P L A T E LVII.
POA COMPRESSA.{ Spec. Plant..
Flat-stalked Poa.
Spec. C h a r. Panicle short, and contracted} straw two-edged.
T he flat-stalked Poa is a plant rather singular in its appearance, and its slender straw terminating
with a short compressed panicle renders it particularly conspicuous: it makes its little show towards
the middle and end of summer, generally inhabiting the earth found upon dry walls, yet is not uncommonly
observed in patches of some extent in the dryest corn fields, visible after the crop is
removed: the circumstance attending this plant in having its straw flattened, is so singular that it
can hardly be mistaken for any other o f the genus; it is commonly o f a glaucous hue, but varies
much in different stations: when cultivated, it acquires an appearance very different from its natural
character, the panicle becomes enlarged, and the spiculae produce a considerable number o f florets.
In a catalogue of agricultural plants Poa compressa will never be found, it is a tardy grass, flowering
late, and remaining till autumn, and at a time when there is in general plenty o f keep, which
would render it, even if its product was more abundant, of no moment: in com fields, where patches
of it are found after harvesting the grain, it is usually among the last herbage that is consumed by
the cattle, which are generally then turned in to glean the remnants o f the crop.
A, part o f the flattened Straw.
B, Spicula o f plants in different situations.
C, the Calyx.
D, the Corolla.