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Rattlesnake Grass

Rattlesnake GrassGlyceria canadensis (Michx.) Trin.

Heavy, drooping panicles of Rattlesnake Grass are found leaning over narrow brooks and ditches, and by damp waysides where meadow-rue and sedges luxuriate.

With pendent, inflated spikelets of pale green and purple this grass is the most beautiful of the genus, and is in its greatest perfection in late June, when the low grounds are "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 recognized throughout the season, though the colours which tinge the broad scales fade as the seeds ripen.

Rattlesnake Grass. Glyceria canadensis (Michx.) Trin.

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, spreading or drooping, lower branches 2'-6' long. Spikelets 5-12-flowered, 2 1/2"-4" long, broad, inflated, flattened, green tinged with purple. Outer scales acute, unequal, shorter than flowering scales; flowering scales broad, obtuse or acute, obscurely 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.