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• This bluegrass which starts growth during the warm days of Late winter and early <br />spring, is ready for grazing in advance of most other range forage plants. Dur- <br />ing early spring, it is particularly relished by all classes of domestic live- <br />stock. It rates as excellent forage for cattle and horses and good for sheep, <br />elk, and deer, despite that its palatability decreases somewhat at maturity, when <br />the foliage becomes rather harsh and dry. Cattle and horses relish the plant and <br />sheep eat considerable quantities throughout the entire summer. During [he fall <br />both cattle and horses eat the air-cured foliage, more tender and succulent for- <br />age being scarce. <br />Muttongrass, a perennial, is strictly a bunchgrass, varying from small tufts com- <br />posed of a few stalks to dense tussocks a foot or more in diameter. The species <br />is unusual among range grasses in that the male and female spikelets are gener- <br />ally borne on separate plants (dioecious). However, the female spikelets have on <br />minute, non-functioning stamens. Muttongrass has no underground rootstocks, <br />although the stems are often bent and more or less prostrate at the base, fre- <br />• quently resembling a short rootstock. This stooling characteristic governs the <br />size of the individual tufts and facilitates reproduction and spread. This grass <br />flowers from April to June, and matures seed from May to July, depending upon the <br />locality and elevation. <br />Poa pratensis <br />(Kentucky bluegrass) <br />Kentucky bluegrass, with the exception of timothy, is the most important peren- <br />nial grass cultivated in North America, being particularly popular as a pasture <br />and meadow grass; in fact, it is often referred to as "the king of the pasture <br />lands." This plant is known by numerous common or local names, including lawn <br />grass, speargrass, juuegrass, and greensward. In England, where it abounds, the <br />species is usually called meadow grass. Because of its abundance and luxuriant <br />growth, throughout Kentucky, and especially near Lexington, "the city of blue- <br />grass", this species is most generally knows as Kentucky bluegrass. The name <br />bluegrass appears to have been first applied to Canada bluegrass (P. compressa), <br />because of its characteristic bluish green foliage. subsequently, Che entire <br />• Poa genus won recognition as bluegrasses. <br />2-78 <br />