEARDED WHEAT-GRASS, AND PURPLE WHEAT-GRASS In June the Couch-grass suddenly appears by the waysides and as the worst of weeds in cultivated lands; the stout leafy stems and flattened two-sided spikes apparently having sprung up in a night. This species varies greatly in appearance, especially near the seacoast, but it is always unlike other grasses, with the possible exception of Ray-grass from which it is distinguished by the posi- tion of the spikelets, those of Ray-grass being placed edgewise, 232 RAY-GRASS (Lolium perenne). Natural size. Spikelets enlarged by two COUCH-GRASS (A gropyron repens). One half natural size. Spikelets enlarged by two Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses energy of the fabled hydra, and where one of the dark green stems is cut, half a dozen rise to take its place. This grass and the Johnson Grass of the . South have the most extensive system of creeping or, more expressively, running rootstocks of any of the inland grasses. The strong, white subterranean stems of Couch-grass form a network and send off innumerable sharp-pointed shoots, which in the garden often pierce roots and tubers and seem to prefer to grow through any permeable object rather than to turn aside. This grass is the worst enemy of the farmer among his cultivated acres, as each breaking of the eround’s surface by sharp-edged tools serves only to cut and scatter the roots, each frag- ment of which, seemingly, “hath in it a Prop- ertie and Spirit, hastily to get up and spread.” This quality of the plant suggested to Charles Dudley Warner while spending his “Summer in a Garden” the idea of offering Couch-grass to the clergy as an example of total depravity, yet insatiable ambition seems the chief charac- teristic of this plant, whose merits are recog- nized in its tenacity of life through drouth and on sandy soils, as well as in the nutritious hay yielded, while the long rootstocks are valuable in binding the loose soil of railway embankments. On pasture lands of the North- western States other species of the genus furnish an important part of the native grasses. Bearded Wheat-grass (Agropyron caninum), less common in the East, is unlike Couch- Couch-grass grass in the absence of rootstocks, in the Agropyron repens 237 The Book of Grasses occasional downiness of the lower sheaths, and in the long-awned scales. Purple Wheat-grass (Agropyron biflérum), a mountain ‘species, is of smaller growth, bearing shorter leaves and smaller spikes, the latter usually tinged with purple. Couch-grass. Quick-grass. Quitch-grass. Devil-grass. Witch-grass. Agropyron répens (L.) Beauv. Perennial, with running rootstocks. Naturalized from Europe. Stem 1-4 ft. tall, erect. Ligule very short. Leaves 4’-12’ long, 2’’-5”’ wide, flat, smooth on lower surface, rough above. Spike 2’-8’ long, narrow. Spikelets 3-6-flowered, 4’’-10’’ long, green, solitary, sessile on alternate notches of the rachis, side of each spike- let placed against the rachis. Outer scales acute, or awn-pointed, sometimes obtuse or notched, strongly nerved, about equal; flowering scales acute or short-awned; palets slightly shorter than flowering scales. Stamens 3, anthers large, yellow. A very variable species. Fields, cultivated ground, and waste places. June to September. Newfoundland to the Northwest Territory, south to Virginia, Ohio, and lowa. BARLEY, SQUIRREL-TAIL GRASS, AND WALL BARLEY “First rie and then barlie, the champion saies, Or wheate before barlie, be champion waies: But drink before bread-corn with Middlesex men, Then laie on more compas, and fallow agen.” Occasionally a few grains of the cultivated barley (Hérdeum sativum) are dropped by our waysides, and in midsummer the spike-like heads of this grass appear, rigidly erect, and armed with straight awns which are sometimes half a foot in length. This grain, celebrated by Pliny who called it the most ancient food of older days, is still the most important cereal of the far North, and may be raised nearer the Arctic circle than any other grain, with the exception of rye. The early Britons cultivated barley and held barley bread in high esteem, but since a statute in the reign of Edward II ordered that, “considering that wheate made into malte is much consumed, ordayned that henceforth it should be made of other graine,” barley, under force of this ancient edict, has come to be the great brewing grain, and little is now heard of “bannocks o’ barley meal.” 238 Illustrated Description of the Grasses The Squirrel-tail Grass, a most unworthy relative of so useful a grain, has reversed the usual order of migrating plants and for a number of years has been tray- \ . \ \) elling eastward SS (aoe ~\ NN from Cie). ZN Middle === 58 as = ADEE LOO PE i States 7 FEZLZZZZZAM) and the West. ee LZ, jz It spreadsits bristly “7 fe flowering-heads_ in ‘ waste grounds and invades dooryards and gardens, a weed wherever it appears, and furnished with that facility in transporting itself which the majority of weeds possess. Those virtues which the optimistic philosopher \ is so sure exist in every plant, are as yet un- discovered in this grass, and beautiful as the plant is in bloom, with its squirrel-tails of bearded spikes, its cultivation for ornament is soon abandoned. It is a slender grass, bloom- ing in early summer, and recognized by the many long awns which spread stiffly from the spike. These shining awns, often tinged with rose and lavender, are of great beauty and glisten with metallic lustre. According to a report of the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club these awns perform a quite different office from such awns as those of Sweet Vernal-grass and other grasses. The awns of Squirrel-tail Grass show a backward curving which, wedge- like, raises each spikelet from those below and soon separates the ripened spike, joint from joint. The awns also, like those of certain other grasses, cling to passers-by and thus secure free transportation for the seeds. The Wall Barley (Hérdeum murinum), whose partiality for growing by walls gave to the plant its common name, is a native of Europe, and in Squirrel-tail Grass this country is infrequently found in waste — ordeum judatum 239 The Book of Grasses places. It is a tufted annual, bearing looser sheaths, narrower, more compressed spikes, and larger spikelets than does the Squirrel-tail Grass, but its presence renders hay fully as valueless since the sharp awns, like those of the more com- mon species, penetrate the flesh of sheep and cattle, and occasionally cause death. An English botanist recorded his earlier achievements in science when he wrote of this grass: “In our youth we put inverted spikes of the Wall Barley up our sleeves and found them travel to our shoulders. This was caused by the parts of the spike- lets being compressible, so that by a gentle motion they progressed upward with a kind of spring; but the barbs, on pulling the spike the contrary way, stuck into the clothes and could not easily be dislodged.” Squirrel-tail Grass. Hérdeum jubdtum L. Perennial. fi Stem 9-30’ tall, slender, erect. Sheaths smooth. yy Ligule very short. Leaves 1’-6’ long, 1’’-2’ y} wide, flat, rough on margins. Y Spike 2'-5’ long, cylindrical, densely flowered. Spikelets 1-flowered, usually in 3’s, flower of F middle spikelet perfect, lateral spikelets imper- fect. Rachilla prolonged. Outer scales awn-like, : spreading, 1’-23’ long; flowering scale of perfect flower terminating in a slender, rough, spreading | \ : NW awn 1’-2’ long, lateral spikelets short-awned; palets nearly as long as flowering scales. Stamens 3. Cultivated lands and waste places, also in saline soils. June to August. Labrador to Alaska, south to New Jersey, Colorado, & Cultivated Barley and California. 240 a ~~ « z “p 2 AT Z# , > “4 sa: cf. ae fe _ ty: Le Ae Geez | . eS go hong # api = & f & y ————_ ey TERRELL-GRASS OR WILD RYE (Elymus virgini-us) vy » Ne wb x ~ ry 4 » p ia : 7 i bs : >? 7 ; ji iw = . Pe ; bee ‘ a e a) ad oy 4 '. : é ‘ > Jodi - st . : 4 3 > r 4 ‘ 7 "2 ' Mis - ’ a é ; . a 4 g eh > ," PY, + A ee a - § oa td 0 iis © oe ns . &é = a = i; >a a call - 2 a \ 2 SLENDER WILD RYE (Elymus striatus). One half natural size i ti NODDING WILD RYE (Elymus canadensis). One half natural size. Spikelet natural size Illustrated Descriptions of the Grasses SEA LYME-GRASS, TERRELL-GRASS, SLENDER WILD RYE, AND NODDING WILD RYE Members of this genus have proved their usefulness in many ways. The stems have been used for thatching and have been formed into a coarse fabric; the seeds have furnished an article of food to primitive tribes; and even so long ago as the eighteenth century a saline species with extensively creeping rootstocks was cultivated in Europe to preserve the shifting sands of northern coasts. In the reign of William III, the Scottish Parliament passed an act for the preservation of Sea Lyme-grass (Elymus arenarius); later, in the time of George I, the British Parliament extended the operation of this law to the coasts of England, and made it a penal offence for a person to cut the grass or to be found in possession of it within eight miles of the coast. This species, the Sea Lyme-grass, is found in America, but only on the colder shores, where it is as valuable as the Marram Grass which it somewhat resembles. The eastern species of the genus are of comparatively little value and we find them chiefly in the moist soil of river banks and by low thickets, where in early summer the stout green spikes rise, stiffly bearded with upright awns, and in appearance suggest- ing the flowering-heads of certain cultivated grains. Terrell- grass, the one most frequently found, is the least attractive of our three common species of the genus. This grass is from two to four feet tall and may be recognized by its coarse, erect spikes which are rigid and bear shorter awns than do the other species. Slender Wild Rye (Elymus striatus) is much more delicate in appearance, and the spikes, usually less than four inches in length, resemble a small growth of the beautiful Nodding Wild-Rye (Elymus cana- dénsis) which during the summer months ornaments wayside thickets. The stout stems of Nodding Wild Rye are from two to five feet in height and bear dark green, elongated spikes which become nodding as the blossoms open. The outer, empty scales of certain species of this genus are thick and corky, and by adhering to the ripened spikelets act as floats to buoy the seeds as they fall on the water’s surface. This formation of the scales, so advantageous to the new seed, is most noticeable in Terrell-grass, whose spikelets, supported by their 247 The Book of Grasses spongy floats, drift downstream until the little rafts are washed ashore and the seeds find soil on which they may take root far, often, from the parent plant. Terrell-grass. Virginia Wild Rye. Elymus virginicus L. Perennial. Stem 2-4 ft. tall, erect, rather stout. Ligule very short. Leaves 4’-14’ long, 3’’-8’’ wide, flat, rough, deep green, sometimes downy on upper surface. Spike 2’-7' long, base usually included in loose upper sheath. Spike- lets 2-3-flowered, in pairs on alternate notches of the rachis. Outer scales narrow, thick, and rigid, terminating in rough awns, outer scales 8-13” long including awns; flowering scales about 4” long, usually smooth, terminating in a rough awn 3’’-10” long; palets nearly as long as flowering scales. Stamens 3, anthers pale yellow. Moist soil, by streams and borders of thickets. June to September. New Brunswick to Ontario and Minnesota, south to Florida and Arkansas. BOTTLE-BRUSH GRASS While the Red-top is pressing the warmth of its colouring into every conspicuous place, the cool woodlands hold a few strikingly individual grasses that are not found mingling with the bourgeoisie of the fields. Shade-loving grasses of the woods are rarely crowded, and appear to be careless of that striving for position which keeps the grasses of the open pressed so closely leaf against leaf. With the name of Bottle-brush Grass in mind this plant is instantly recognized when seen, since the loose, spreading spike is so unlike the flowering-heads of other grasses, even those of other long-awned species. About this grass there is ever a suggestion of the aristocrat, none of the beggars for a roothold is this, but a plant that condescends in using the earth, and confers a royal favour by appearing in the shadows where the sunlight falls in broken gleams. The tall stems of Bottle-brush Grass rise from among the rocks where there seems no earth in the crevices to support life, and as the pale spikelets open and spread their silvery awns the plant is one of rare beauty, worth many a long tramp in the search for it. The nodes of the leafy stems are very dark, and the lower sheaths are frequently tinged with purple. The thickened bases of the spike- lets are banded with narrow lines of brown, marking the place of abortive scales which in the lower spikelets appear as thread- 248 a. <= —— ZEA Z a Terrell-grass. us Virgini \\ i Bottle-brush Grass. Hystrix patula 249 The Book of Grasses like awns, and in the upper spikelets show as tiny points. The ripened spikelets soon fall from the ribbon-like rachis, but the faded stems endure winter’s cold and remain standing through a second season. Bottle-brush Grass. Hystrix pdtula Moench. Perennial. Stem 2-4 ft. tall, rather slender, erect. Ligule very short. Leaves 5’-10' long, 3’’-6” wide, flat, roughish, downy on upper surface. Spike 3'-7' long, not densely flowered. Spikelets 2-4-flowered, spreading, in 2’s or 3’s at each joint of the flattened rachis. Outer empty scales awn-like, sometimes 9’’ long, usually present only in lower spikelets; flowering scales 4’’-6” long terminating in a slender, rough awn 10”- 18” long; palets nearly as long as flowering scales. Stamens 3, anthers yellowish green. Rocky woods. June to August. New Brunswick to Ontario and Minnesota, south to Georgia and Arkansas. 250 BOTTLE-BRUSH GRASS (Aystrix patula). One half natural size. Spikelets enlarged by two and a half WOOL GRASS (Scirpus cyperinus). Two stages of the panicle GREAT BULRUSH (Scirpus validus). Natural size THE SEDGE FAMILY 2B On? Dy Ae Dab oat a ae Ee i haere Dg NEN marten Dy hia bien i ae i Ley THE SEDGE FAMILY CYPERACEAE “This common field, this little brook — What is there hidden in these two?” Memeers of this family are protean in form; some, rising leafless, are like green bayonets and are tipped with cylindrical heads of blossoms; others, broad-leaved and spreading, seem like exotics from tropical lands; some are tiny plants, rising but a few inches from the soil; while others, stout and erect, are higher than one’s shoulder and bear great flowering-heads of innumerable spikelets. The study of these plants is most interesting, and indeed it is impossible to study the common grasses without gathering a large number of these “ grass-like” plants which, however, refuse to be included with the grasses, and often prove confusing to the student unless he has a definite idea of the distinguishing characteristics of each family. . Resembling the green grasses in colour, sedges are most fre- quently spoken of as “grass,” though they belong to a separate family and show their distinctive traits in flower and growth; the three-ranked leaves easily referring each sedge to its proper family, since in all grasses the leaves are but two-ranked upon the stems. The basal portion of each sedge leaf encloses the stem, as in the grasses, but with this noticeable difference, that the sheaths of sedges are perfectly closed while grass sheaths are usually split on the side of the stem opposite the leaf. With few exceptions the stems of sedges are solid, and in many species are sharply trian- gular. The flowers are small and are arranged in spikelets, but instead of several scales enclosing each flower, as in the grasses, each sedge blossom is protected by but a single scale, though a perianth is sometimes present in the form of small bristles. Many genera are comprised in the family, but the most numer- ous species are found among the sedges that belong to the genus Carex, and these in northern countries equal the grasses in number. 259 The Book of Grasses KEY TO THE GENERA ].— Flowers in each spikelet all, or at least one of them, perfect. II.— Stamens and Pistils in separate flowers. I.— Flowers in each spikelet all, or at least one of them, perfect. Spikelets 2-many-flowered, flat or nearly so, usually clustered in terminal umbels; scales 2-ranked; bristles none; stems leafy near base. Cyperus : Spikelets 6-10-flowered, flat, slender, on axillary peduncles; bristles present; stems leafy. Pond Sedge Spikelets solitary, several-many-flowered, terminating the stems; bristles usually present; leaves reduced to basal sheaths. Spike-rushes : Spikelets roundish, several-many-flowered, in terminal umbels: bristles none; stems leafy near base. Leaves thread-like. Sand-mat Leaves narrow, flat. __ Fimbristylis ” Spikelets solitary or many, roundish, several-many-flowered; terminal or in terminal umbels or clusters; bristles usually pres- ent; stems leafy or the leaves reduced to basal sheaths. Club-rushes, or Bulrushes Spikelets solitary or several, several-many-flowered, terminal or in terminal umbels or clusters; bristles usually many, long and silky, at maturity much exceeding the scales in length; stems more or less leafy. Cotton-grasses Spikelets few-flowered, in terminal and axillary clusters; lower scales empty; bristles usually present; stems leafy. Beaked-rushes II.— Stamens and Pistils in separate flowers. Staminate and pistillate spikelets in the same or in different clusters; staminate spikelets many-flowered, pistillate spikelets 1-flowered; bristles none; seed not enclosed in a sac; stems leafy. Nut-rushes Staminate and pistillate flowers in the same or in different spikes; seed enclosed in a sac; stems leafy. Sedges CYPERUS. (Cypérus) 260 270 272 272 272 280 300 300 303 304 The sedges of this genus have been known under different names, and as “Galingale,”’ “Earth-nuts,’ and “Bulrushes,”’ many species have served the world since the days of remote antiquity. The far-famed Papyrus of the Nile is a Cyperus whose many uses it is unnecessary to recount, and in Isaiah we note the 260 YELLOW NUT-GRASS (Cyperus esculentus). Natural size Nahar: i a Le Three quarters natural size BRISTLE-SPIKED CYPERUS (Cyperus strigosus). € ( CYPERUS HYSTRICINUS. Natural size. Spikelets natural size - au: © ae Ai = = :. be e ae". ; =e ave be gat = dag ee Ma lS axel vw J¥3 = x * us} a= e tere -'¢ i‘. A : é } * fe ; - - ~ oe > . 7 ' ee % ’ . \ > > Ss . / ; . "sy = 3 sae es | = ¥ ~ oe ; » J at) ie we 7 ~ a a PT a 7 . ra ~ CYPERUS DIANDRUS. First three illustrations natural size. Spikelets enlarged by three in illustration at lower right ang se i The Sedge Family mention of sedges as we read that “theland shadowing with wings” sent ambassadors, “even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters.” The nut-like tubers of certain sed- ges of this genus are edible, and the roots of a few species are & fragrant and aromatic, yielding agreeable perfumes. Our common species grow in clumps, most frequently in moist places, and bloom during midsummer and later. The stems are leafy at the base and are triangular. The flowers are borne in spikelets which are usually flat and linear and are clustered on branches at the summit of the stems. A conspicuous terminal flowering-head is thus formed, of which a distinguishing feature is the presence of one, several, or many leaves surrounding the base of the flower-cluster. A typical plant of this genus is the Bristle- spiked Cyperus (Cypérus strigosus), a species | that is common in moist or dry soil by the waysides and is also frequent near cultivated grounds, where it is often found with Edible Cyperus, or Yellow Nut-grass (Cypérus esculéntus), which it somewhat resembles, and which is noted for the small, edible tubers borne on the roots. This latter species, also called “Chufa,” is cultivated in southern Europe for the nut-like tubers which are said to have a sweet taste when boiled or roasted. The spikelets of the Bristle-spiked Cyperus are of greenish straw-colour, but in several other members of the genus the spikelets are noticeably coloured in stripes of | 2 Zi Bristle-spiked Cyperus brown and yellowish green. Cyperus strigosus 269 The Book of Grasses On dry hillsides and in sterile soil we often notice a small, slender plant bearing globose flowering-heads of dull greenish brown. This is the Slen- der Cyperus (Cypérus filicilmis) whose wiry stems rise from hard, roundish corms, or tubers. The Slender Cyperus is common throughout the country, and although under different conditions of soil and climate the plants vary in size and in the number of flowering- heads the stems are seldom more than fif- teen inches in height. POND SEDGE. (Dulichium) The Pond Sedge (Dulichium arundi- naceum) is a plant that bears little resem- blance to other members of the large family of Cyperaceae, and the casual observer who assumed the leafy stems to belong to some flowering plant of a different order might easily be pardoned. The hollow, jointed stems, one to three feet tall, are very leafy, but the three-ranked leaves are short, being one to four inches long, and are not sedge-like in appearance. The flowers are borne with the leaves along the stem and are in spikes which are composed of narrow, green spikelets, one half to one inch long. y This plant, the only species of the genus, is common from Nova Scotia to Florida, and during midsummer and later it is frequently seen by the borders of 5 ponds and streams where it grows with i Se the yellow loosestrife and other plants ender Cyperus Cyperus filiculmis of the marshes. 270 Pond Sedge Slender Spike-rush Dulichium arundinaceum Eleocharis tenuis 271 The Book of Grasses THE SPIKE-RUSHES. (Eleécharis) Shining, hair-like stems of Spike-rushes often cover the soil between clumps of coarser sedges, and in many places the Large Spike-rush occupies low ground by streams and ditches where its roots are sometimes under water. The smallest species are but a few inches in height, but the largest Spike-rushes are occasion- ally five feet tall. All are similar in appearance and are very unlike other sedges. The round or four-angled stems are slender, usually rather soft or weak, and grow closely together, and the leaves are reduced to basal sheaths tinged with reddish brown. The flowers are always borne in a small, solitary spikelet which caps the stem, and in some species the spikelet is so narrow as to be no wider than the stem itself. Under the lens a perianth of bristles is noticed, and the triangular or roundish seed is seen to be tipped with the persistent base of the style. Slender Spike-rush (Eleécharis ténuis), is very common in open marshes from Canada to the Gulf, and even before the plant blooms the soft, dark green, hair-like stems may be recognized as they glisten in the sunlight and sway with the slightest breeze. With the Slender Spike-rush, which is usually about a foot in height, the smaller species are often seen forming loose mats above the mud, and in shallow water or in the edges of ponds the round, erect stems, two to four feet high, of the Large Spike-rush (Eledcharis palustris) are common. SAND-MAT. (Stenophyllus) In walking along railway tracks one may often find on the embankments a rich harvest of flowers that are less common else- where. Even on the road-bed beneath the cars or in the sand between the tracks many sturdy little plants find place to grow and to mature seeds amid seemingly the most adverse conditions. The Sand-mat (Stenophyllus capillaris) is one of the low-growing plants found in such locations, and between railway ties the tufts of dark green thread-like stems capped with blackish green spike- lets are frequently common. The plant also grows in moister places but wherever it is found it is always low and slender, rarely a foot in height, and usually rising but a few inches from the soil. FIMBRISTYLIS. (Fimbristylis) The Slender Fimbristylis (Fimbristylis Frankit), and a closely related species (Fimbristylis autumnalis), are small, grassy plants 272 LARGE SPIKE-RUSH (Eleocharis palustris). Natural size pst oe, See ? ne azis [RANJEN “(DSO S14DY9091) HSMY-AAIdS azis [RINJUN *(Synua} 8144909157) HSAA-ANIdS AAANA'IS enlarged by two and a half Spikelets One half natural size. media). inter MATTED SPIKE-RUSH (Eleocharis 7 ne 7 Ny galt The Book of Grasses that bloom in midsummer and are usually found in moist soils. The stems are low and slender (three to sixteen inches in height) with narrow leaves and very narrow greenish brown spikelets borne on the slender branches of the umbels. There are no bristles surrounding the triangular whitish seed, and as the spike- lets are not clustered, but are borne in loose terminal umbels, these sedges can hardly be mistaken for others that grow in similar locations. CLUB-RUSHES and BULRUSHES. (Scirpus) “Can the rush grow up without mire?” The sedges of this genus are usually known as “rushes,” and are common in shallow streams, in swamps, and in marshes. The species vary greatly in appearance; some are low and slender, being but a few inches in height, others are tall, leafless, and rush- like, while still others are broad-leaved and bear conspicuous flowering umbels. Several of these plants were long ago noticed in homely arts. Mats and ropes have been made of Bulrushes, and in early colonial days chair-bottoms of beautiful workmanship were fashioned of the Chair-maker’s Rush (Scirpus americanus) and the Great Bul- rush (Scirpis vdélidus), plants which are common in shallow water and by the borders of ponds throughout North America. Chair-maker’s Rush, recognized by its stiff, triangular stems, is found in salt-water marshes and also by inland streams. The stems, often shoulder-high, bear one to three leaves, and the flowers are borne in one to seven oblong, brown spikelets about one half an inch long. Although the cluster of spikelets is term- inal it appears as if it were lateral, since the solitary leaf at the base of the cluster rises like a continuation of the stem. The Salt-marsh Bulrush (Scirpus robistus) is a striking plant of the genus and is found most frequently near the coasts. The stout, sharply angled stems are from one to five feet tall and bear a dense, compact inflorescence composed of a cluster of five to twenty large, oblong, brownish spikelets, some of which are sessile while others are borne on short rays one to two inches in length. The Great Bulrush, occasionally nine feet in height, and some- times an inch in diameter at the base, is leafless and stout. The 280 CHAIR-MAKERS RUSH (Scirpus americanus). Natural size ne -[ex *ya ; i 2 gah. s8 a —? as 110, Wi Tre FS Great Bulrush Scirpus validus Salt-marsh Bulrush Scirpus robuslus 283 Wool-grass Scirpus cyperinus Meadow Bulrush Scirpus atrovirens CAYUGA LAKE SHORE. Chair-maker’s Rush (Scirpus americanus) and Great Bulrush (Scirpus validus) [growing in foreground saSpes Auvui pue ‘ysnijng Joary ‘ssvixy Joo, ‘ssvry yurol-anjg ‘ery PILM AOId a1ayAA 9A0D AUT, “HSMVIN VONAVO — RIVER BULRUSH (Scirpus fluviatilus). Plant was four feet high. Stem natural size. Cross-section stem natural size Fruit spikelets natural size MEADOW BULRUSH (Scirpus atrovirens). One half natural size SALT-MARSH BULRUSH (Scirpus robustus) growing in marsh azis slojzenb aaiq} ynoqy = *(smjsngos snd419g) HSNATNA HSUVW-LIVS see tEy ysivur ay} JO aspa ay} Aq (smjsnqos snd4v9g) HSOATNA HSUVW-LIVS AO LAMOIHL V £3 ASR net gS ‘ Py * ior ae cal Vy, a a a Vesre je ae ae Lk ari Ou The Sedge Family smooth, round stems are often seen in shallow brooks and are more noticeable than are the small terminal umbels of Slender Cotton-grass Eriophorum gracile brownish spikelets. Wool-grass (Scirpus cyperi- nus), common in late summer, is a handsome plant of low meadows, where groups of this rigid, leafy sedge show a rank growth. The stems of Wool- grass are frequently shoulder- high and bear a profusion of rather narrow, long, drooping leaves which are sharp-edged with minute saw-teeth. The perianth, which in this genus is present in the form of bris- tles, is in Wool-grass long and downy, clothing the spikelets of the conspicuous terminal umbel in dull gray wool. The Club-rushes (Scirpus polyphyllus and S. sylvaticus) are leafy and graceful plants that are frequently noticed in low meadows and in swamps. They are usually from two to six feet tall and bear broad leaves and large terminal um- bels of many small spikelets. These flowering-heads are coloured in dull tones of green and brown, and we must push aside the overshadowing leaves and the low masses of surrounding vegetation in order to find the striking tints of deep carmine, corn- colour, and pale rose which are frequently concealed at the base of stem and leaf. 301 Virginian Cotton-grass Eriophorum virginicuin The Book of Grasses COTTON-GRASSES. (Eriéphorum) Where the arethusas and pogonias hide their fragrant flowers among low sedges the Slender Cotton-grass (Eriéphorum gracile) rises above the smaller growth, and to the purple of the wild iris and the deep colour of the large blossoms of pitcher- plants this sedge offers the contrast of flowers clothed in shining white. The Cotton-grasses —in reality Cotton-sedges — are most easy of recognition, since in the common species the blossoms at maturity are surrounded by long, silky hairs. Slender Cotton-grass blooms at least a month earlier than the Virginian Cotton-grass (Eriédphorum virginicum), and as the level light of sunset lies across the meadows of late spring the plumes of this earlier species glisten with added lustre, and the marsh which was so desolate in winter, so golden with marsh marigolds in April, is abloom in frosted silver. The Virginian Cotton-grass, from one to four feet in height, is common from Canada to Florida. In this larger species the spikelets are more densely clustered than are the spikelets of Slender Cotton-grass, and the hairs composing the perianth are usually rusty brown or tawny in colour. Certain species of this genus have been used in interesting ex- periments in which thread has been spun and firm cloth made from the silky hairs of the spikelets, but the fibre is short, and the attempt to bring the hairs into use as a substitute for cotton was soon abandoned. Where Cotton-grasses grow in abundance on the moorlands of Scotland the poorer people formerly found a use for the down in making candle and lamp wicks. BEAKED-RUSHES. (Rbynchéspora) Sated with the brilliancy of Fire-weed and flaming lilies one turns to search for less commonly known plants, and then one may notice in low grounds and near the borders of swampy thickets, slender stems of the Beaked-rushes bearing flower clusters of white, green, or rich brown crowned with white stigmas and pale anthers. A perianth is usually present in the form of rough bristles, and aside from the more noticeable characteristics of growth the plants of this genus may be recognized by the beaked seeds to which the common name refers. Beaked-rushes are common during midsummer, and even 302 The Sedge Family though they may be grass “to the general” there is something in the appearance of the small flower clusters that excites curiosity and urges that botany and micro- scope be brought into use. In Clustered Beaked-rush (Rhynchés- pora glomerata) the leaves are dark green, narrow, and erect, and several clusters of dark brown pointed spike- lets are borne at intervals along the stem. White Beaked-rush (Rhynchéspora dlba), a smaller and ay more slender species than the pre- Ww ceding, is also common in moist i grounds. The leaves of White Beaked-rush are light in colour, and | the few flower clusters borne near the summit of the stem are of ZZ pure white. NUT-RUSHES. (Scléria) The Nut-rushes are small, slen- der sedges, not uncommon in marshes and low meadows during midsummer, although seldom no- , ticed among the taller growth that V surrounds them. Low Nut-rush (Scléria verticillata) is very slender, | never more than three feet in height and usually much less than that. The stems are sharply three- angled and bear a few narrow leaves above which are the small spikelets in four to six sessile, green or | purplish clusters. The ripened fruit W is more conspicuous than are the () flowers, as the shining white seed is very prominent. The generic FA name, derived from the Greek, al- | = Chutered Beaked: ludes to the hardness of these ~) wun rush. Rhynchospore “ ” ° é = nuts,’? which are roughened by © Scleria verticitlata glomcrata 303 Ss The Book of Grasses > 0) broken horizontal ridges Yh and well repay a close exam- Wi ig im! ination with the microscope. \&$/ SEDGES. (Cérex) Sedges of this widely distributed © genus grow in abundance in wet y fy) meadows, by brooksides, and in all A Wy h swampy places. In a rich locality e j more than fifty species may be & gathered in the course of a sum- ¥& mer, and to the student these plants are more perplexing than are the grasses, since between many of the sedges the difference is too slight to be obvious save to seed¥with patient study aided by good lenses. 3 stigmas “Shear-grass’’ is an old English name for the sedges, and one that . 1S most appropriate, since the leaves seedwith : 2stigmas and stems of many species are sharp- edged and can cut sorely if carelessly handled. The plants of this genus are scales perennials, growing in tufts, and sending up many long-leaved, sterile shoots which, like the flower-bearing stems, are three-angled at the base.” : The flowers are borne in spikes in which the staminate and pistillate flowers are variously arranged: some sedges show spikes composed partly of fertile and partly of staminate blossoms, while in other sedges whole spikes are of one form of Id flower. The difference between the 5 Showing dit two forms is especially noticeable Tufted Sedge scales, seeds, as the seeds ripen. The staminate bates ie etige be Spike is narrow and slender, but the pistillate spike longing to the genus Carex iNcreases in thickness with the ripening seed. When 304 FOX SEDGE (Carex vulpinoidea). Natural size The Sedge Family both forms are borne in the same spike that part which bears staminate flowers is slender and contracted, and the pistillate part, which is sometimes at the base of the spike, sometimes in the middle, and occasionally at the summit, is swollen with seed, thus giving a ragged, uneven ap- pearance to the inflorescence. ‘The seed is enclosed in a sac, known as the perigynium, and the form of the seed is determined by the number of stigmas: when there are two stigmas the seed is more or less compressed, or two-edged, while with three stigmas the form of the seed is triangular. Each flower is protected by a scale, or bract, and a close observance of the form of the scale is of the utmost importance in determining the species. Brilliant colours are seldom found in this genus; the rose and purple which adorn the flower of the grass are lacking, and the blossoming spikes of sedges are of dull green or brown, while rarely is the base of the stem tinged in reddish. Our first acquaintance with sedges is usually gained by using the stout clumps of Tufted Sedge (Carex stricta) as stepping- stones while crossing a wet meadow. This sedge is one of our most common species, and the tufts of long, gracefully spreading leaves should be well known to those who search the swales for orchids and _pitcher- plants, since the firm tussocks save one many an undesired plunge into muddy water. The Tufted Sedge blooms from June till August and is very common by damp waysides and in wet soil, where the plant is usually about three feet in height with rough, three-angled stems at whose summits are borne three to five narrow, erect spikes of blossoms. The spikes are 307 Pennsylvania Sedge Carex pennsylvanica The Book of Grasses from one to two inches long, with deep brown scales which show green mid-veins and lighter coloured margins. The earliest of our common species, as well as one of the most abun- dant, is the Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex penns ylvén- ica) Which is found in the dry soil of hills and open woodlands, carpet- ing the ground with tufts of slender leaves and opening inconspicuous flowers before the more showy blossoms have wakened from their win- ter’s sleep. In the bor- derland between woods and open pasture this sedge is one of the most common plants, and by dry waysides it is also frequently seen. The stems are rarely more than a foot in height and are often much less than that. The blossoming spikes are small, the staminate flowers being borne in the uppermost spike, which is from one half to one inch in length, while the fertile flowers are in smaller, sessile spikes immediately below Bladder Sedge the staminate blossoms. The scales are dark red- dish brown, lighter on the margins and along Carex intumescens. the mid-vein. . 308 Hop Sedge Carex lupulina Fringed Sedge Carex crinita 309 The Book of Grasses The most noticeable sedges of open marshes are the several Hop Sedges, blooming in early summer and bearing thick, oblong spikes of inflated, light green seed-pouches. Of the com- “ mon species the Bladder Sedge va (Carex intuméscens) is a slen- der plant with one to three short, few-flowered, fertile : spikes above which the nar- la row staminate spike is borne on a slender stalk. The Hop Sedge (Carex lupulina) is stout, with broad, light green leaves ! and two to six densely flowered | fertile spikes which are usually sessile, though the lower spike is often borne on a short ped- uncle. The Porcupine Sedge (Carex hystricina) bears nar- ff row, yellowish green leaves and one to four densely flow- ered pistillate spikes. The long, rough point of the scale is a distinguishing feature of this species. The Long Sedge (Carex folliculata) is tall and slender and is most frequently found in the borders of thickets and swamps. It should be recognized by the broad, flat leaves and the rather loosely flowered pistillate spikes which are borne on long, spreading peduncles. The most showy sedge of swamps and open woods is the great Fringed Sedge (Carex fs crinita) which grows shoulder- Little Prickly ae Es high, with sharp, three-angled 5 Slender Sedge Carex scirpoides stems which spread from the Carex gracillima 310 CAREX CRISTATA. Natural size CAREX LURIDA. One half natural size CAREX MIRABILIS. Natural size CAREX LURIDA | Spike natural size ONE OF THE HOP SEDGES (Carex lurida, var. gracilis). Two thirds natural size Spikes natural size HOP SEDGE (Carex Pseudo-Cyperus). One half natural size. Fruit spike natural size CAREX RETROSA. Three quarters natural size. Spike natural size *(ppiui49 x94DD) FOAAS CHAONTAA azis [einqzvu ayidg “ezIs ]eANjeu [ey eu “ST WAOAIINdNT XAAVO aZis |einjeu yey oug a aed 7 & 5 Pe teen ay The Sedge Family clumps and rest against the alders and the low shrubby growth of the thickets. ) Fox Sedge Carex vulpinoidea & old couplet concerning “The alder whose fat shadow nourisheth, Each plant set near to him long flourisheth;” the Fringed Sedge, with its rank growth, would seem to have derived benefit from that “fat shadow.”” The plant blooms in midsummer, and at that season the long, drooping spikes are very noticeable with their spread- ing, long-awned, brownish green scales. The staminate spikes are sometimes fertile at the base or in the middle, while the pistillate spikes are frequently staminate at the tips. Another common and easily recognized sedge of low grounds is the Little Prickly Sedge (Carex scirpoides) which blooms during the spring and summer. The leaves are thread-like, and the slender stems, seldom rising more than fifteen inches from the soil, form low tufts of light, glistening green. The three to six tiny spikes are very short and are al- most globose in form and as they open widely appear like small, star-shaped flowers. Slender Sedge (Carex gracil- lima) is common in moist mead- ows and also in drier soil by the waysides, where this plant is fre- quently found in the low, hedge- 321 Indeed, if there be truth in the Fescue Sedge Carex festucacea The Book of Grasses like growth that borders country walls and fences. The whole plant, stem, leaf, and flowering-spike, is slender and bends to the slightest breeze. This sedge may be recognized by the green, fertile spikes which are very narrow and droop from hair-like peduncles. Fox Sedge (Carex vulpinoidea) is common in low grounds and by waysides, and is not infrequently found in dry soil. The stout stem is sharply three-angled and bears short, green or brownish _ green spikes, which are densely crowded in clusters and form what appears to be a rough, terminal spike two to five inches long. The Fescue Sedge (Carex festucacea) belongs toa group in which there are several species that bear more or less resemblance to one another. In these sedges the short, densely flowered spikes are round or oblong and are borne rather closely together at the summit of the stem. Fescue Sedge blooms in spring and early summer and is most frequently seen in dry soil. The above species of the genus Carex are but a few of the most common sedges that may be found in many locations from Canada to the Gulf. The majority of these plants bloom during spring and summer, although many of them retain their ripened seeds during the autumn months. The sedges, no less than the grasses, have developed many interesting peculiarities of structure which aid in transporting the seeds to new fields: a few of the sedges growing in dry soil show wing-margined seed-pouches that are easily carried by the wind; some bear rough pouches that catch on passers-by and are carried far; sedges of marshlands often float their seeds in inflated sacs along the water’s surface or buoy them by corky growths to which the base of the seed is attached. None of Nature’s children are so lowly that she neglects to prepare them for the world-long struggle for existence, and the methods which these humble forms have developed in order to enter into success- ful competition with the crowding life around them show the rest- less energy of living matter in its effort to exist and to perpetuate itself in life. 322 u ® o~ ot . Pi ah ey wr ie Ate Lae tage s 1 ae 9% o @ my v Cur - oA ee WE OY ee eae | “d @ » 4 bt ; ‘h) : a wu J ’ f Ave vs 65 OP 7 ‘ » ioe? aA =, Foe I nf = . * 7 *% a7) —_ 7% - ) SMALL-HEADED RUSH (Juncus brachycephalus). Natural size @- , . ree 4 Wega Bs > a ives cos, ow ae a — ae = Se =e - ht = bay 55 rr “* ee “< = a = 7 -~@ ? ¥ 2 hay : + 7 - ae * \ is r ’ . e ‘ « = - A * La 9 pa ay - i. oa i] P| avo. | 2 as. an e . a, ~ i se, CE ws eee ‘1 > ° a a oS he ‘ Lae “Ta © ew we eT Need th ae -— os. en! re Pk Pp? aie SO aes — RUSHES JUNCACEAE “Where is this stranger? Rushes, ladies, rushes! Rushes as green as summer for this stranger.” Tue dark-green leaves of rushes, common in lanes, by waysides, and in all marshy places, add their verdure to the green carpeting of the grasses, and indeed are often familiarly comprised under the all-embracing name of “grass.’”’ Rushes, however, belong to a distinct family, and, being closely related to the lilies, are essen- tially lily-like in the form of the tiny green blossoms. In song and story we are familiar with poetical allusions to “the gleaming rushes,” yet many of the so-called “rushes” belong to the sedge family, and are far larger than our common Eastern species of the true rushes and seem to a passing glance fully as rush-like in appearance, While it is true that plants of this genus, (Juncus), resemble both grasses and sedges in colour and tex- ture, the student should have no difficulty in distinguishing them, since each flower of the rushes, like a miniature lily, shows a per- fectly six-parted perianth, three to six stamens, and three stigmas. The largest of our common species is the Bog Rush (Juncus effisus) which grows in clumps in moist places and is so often seen by waysides and in low meadows. The round stems, stiffly erect, are from two to four feet in height, and are filled with soft, white pith. The stem is leafless, and-several inches below the pointed tip hangs a many-flowered cluster of green blossoms which seems to have burst from the stem, though, in reality, the upright por- tion above the blossoms is a leaf of the inflorescence, and as this leaf appears as a continuation of the stem it causes the flower cluster to seem lateral. The Bog Rush is one of the few meadow plants that remain green until late autumn, and even in winter we may often notice low tufts of the dark-green stems by winding brooks. The Jointed Rushes are peculiar in that the interior hollow portion of their leaves is divided by horizontal, membranous par- 329 Bog Rush Sharp-fruited Rush Juncus effusus Juncus acuminatus The peculiar growth of the spikelets shown at right in illustration is fre- quently found in this rush SB ne! Grass-leaved Rush Juncus marginatus Rushes titions which, as joints, or knots, may be plainly felt when a leaf is drawn through the hand. The leaves in the majority of the species of Jointed Rushes are round. In the Sharp- fruited Rush (Jin- : cus acuminatus), a ee species which is usually from one to two feet in height and is very common in bogs, the inflorescence is composed of spreading terminal branches tipped with small, closely flowered heads. The narrow divisions of the perianth are sharp-pointed and are reddish brown in colour. The Grass-leaved Rush (Juncus margina- tus) is found in moist sandy places. The stem, seldom more than two feet tall, is erect and somewhat flattened, and, as the common name indicates, the leaves are long, flat, and grass- like. The inflorescence is composed of three to twenty small, brownish green heads of flowers. There are but three stamens and the anthers are reddish brown in colour. In the following species the flowers are placed singly on the branches of the inflorescence and are never in true heads. The leaves are grass-like. Yard Rush (Juncus ténuis), common in country dooryards and by footpaths, seems to thrive best when it is trodden under foot each day. This rush grows in low-spreading clumps of wiry, glistening stems which are leafless except at the base from whence numerous narrow leaves rise. The leaves are shorter than the stems, but the inflorescence is much exceeded by the lowest involucral leaf which is usually from three to seven inches long. Through June, July, and August the plant is in bloom and the tiny flowers, scattered along. the branches of the inflorescence, or crowded at their tips, are like pale stars. The perianth, green on its outer surface, is whitish within, and the six short anthers and the feathery 331 rey, N ; a xf Yard Rush Juncus tenuis The Book of Grasses stigmas are also white. The flowers are widely open in the early hours of the morning but close during the heat of the day. ‘ The Toad Rush (Juncus bufonius) is an Wy odd little plant, rarely eight inches tall, which often spreads in tangled mats over low ground Y by the waysides and on the borders of dried-up pools. The flowers are larger than in our other common rushes, and are dark green; the stems branch abundantly at the base and bear one or two short, narrow leaves. Like the preceding species the Toad Rush is found throughout nearly the whole of North America. Black-grass (Juncus Gerard1), easily recognized by its char- acteristic dark-green colour, blooms in midsummer and is common along the Atlantic coast and by tidal waters of rivers from Canada to Florida. The plant is grass-like, and with dark leaves ana blackish flowers covers large areas on the salt marshes, where it is often associated with Fox- grass (Spartina patens). The slender wiry stems of Black-grass rise from creeping rootstocks and are usually from one to two feet in height; the perianth divisions are rounded and are shorter than the dark seed-capsule. This rush is the most highly valued of the common species, as it yields a large part of the salt hay that is taken each year from our coast- fs wise marshes. ra Other rushes will occasionally Toad Rush pa baails be found by the student and may 332 azis [RAN}BU Ply} UQ *(Susnffa snouNs) HSN DO azis [RINJUN “(SNIDUIMUNID SNIUNS) SOM GAALINYA-dUVHS . t, a . ra A ® cif i> = ' can ay “Ss ‘a i ‘ : : o ve : avy 5)\ ae Pe, oe 2 re 4 ithe a a - q ‘ “ihe. 5 ra a ¢ if Rushes be distinguished by the general manner of growth, the form of the small divisions of the perianth, and the relative length Me these Black Grass Juncus Gerardi divisions in comparison with the length of the seed-capsules. The gathering of rushes was an important task when the floors of English dwelling houses were cov- ered with these plants of the marsh, and the sov- ereign could require, as did William the Conqueror of his subjects upon Ayles- bury land, that the people furnish “straw for his bed- Chamber . °°), and im summer straw rushes.” To this floor-covering Eras- mus ascribed pestilences, since the lowest layer of rushes was often left un- changed for years. In the days of “ Merrie Eng- land”’ such rush-strewn floors were an evidence of barbarism to the courts of southern Europe, where a Frenchman of the eigh- teenth century reported to Henry III of France that there were but three re- markable things to be seen in England, of which one was the custom of the people to “strew all their best rooms with hay.” We also read that in olden days the pathways of pro- cessions were made green 6 I | Common Wood-rush Luzula campestris The Book of Grasses with scattered rushes, and that in Shakespeare’s time the stage was strewn with these plants. Rush-lights of bygone days were prepared from the pith of certain plants of this genus. The round stems were gathered in late summer and were placed in water for a short time. The pith was then carefully taken from the stems, and after being left out in the dew for several nights was dried, and dipped in scalding fat. THE WOOD-RUSHES. (Lizula) While searching for the earliest hepatica or arbutus the soft, reddish green leaves of the Common Wood-rush (Lizula campéstris) are often seen. This rush is one of our earliest flowering plants, and appears while the turf still remains brown from winter’s frosts. Common Wood-rush grows in tiny tufts and is found in many locations from dry, open woodlands to low marshes, and through all the summer months the plant remains noticeable as its ripening seeds bend the slender stems earthward with increas- ing weight. There is seldom a rocky pasture that does not show a few of the reddish umbels spreading from the low growth that so universally surrounds each firmly embedded stone, while a favour- ite location is near the borders of open woods, where later the Pennsylvania Sedge carpets the ground beneath white birches and low-growing oaks. When the flat, rather broad leaves first appear they are sparingly fringed with silky white hairs. The plant is rarely more than a foot in height and the blossoming umbel is composed of short branches which bear small, densely flowered spikes. The Hairy Wood-rush (Liazula saltuénsis) prefers dry, wooded banks and is distinguished from the more common species by the one-flowered, hair like divisions of the umbel, by the more numer- ous long hairs on the leaves, and by the perianth which differs from that of the other in being shorter than its capsule. The generic name of the Wood-rushes, Luzula, is said to have been derived from the Italian word for glow-worm, and probably referred to the shining seed-capsules. 338 INDEX TO ENGLISH NAMES ATA a Cane iy mea “4 imag : bate { eid Vile PA RV MATeT NO Bee ene yee v .e ee Wit 8) Ve ly hl 4 4 ’ INDEX TO ENGLISH NAMES Aristida, Purplish, Sea-beach, . Barley, Wall, Bamboo, Beach Grass, Beaked-rush, Clustered, White, Bearded Wheat-grass, . Beard-grass, Bushy, Forked, Bent-grass, Brown, Bermuda Grass, Big Blue-stem, Black-grained Mountain Rice, Black-grass, . . Black Oat-grass, . Bladder Sedge, Blue-grass, Canada, Kentucky, Blue-joint Grass Blue-stem, Big, Little, Bonnet-grass, . Bottle-brush Grass, Bristly Foxtail, Bristle-spiked Cyperus. Broad-leaved Spike-grass, Brome-grass, Downy, . Fringed, . Broom Sedge . Brown Bent-grass, Bulrush, <' 302 Dark green, 105 Great, Salt-marsh, . 238 Bushy Beard-grass,. . 13 Canada Blue-grass, . 128 Canary-grass, Reed, i: Zag + Gane; . 303 Large, 327 Small, 53 Catch-fly Grass, 54 Cat’s-tail Grass, . 54 Chair-maker’s Rush, eee ) CONES, , Hence Swamp, . . 163 Upright, 55 Chufa, . : 99 Club-rush ., . . 332 Clustered Beaked- rush . 100 Cock’s-foot Grass, . 310 Cockspur Grass, Cord-grass, . 197 Corn, . 195 Cotton-grass, ae | Slender, Virginian, 55 Couch-grass, . 55 Crab-grass, . 120 Large, . 248 Siaaile) WW: 77 Creek Sedge, . 269 Creek Thatch, , . 183 Creeping Eragrostis, . Crested Dog’s-tail, . 222 Cultivated Barley, . 229 Cultivated Oats, . . 54 Cultivated Rye, . 116 Cultivated Wheat, 341 The Book of Grasses Cyperus, : Bristle-spiked, Edible, Slender, . Darnel, Mee Densely flowered Manna-grass, Devil-burs, ; Dog’s-tail Grass, . Downy Brome-grass, . Dropseed, Mexican, Northern, Sand, BOIS DATA Nie Dwarf Meadow-grass, Dwarf’s Grass, 5 Early Bunch-grass, Earth-nuts, Edible Cyperus, Egyptian Grass, English Grass, Eragrostis, Creeping, Purple, Pursh’s, . é Strong-scented, . Tufted, False Red-top, Feather-grass, . Fescue, Meadow, Nodding, Red, Sheep’s, . Slender, . Tall, Fescue Sedge, . Field Paspalum, Fimbristylis, Fioren, Bo a Flattened Oat-grass, . Forked Beard-grass, Forked Panic-grass, . Fowl Meadow-grass, . Fox-grass, . Fox Sedge,. LOS - 222 . 260 . 269 . 269 » 270 231 208 83 a OF LenS Lg a » (205 3 AQ 5 Lacy . 260 . 269 oer (oh +520 . 180 BN yf auLy2 . £79 Yyr7O . 198 MOL ie io) . 218 vigss nary Beek, . 222 Bie te4e) 61 . 292 SS LZO Saag 54 Ff . 205 . 144 4 322 Foxtail, Bristly, Green, Marsh, Meadow, Yellow, French-grass, j Fringed Brome-grass, . Fringed Sedge, Galingale, Gama Grass, Gardner’s Garters, Gauze-grass, Ginger Grass, . Goose-grass, Grama, 3) 1 RE reg aa SI Grass of the Andes, . Green Foxtail, Hair-grass, Rough, Silvery, . Tufted, ,. Wavy, . Hairy Panic-grass, Hedgehog Grass, . Herd’s Grass, . Holy Grass, Hop Sedge, Indian Grass, . Indian Rice, Italian Millet, Italian Rye-Grass, Job’s Tears, Johnson Grass, June Grass, Kentucky Blue-grass,. Lace-grass, Lady’s Hair, Lady’s Ribbons, Large Crab-grass, Large-fruited Panic-grass, 342 . II9 Re 0) “/E30 . 136 71 83 /292;.120 98 Large Spike-rush, . Lemon Grass, . Little Blue-stem, .. Little Prickly Sedge, . Long-awned Hair-grass, . Long-awned Wood-grass, . Long-leaved Rush-grass, . Long Sedge, Low Nut-rush, Low Spear-grass, . Manna-egrass, Densely flowered, Floating, Nerved, . Sharp-scaled, Tall, . Marram Grass, Marsh Foxtail, Marsh Muhlenbergia, Marsh Oats, , Marsh Spike-Grass, Meadow Fescue, . Meadow Foxtail, . Meadow Muhlenbergia, : Meadow Oat-grass, Meadow Soft-grass, Meadow Sphenopholis, Melic-grass, Narrow, . Mesquites, . : Mexican Dropseed, Mexican Muhlenbergia, . Millet, . Mountain Rice, Black-grained, Slender, : White-grained, Muhlenbergia, Marsh, Meadow, Mexican, Rock, Wood, Narrow Melic-grass, . Nerved Manna-grass, . Nimble Will, may + tear ! "107 . 108 Sa el s/ gre - 7§02 - 195 12 55 . 208 . 208 . 206 . 208 . 206 Atay. . 112 2\ Tao - 134 . 184 . 218 . I12 . 106 Slender Wood sera isse Small Cane, 2 Small Crab-grass, Small-fruited Panic-grass, Small Rush-grass, Smooth Marsh-grass, . Snake Grass, d Southern Poverty-grass, , Sphenopholis, Meadow, Slender, Spike-rush, Large, Slender, . : Spreading Panic-grass, Spreading Spear-grass, Squirrel-tail Grass, Starved Panic-grass, Strong-scented Eragrostis, Swamp Chess, . Sweet Vernal-grass, Switch Grass, Tall Fescue, Tall Grama, Tall Manna-grass,. Tall Red-top, . Tall Smooth Panic-grass, Terrell-grass, ‘ Tickle-grass, Thin-grass, Timothy, ; Tufted Eragrostis, Tufted Hair-grass, Tufted Sedge, . 344 Index to English Names Eipright Ghiess 077)! ig5:) 5.4 »/1990), Wild Oat-prass, 3). / a tag WG FRAC El! | bacdsn, oe heat |b aig) BE Wild Rye, Vanilla Grass, a hisreayi Mkt: Se Nodding 247 Werver Giraeal pein eh? , 1 oc thee Virginian Cotton-grass, . . 200 aan Ph a W Prorat: sf Virginia Wild Rye. . . . 248 Wire-prass; ; rb lek 165 Wood Muhlenbergia, . oe? sks Wall Barley, iy. .<-).+ 4) 239 Wood Reed-graés, ...0.... +128 Wavy aiikae fy pets 4 Ue peepdety 1.) Ts ura iehilers bei tigek Wheat, : pL se) cad ley (oa) Wood Spearearass, (0 6" a. a SOF Wheat-grass, W ool-Br assy ai) jo.) Sie i/o b9s 1 OG Beare 240). Wal es aay Purples: tix; +. flew 4 Stayer. i MEROBTAGS 10a ts! | oh je OG White Beaked-rush, bine 303 Yard-rush, PU cea fa phe or White-grained Mountain Rice, og. Mellow Foxtaily 2... be (Lah 997 Winite-prassie. (rap)! 4.) i048 WSO) Yellow Nut-erass, 2s 11 d< 4, 269 Wale ‘Oatsy 6:2 56>) ce ona 24 840)" Yorkshire Fog, | 5!) e0\00s 14034 345 Any ty ‘ we Sih ne (Ag nN At il et Caen i ce " yan t Nt 1) hi 4 Mt iy ty INDEX TO LATIN NAMES Shem — ate ages: =A Fay ¥* 4 fi, y . hat i a F hy pa ‘ INDEX TO LATIN NAMES Agropyron caninum 4 repens . biflorum Agrostis alba canina hyemalis . perennans . Aira caryophyllea . Alopecurus geniculatus A pratensis . Ammophila arenaria . Andropogon furcatus . “ec Lai «ac iii ae scoparius virginicus Anthoxanthum odoratum Aristida dichotoma re gracilis purpurascens tuberculosa Arrhenatherum elatius Arundinaria tecta Avena sativa ee fata oe ae oe Bouteloua curtipendula Brachyelytrum erectum . Briza media ~ Bromus ciliatu “ racemosus secalinus tectorum “e ce Calamagrostis canadensis * cinnoides Carex crinita “ festucacea folliculata gracillima hystricina glomeratus . ae . 238 Carex intumescens “ jupulina pennsylvanica . scirpoides stricta vulpinoidea Cenchrus carolinianus Cinna arundinacea “latifolia Aisa! Cynodon Dactylon . , Cynosurus cristatus Cyperaceae ; Cyperus esculentus ae filiculmis . “strigosus . Dactylis glomerata Dactyloctenium aegyptium Danthonia compressa . * sericea spicata Deschampsia caespitosa 5 flexuosa Digitaria filiformis i humifusa sanguinalis . Distichlis spicata . Dulichium arundinaceum cia “ce Echinochloa crusgalli Eleocharis palustris + tenuis . Eleusine indica Elymus arenarius “canadensis striatus virginicus Eragrostis capillaris ‘3 hypnoides . megastachya . se “ce “cc The Book of Grasses Eragrostis pectinacea ny pilosa Eriophorum gracile ci virginicum Festuca elatior * nutans octoflora . ovina rubra : Fimbristylis autumnalis i Frankii “ec ac “ Glyceria acutiflora canadensis grandis nervata obtusa septentrionalis Hierochloé odorata Holcus lanatus Hordeum jubatum ‘ murinum . sativum Hystrix patula ce Juncaceae Juncus acuminatus cA bufonius effusus rs Gerardi if marginatus tenuis . “e Leptochloa fasicularis. Leersia lenticularis " oryzoides virginica Lolium multiflorum e Apeperenne & temulentum Luzula campestris *“* saltuensis . ce ce Melica mutica te “striata 181 Muhlenbergia capillaris mexicana racemosa s Schreberi sobolifera sylvatica Oryzopsis asperifolia pungens e racemosa Panicum amaroides rf Boscii capillare . clandestinum depauperatum dichotomum latifolium microcarpon. sphaerocarpon virgatum Paspalum laeve a setaceum Phalaris arundinaceae + canariensis Phleum pratense Phragmites communis Poa alsodes ammtidy autumnalis . brachyphylla . compressa pratensis triflora trivialis : Puccinellia distans cs maritima . “ ce Rhynchospora alba ic glomerata Scirpus americanus cyperinus polyphyllus robustus sylvaticus “e “ec dichotomiflorum Scribnerianum . Scirpus validus. Scleria verticillata Setaria glauca ei" ataliea: verticillata virides Sorghastrum nutans Sorghum halepense Spartina cynosuroides “glabra Michauxiana patens . Sphenopholis nitida ‘a obtusata pallens . palustris Sporobolus asper . “ce “ce ce ad Index to Latin Names . 280 Sporobolus cryptandrus . . 303 ¥ heterolepis . 78 ‘i neglectus 7 43 uniflorus 77 es vaginaeflorus 77 Stenophyllus capillaris 56 Stipa avenacea . 162 Tridens flavus . 162 Triplasis purpurea . 162 Tripsacum dactyloides . 162 . 135 Uniola latifolia mre ) aaa 136 “« paniculata 135 115 Zizania palustris ‘ THE END. 351 IIS ETE .| oe ee AES are . IOI Bib if he 2 49 . 184 Bie tek: . 184 89 THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS GARDEN CITY, N. Y. | Ay ie ue ai fi i vl nee be NS 5 id ey a\ TAR iy Aire itd Ho in hi : i p A fan Pai! HAM AUR AY EAT te an a Wh SON 1a MD Pea testa ihe WM Y an Wate) i ‘k We if ent AG) li Ha #, AGA HUAN re Oy Ne Bae Oat i At AN Aah HANGRALINLE Syne | SVN Mi nt , Bint i hy 4 We My te Loa Ll homestay) Uv AA Cha ai A hee Bit 154 Vy 062 Es vuly Pa}, « ,. < ! b ieee dee + i ih 85 00 | -A1 B32 i acer. 3 51 | z .