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THE

GRASSES

OF

GREAT BRITAIN:

ILLUSTRATED BY

JOHN E. SOWERBY,

ILLUSTRATOR OF ‘ENGLISH BOTANY,” THE “FERNS OF GREAT BRITAIN,” “ WILD FLOWERS WORTH
NOTICE,” ETO.

DESCRIBED, WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THEIR NATURAL
HISTORY AND USES,

BY

CHARLES JOHNSON,

BOTANICAL LECTURER AT GUY’S HOSPITAL.

LONDON:
ROBERT HARDWICKE, 192, PICCADILLY;

AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.

ZCORNELL S
UNIVERSITY:
IBRARY 7

380837

THE

GRASSES OF GREAT BRITAIN.

INTRODUCTION.

Amone the numerous and diversified forms of the vegetable cre-
ation there is one most remarkable; as well for the extent of surface
occupied by its countless millions of individuals, which, owing to
their preponderance under almost every condition of soil and cli-
mate, may be said to bestow its hue and character upon the “ broad
green earth,” as for its importance in the vast economy of Nature.
This form, characteristic of an extensive order or family of plants,
comprising about four thousand known species, is distinguished
in our English language by the name of Grass, the indigenous
species of which constitute the subject of the work before us.

The term Grass is occasionally employed in a much more com-
prehensive sense than is here admitted, especially by the farmer ;
who, accustomed to regard it as synonymous with green food for
cattle of any description, applies it, nominally at least, to Clover,
Sainfoin, and other plants cultivated for a similar purpose; while,
at the same time, he may probably exclude from the series, species
naturally associating with it by correspondence in structure, simply
on account of their different agricultural adaptation. The mere

cursory observer, misled by certain resemblances in general aspect,
a

ii

may in like manner err as to the limits of this great family of
vegetation, by confounding with it Sedges, Spike-rushes, and a
host of plants which, organically considered, are as distinct from
Grasses as an elm is from an oak. Allowing, however, for such
circumstances, which are rather the results of convenience on the
one hand and of inattention on the other, the group of plants here
illustrated is as well defined, as decidedly separated from the other
grand divisions of the vegetable kingdom, as in the animal are
birds from mammals, or reptiles from fishes. Such, indeed, is the
uniformity of appearance throughout the tribe, that, while other
races of plants have been, almost universally, confounded by the
writers of antiquity, or only distinguished by their difference of
habit, as trees and herbs, the Grasses have found a name in every
tongue and time from the earliest periods of human record or
tradition. This distinction, indeed, is made in the most ancient of
existing Books, where we are informed that, on the third day of
creation, “the earth brought forth Grass, and herb yielding seed
after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit,”—the sacred and learned
historian employing the popular phraseology and simple classifica-
tion of his time and people.

Now that Botany has assumed the rank of a science, and a
closer inquiry into the structure and properties of plants: demands
a more extended system of arrangement than previously answered
the purposes of the naturalist and others concerned in their study,
it is essential that we should analyse the characteristic features,
upon which the separation of a Grass from other grass-like vegeta-
tion depends. In a book intended for general reference, it would
be well to avoid all technical phraseology ; but, as we must examine
and describe parts and organs that have no familiar English names,
this is only possible to a limited extent. By a passing explanation,
however, of the terms employed, or, in the absence of this, by
reference to the short glossary which follows the present introduc-
tion, the author trusts to convey to the uninitiated reader the

il

leading and unmistakeable attributes of a true Grass; sufficiently
80, at least, to render his after-descriptions intelligible to one not
a botanist. .

Every Grass, properly so called, has its stem cylindrical and
Jointed at intervals throughout, the erect or ascending portion,
the Culm or straw, being, almost universally, hollow between the
joints. The leaves, which spring from these joints only, have their
lower part, which corresponds to a flattened leaf-stalk, rolled
around the stem in the form of a sheath ; and the upper or spread-
ing portion, the true leaf, is usually long, narrow, and tapering to
a point; it is always separated from the sheath by a projecting
membrane, or a row of hairs or bristles, more frequently by the
first, which is known, among botanists, by the name of Ligule,
from the Latin ligula, a spoon or scoop, which this little append-
age, in many of the Grasses, somewhat resembles; or, if we con-
sider ligula itself to be derived from lingua, a tongue, the similarity
in outline will not be the less obvious in other instances.

The flowers of the Grasses are variously arranged: in some
cases they are disposed in loose, more or less spreading bunches,
termed Panicles, as in the Millet Grass, Plate XX.—in others
they form compact masses, denominated Spikes, which may be
either short and rounded, as in the Hare’s-tail Grass, Plate XIX.,
or long and slender, as in the Meadow Cat’s-tail Grass, Plate
XIII. These flowers are very different from those of most other ve-
getable tribes; never presenting either the bright hue or the sym-
metrical disposition of their parts, which excites our admiration in
many of the higher orders of flowering plants. The organs which,
in the flowers of the Grasses, represent those constituting the richly-

‘varied cup of the Tulip, or the azure and silver bells of the Cam-
panula, have here a totally different character and disposition.
They are small, dry, membranaceous scales; never arranged two
or more upon the same plane or level, but each occupying its own
on alternate sides; being inserted in every instance a little above

a2

Iv
or below each other, the lower one partially overlapping and en-
closing the base of the upper.

The outermost scales investing the flowers of a Grass are termed
Glumes, from the Latin g/wma, husk or chaff; there are usually
two of them, but in some instances only one, and in different
Grasses they contain either one, two, or several flowers. Each
flower considered apart, consists of two scales, or, rarely, of one
only ; these are, generally, shorter and of a thinner texture than
the Glumes, and are called Palez, a Latin word nearly synonymous
with gluma. Arising from the back of the Glumes and Palez, we
frequently find a peculiar bristle- or hair-like process, denominated
an Awn, an appendage which in some Grasses is of considerable
length: examples of the Awn, on the back of the Palea, may be
seen in the Fox-tail Grasses, Plates IV. to IX., magnified figures
6; and in the Feather Grass, Plate XXII, in which its great ulti-
mate length and condition constitute the most striking feature of
the species.

Within the Palez are the Stamens, the male organs of the
flower ; each of these consists of a slender thread, called the Fila-
ment, bearing a broader, usually oblong, coloured body attached
transversely on its summit—this is the Anther, which, in all the
Grasses, is notched at both ends, and, owing to its attachment by
the middle to the point of the Filament, upon which it turns as on
a pivot, it is said to be versatile.

The number of Stamens contained in each flower is usually three,
but in many of the Grasses of warm climates there are six, or even
a greater number; while in a few instances we find only one or
two. The Sweet-scented Vernal Grass, Plate I., is the only
British species in which all the flowers have constantly only two
Stamens ; though a similar deficiency from the normal number
cecurs among those of certain others, in which some of the flowers
present three Stamens, while others have but two, or, rarely,
one only.

v

The centre of the flower is occupied by the Pistil, the base of
which, a small oblong or rounded body, is termed the Ovary or
Germen, and becomes when ripe the fruit, consisting of a case
ineluding a single seed. The fruit of a Grass, being inseparable
from the seed, is only recognized by the botanist, the term Seed or
Grain being that by which it is generally distinguished. From
the summit of the Ovary extend, in most instances, two slender
processes, the Styles, which usually terminate in more or less
feather-like extremities, the Stigmas.

All the parts above described are illustrated in our magnified
figures, and, in most of the plates, the Glumes are marked by the
‘letter a, the Palez or separate flower by 4, while c represents the
Pistil. The Stigmas of the last are often very beautiful micro-
scopic objects.

Other features are observable, by close investigation, ih the
flowers of many of the Grasses; but, however interesting to the
scientific botanist, as associated with his theories of floral structure,
they are not, at present, available for the purposes of classification,
and consequently of no importance to the general observer, for
whose assistance alone this description is intended. The persevering
student, desirous of extending his acquaintance with the plants
before us, beyond the capability of distinguishing species, cannot
do better than consult, for details not appertaining to our plan,
the “ Vegetable Kingdom ” of Dr. Lindley, article “ Graminacez,”
where the leading views and theories of Grass-structure are quoted
and discussed at a length incompatible with the limits of this
work.

The contents of the Glumes are styled Locustz or Spikelets.
I have adopted the latter term; describing the Spikelets as being
one-, two-, or more- flowered, signifying that so many perfect
flowers will be found within each pair of Glumes. By a perfect
flower is generally understood, one containing Stamens and Pistil ;
but these organs are not always both present within the same

vi

Pale. The deficiency occurs, accidentally, in some flowers of
several British Grasses ; but in many of those belonging to tropical
or warm climates the flowers are constantly unisexual, or bear
Stamens and Pistil separately, the two kinds being in many in-
stances very different in appearance and in relative disposition.
We have a familiar example of this in the Maize or Indian Corn,
in which the male or stamen-bearing flowers are produced in
panicles at the top of the stem, while the female or fruit-bearing
form their large, compact, cylindrical spikes within the bases of the
lower leaves.

In certain Grasses, the Palee eventually become altered in
texture, hardening and contracting around the ripening grain, and
seeming to constitute a portion of its integument; this circum-
stance is occasionally noticed in the descriptions.

Though exhibiting throughout, as above detailed, a marked
uniformity of general structure ; in a group of such vast extent and
universal distribution, occupying every range of temperature from
the most extreme of polar lands to those under the equator, and
from the low ocean-shores of the tropics to the alpine limits of
perpetual frost, individual character may be supposed to vary con-
siderably. In no instance is such difference more strikingly
evinced than in stature. Some of the most diminutive Grasses of
barren and exposed situations in cold countries scarcely exceed an
inch in height, while the most majestic of the tribe belonging to
the torrid zone, the common Bamboo of India, is said sometimes
to attain more than a hundred feet, and the growth of other species
of the same and corresponding lands to reach fifty or sixty feet.
The erect stems of our British Grasses are only of annual, or
rather summer duration ; but those of warmer climates, and espe-
cially of the larger kinds, are often perennial, some even retaiming
this character when cultivated in the English garden. Whatever
may be its size or duration, the Grass-stem is always proportionally

slender in comparison with its elevation above the soil; but it is

vil

strengthened by a copious deposit of silica or flint-earth, lodged in
the cells of its cuticle or skin. The quantity of this substance is
often sufficient to maintain the form of the part to which it ap-
pertains, when all the vegetable matter has been removed by
burning, or otherwise ; a circumstance well known to microscopic
observers, who obtain by so doing beautiful objects for polarization.
The earth in question is elaborated from the soil by the roots of
the plant, being probably retained in its nutritive juices in a fluid
state through its affinity with potash, as a silicate of that alkali.
The hardness of the exterior of the fruit or grain, which in some
instances equals that of agate, as in that of Coiz Lachryma, an
East Indian grass, called from its form and pearly lustre Job’s-
tears, is due to a similar deposit. The silica is frequently lodged
in considerable quantity in the joints or nodes of the stem, con-
tributing greatly to strengthen that of the larger kinds; and in
the Bamboos it often finds its way into the hollows above them,
probably through perforations made by insects, where it consti-
tutes the substance called in Persia and India tabasheer. The
vitrified matter left by the burning of corn and hay-stacks, is due
to this necessary element of grass-composition ; a fact capable of
demonstration by subjecting the ashes of almost any grass-stem to
the action of the blow-pipe, under which globules of glass may be
obtained, varying in hue according to the species employed ; that
from Wheat-straw being colourless, and, if properly managed,
transparent ; while the straw of Barley yields it of a brilliant topaz-
yellow, and that of the Oat of a pale straw-colour ;—the hue, how-
ever, is not, judging from my own experience, to be depended upon,
as I have several times obtained a perfectly colourless globule from
Barley-straw. The result is probably dependent upon accidental
circumstances.

The aggregate value of the Grasses, as affording the principal
food of herbivorous animals, especially of those in the subsistence
of which we are the most interested, is greatly enhanced by the

Vili

application of the seeds of many to the support of mankind ; an
application of such distant origin as to be not only beyond the
earliest annals of our race, but even to figure as a myth in the
traditions which preceded them, and to occasion the practice of agri-
culture, among all the nations of antiquity, to be deduced from
the teachings of a God.

The Cereal Grasses, as the different species so employed are
sometimes termed, more familiarly known collectively as Corn,
constitute but a very small proportion of the thousands included’
in the tribe before us; but their immediate and widely-extended
influence upon human economy, as accompaniments of advancing
civilization in every age and country, renders them of paramount
interest, compared with their smaller-seeded associates formmg
the promiscuous vegetation of the natural pasture. The mythic
origin of their cultivation associates strangely with that of their
own natural history, which still remains untraced from the wild
state, in all the most important species that constitute the staple
food of nations or of races; unless the assertions of M. Esprit
Fabre, of Agde, in regard to that of Wheat, be found, by other
experimentalists, decisive of our staple bread-corn being an altered
form of a Grass hitherto regarded by botanists generically distinct.
Should this fact be substantiated, a new and important field
would be laid open to speculative industry, as to the possible
modification of other wild Grasses; and thus render many, which
are at present useless in the pasture, objects of interest as adapted
for a different and higher sphere of utility. In the mean time,
none of the kinds of Grain, with which we are now familiarly ac-
quainted as objects of cultivation, are recognized beyond its pale,
unless as solitary and temporary productions from seeds of chance
distribution. While other Grasses, whether annual or perennial,
obtain, under a similar dispensation, a permanent local attachment
to the soil upon which they may have intruded, the Wheat, Barley,
Oat, Rye, Maize, &c. are, unless fostered by the management of

1x

man, only the passing tenants of a season. In some of them at
least, neither change of climate nor treatment under cultivation,
during thousands of years, has wrought any important alteration
in general character. Like other Grasses and higher groups of
vegetation, they have, all, their geographical limits, beyond which
even human art cannot force their production ; but, although those
limits are wide, and the natural phenomena they embrace are
varied, the grain matured under the rainless and burning skies of
Egypt, and that of the same species ripened in Northern Europe,
differ no more than varieties which may be reared upon the same
field.

The supposed improvement of the Cereal Grasses, from species
less productive in the natural state, is perfectly consistent with
changes induced by culture on other plants; but it is an important
fact in their history, that the original modifications should have
been results of corresponding ideas and successful experiments,
among peoples whose careers and circumstances were widely dis-
sumilar, and whose efforts were neither simultaneous nor exercised
upon the same objects, though in every instance leading to a
similar consummation—namely, the production of vast and con-
tinuous supplies of vegetable food from sources individually so
insignificant. We may readily understand the early appreciation,
for such purpose, of certain fruits, conspicuous as to size and
abundantly brought forth, as the date, the cocoa, and the fig, or
those of the plantain and banana; similar reasons operated in di-
recting attention to the nutritive character of the more succulent
roots, and the seeds of the various kinds of pulse. But, that race
after race of mankind should have adopted Grass-seeds as its
principal supporting medium, as its main staff of life ; and pursued
their cultivation, until it became a science involving the subsistence
of hundreds of millions, demanding laws for its protection, and
engrossing the paramount consideration of kings and governments,
is one of the most marked characteristics of human progress. By

b

xX

the Caucasian and Mongolian races, the different varieties of Wheat
and Barley have been cultivated from times immemorial, and the
former, especially, has transported them into every country it has
penetrated, where the temperature is neither too high nor too low
for their development ; where the first is the case, Rice and Millet
constitute the vegetable diet of these races, as well as those of the
Negro and Malay. The Maize, or Indian-corn, although long
since introduced by European commerce into various parts of the
eastern continent, was unknown by us until the discovery of
America, where, like the Wheat and Barley, it was only met with
under cultivation, and distributed along a line which tradition has
recorded as the tract of the Toltecs; a tribe probably of Asiatic
origin, that, migrating from the north-west to the table-land of
Mexico, and penetrating far into the southern peninsula, laid the
foundation of regular government, and the advanced state of
civilization found by the Spaniards on their arrival at the countries
in question. .

The agricultural associations of all these kinds of Corn, as af-
fected by climate and other circumstances, are among the most
important facts appertaining to the history of the tribe of plants
before us. The necessary limits of this introduction will not ad-
mit of details; but a few short extracts from Schouw, a Danish
writer on the geographical distribution of plants, as published some
years back in Jameson’s Edinburgh Journal, will furnish sufficient
information on the point in question to satisfy the general reader :—

Within the northern polar circle, agriculture is only found in
afew places. In Siberia, grain reaches at the utmost only to the
latitude of 60°; in the eastern parts, scarcely above 55°; and in
Kamtschatka there is no agriculture. Only in Europe, namely in
Lapland, does the polar limit of agriculture reach an unusually
high latitude, 70°. The grains which extend farthest to the north
of Europe are Barley and Oats. These, which in the milder cli-
mates are not used for bread, afford to the inhabitants of the

xi

northern ‘parts of Norway and Sweden, of a part of Siberia and
Scotland, their chief vegetable nourishment.

“Rye is the next grain which becomes associated with these.
This is the prevailing corn in a great part of the northern tem-
perate zone, namely, in the south of Sweden and Norway, Denmark,
and in all the lands bordering on the Baltic, the north of Germany,
and part of Siberia. In the latter another very nutritious grain
(not a grass), Buckwheat, is very frequently cultivated. In the zone
where Rye prevails, Wheat is also generally to be found, Barley
being here chiefly cultivated for the manufacture of beer, and Oats
supplying food for horses.

“To these there follows a zone in Europe and Western Asia,
where Rye lessens, or disappears, and Wheat almost exclusively
furnishes bread. The middle and south of France, England, part
of Scotland, a part of Germany, Hungary, the Crimea, and Cau-
casus, as also the lands of Central Asia where agriculture is followed,
belong to this zone. Here the vine is also found (that is, on the
continent) ; wine supplants the use of beer, and Barley is conse-
quently less raised. .

“Next comes a district where Wheat still abounds, but no
longer exclusively furnishes bread; Rice and Maize becoming
frequent. To this zone belong Portugal, Spain, part of France on
the Mediterranean, Italy, and Greece; further, the countries of
the East, Persia, Northern India, Arabia, Egypt, Nubia, Barbary,
and the Canary Islands; in these latter countries, however, the
culture of Maize or Rice, towards the south, is always more con-
siderable; and in some of them several kinds of Sorghum (Indian
and African Millet), and Poa Abyssinica, come to be added. In
both these regions of Wheat, Rye only occurs at considerable ele-
vations ; Oats, however, more seldom, and at last entirely disappear ;
Barley affording food for horses and mules.

«Tn the eastern parts of the temperate zone of the old continent,
in China, and Japan, our northern kinds of grain are very unfre-

52

xi

quent, and Rice is found to predominate. The cause of this differ--
ence between the east and the west of the old continent appears to be
in the manners and peculiarities of the people. In North America
Wheat and Rye are grown as in Europe, but more sparingly.
Maize is more reared in the western than in the old world; and
Rice predominates in the southern provinces of the United States.

“Tn the torrid zone, Maize predominates in America, Rice in
Asia, and both these grains in nearly equal quantity in Africa.
The cause of this distribution is, without doubt, historical ; for
Asia is the native eountry of Rice, and America of Maize. In some
situations, especially in the neighbourhood of the tropics, Wheat
is also met with, but always subordinate to other kinds of grain.

“Tn respect of the predominating kinds of grain, the earth may
be divided into five grand divisions or kingdoms :—the kingdom of
Rice, of Maize, of Wheat, of Rye, and lastly, of Barley and Oats.
The first three are the most extensive: the Maize has the greatest
range of temperature, but Rice may be considered as supporting
the largest number of the human race.”

With a single positively determined exception in the Lolium
temulentum or Bearded Darnel Grass, and a few other alleged, but
scarcely substantiated stances of deleterious character, the seeds of
the Grasses are wholesome, and vary only in degree as to their nutri-
tive qualities: hence the original selection of the kinds cultivated as
Corn seems rather to have been a consequence of the larger size of
the grain, and experience of its palatability and ready conversion
into meal, than of necessity. In agreement with this view, many
other Grasses have acquired local or occasional value in cultivation,
owing to the abundance in which their small seeds are matured,
and the facility of their growth and collection. Among these are
some species of Panicum and Setaria, especially Panicum miliaceum,
and Setaria Italica and Germanica, the seeds of which are used as
Millet in the south of Europe. In certain districts in the East

Indies, and in Africa, other kinds are occasionally met with under

xi

culture, but only to a very trifling extent compared with the ordi-
nary and familiar species of Corn. In the wild state, Zizania
aquatica, the Canada Rice, Wild Rice, or Tuscarora Grain, is an im-
portant species of Grass, bearing large seeds adapted for food: it
grows abundantly in the shallow streams, lakes and pools of North
America, where the seeds are collected and used as Corn by the
wandering Indian tribes of the north-west part of the continent,
and furnish subsistence, in their season, to the countless flocks of
wild geese, swans, and other water-fowl frequenting that region.
Sir Joseph Banks introduced this Grass into England in 1793,
and experiments were made upon its cultivation in Middlesex,
Ross-shire, and some other parts of the kingdom, under the idea
_ that it might prove useful as a crop in situations not adapted for
rearing more valuable produce. But, though found to grow and
ripen its seeds freely on the borders of our rivers, brooks, and ,
ponds, no economical result has yet ensued, notwithstanding the
prediction announced by Pinkerton nearly a century ago, that it
seemed destined by Nature to become the bread-corn of the North.

In certain districts of India and Africa, other Grasses are occa-
sionally seen under cultivation, but to a very trifling extent com-
pared with the more familiar species and kinds of Corn.

One: remarkable circumstance appertaining to the history of the
Cereals is that all of them are annuals; and that, however valuable
the foliage of many of the perennial Grasses may be for the main-
tenance of our flocks and herds, not any of them appear to have
been cultivated, from the most distant periods down to the present
time, with the view of employing their seeds as human food.
Those of the common Feather Grass, Stipa pennata, are however
said to yield a flour as palatable, and otherwise nearly resembling
that of Rice ; while chemical analysis shows those of several other
species, belonging to the mixed vegetation of our fields and pastures,
equal in nutritive contents to European Grain generally, Wheat
alone excepted. The comparatively small size of the seeds has

x1Vv

been, probably, less the cause of this neglect than ethnological and
agricultural prejudices in favour of the species first selected or
introduced.

Next to the surpassing value of Grass foliage and seeds in the
mass as food, the production of Sugar is no unimportant feature
in our economical estimation of these plants. This substance, of
which, according to computation founded upon the quantity annu-
ally imported for home use in this country, every individual among
our vast population consumes about a quarter of a hundredweight
yearly, though chiefly prepared from a single species, Saccharum
officinale, exists in variable proportion in most Grasses; a fact
readily perceptible by the taste, on masticating the joints of their
stems, in which parts it is usually present in greater abundance
than elsewhere, though occasionally constituting a very marked
proportion of the substance of ripened Grain. In that of Barley
especially, it equals seven or eight per cent. Notwithstanding
these circumstances, however, as Sugar ranks, im combination
with other proximate principles, as a nutritive matter belonging
to vegetation collectively ; apart from the cultivation of the above-
mentioned species of Saccharum, and that of three or four other
Grasses of warm climates, for the purpose of obtaining it in large
quantities for economical use, its presence is not to be regarded as
forming an essential characteristic of the Grass tribe.

The species of Saccharum are numerous, amounting to between
thirty and forty, as described by botanists from different parts of
the world, though our present rules for generic distinction are too
artificial and arbitrary to admit of this estimation of their number
being considered determinate. Cultivation has not hitherto been
extended to more than four or five members of the genus, near
allies, if not indeed mere accidental varieties of the common Sugar
Cane, all of which are indigenous to India or China, though, as
tropical Grasses, other species are found in the West Indies, South
America, Africa, and the islands of the Pacific Occan.

XV

The stems of the’ Sugar Cane present an exception, though far
from being a solitary one, to the general character of the Grass
stem, in not being fistular or hollow between the joints; a circum-
stance to which the abundance of juice yielded by them under pres-
sure is chiefly due. This juice contains the Sugar, which is brought
into a crystallizable state by boiling it with quick-lime to neutralize
the oxalic and other vegetable acids associated in its composition.
The interest attaching to a Grass-product that has now for more than
two hundred years constituted an essential ingredient in the diet
of all classes of the European race, in every part of the world over
which it has extended, renders a glance at its history a necessary
item in our general review of the extensive family of plants before
us, however brief and limited the plan of our Introduction.

Neither record nor tradition affords any evidence concerning the
period at which the cultivation of this important Grass was com-
menced, nor of the people among whom it was first practised. To
the more ancient civilized nations of Europe, sugar seems to have
been long unknown, honey supplying its place as food and condi-
ment; and, when in later times, as commercial intercourse with
the peoples of the East became extended, it reached them in small
quantities, it was only employed as a costly medicinal agent to
moisten the mouth in fevers, under the name of Indian Salt.
Indeed, it was not until about the tenth century of the Christian
era that its supply became sufficiently plentiful to supersede honey
in the practice of physic, to which it was, during four or five cen-
turies afterwards, almost exclusively confined, unless in those parts
of Europe bordering upon the Mediterranean.

The Indian, or rather Sanscrit, name Sarkara, rendered by the
Arabs, through whom it probably first reached our continent,
Sukhir or Soukar, is little altered by its transference into the lan-
guages of modern Europe. In the times of the early Crusades the
Sugar Cane grew in Syria ; whence its cultivation was successively
introduced into Italy, Spain, and the islands of the Mediterranean,

Xxvl

and afterwards into the Canaries and Madeiras, eventually being
extended by the Portuguese to their settlements in Brazil, and by
the Spaniards to the islands of the West Indies. The first English
plantations were made in Barbadoes in 1643, and the year follow-
ing in Jamaica. These parts of the western hemisphere, aided to
some extent by corresponding importations from the east, now
furnish the principal supplies of this useful article to the European
markets ; having almost entirely superseded the former cultivation
of the reed in this quarter of the globe, although it is still planted
and manufactured on a limited scale in some of the southern
provinces of Spain; while in France the use of Beet-sugar, at
first as the result of necessity during the long war and blockade
of her ports, and since under the protection of the laws, has nearly
supplanted the importation of that from the cane.

There cannot be any question as to the fact, that the production
of Sugar from many other Grasses of large size and succulent
character might be economically pursued. But in this respect, as
in regard to the several kinds of Grain, habit and long experience
have induced a predilection in favour of the Saccharum ; while
successive improvements in agricultural management and manu-
facture have placed it, as a producing medium, far in advance of
those species which, under corresponding circumstances, might
have been its successful competitors. The quantity of Sugar con-
tained in the stems of the American Maize is so considerable, for
instance, that its cultivation has been recommended as a substi-
tute for that of the Sugar Cane, in climates unsuited to the growth
of the latter. The very simple process by which the article in
question is obtained from the sap of the Acer saccharinum or Sugar
Maple, growing in the forests of Canada and the United States,
added to the facility of importation and sufficiently low price of
that of the West Indies and other parts, has hitherto prevented
the experiment from being instituted on a scale of sufficient extent
to render success determinate. ,

xvil

Medical opinion differs greatly in regard to the beneficial effect
of Sugar as an article of food; many practitioners considering it
highly deleterious, especially to persons of dyspeptic habit, on ac-
count of its tendency to generate acid in the stomach. That it
fulfils, however, an important part in the nourishment of the
higher animals which subsist, either wholly or partially, on vege-
table substance, seems evinced by the natural fondness they exhibit
for plants in which it abounds. The destruction of our growing
seeds by birds is a consequence of their sweetness, one of the
necessary results of germinution ; while the most nutritious Grasses,
and those best appreciated by grazing animals, are all among the
kinds which contain Sugar in the largest proportion. The enor-
mous consumption of fresh Sugar-cane by the negroes and natives
of the countries in which it is cultivated, and its effects upon the
former during the cane harvest, when, in many places, they
scarcely take any other kind of food, afford incontrovertible evi-
dence of the value of this vegetable production ; especially when
used in combination with the gluten and other proximate principles
that it accompanies in the juices of the plant, which is both masti-
cated in the raw state and eaten boiled as a culinary preparation.

Apart from the utility of the Grasses as hitherto observed upon,
their importance in the economy of Nature, as constituting a large
proportion of the general vegetation in all countries, must not be
overlooked. This proportion varies greatly in regard to the num-
ber of species, according to climate, presenting its highest grade in
polar lands and descending as we advance towards the tropics.
Thus the Grasses form nearly one-fifth of the scanty flora of
Melville Island, in latitude 74° 46! N., while within the torrid
zone they scarcely average more than one-fifteenth.

The verdant covering of our earth’s surface is associated with too
many circumstances necessary to animal existence, independent of
the food it furnishes, to admit of detail in this short treatise, in-
fluencing as it does, under its numerous modifications of forest,

c

xViil

heath, mead, and jungle, the condition of the atmosphere, the
moisture, dryness, and even the temperature of climates; but,
glancing at the subject only on the broad scale, the Grasses occupy
a paramount position among their kindred forms. Owing to the
social habit of growth of many kinds, they frequently cover the
land to the almost total exclusion of other plants; immense tracts
of country in both hemispheres, and in every zone of vegetation,
presenting them alone as their grand characteristic feature. Even
where apparently their-absolute dominion is superseded, their slender
stems and leaves are still seen, occupying every available opening
between the broader masses of foliage, the exuberance of which
seems to threaten annihilation to the bold intruder. The Grasses
are indeed deserving of the title fancifully bestowed upon them by
the great Swedish naturalist—they are the true plebeians of the
vegetable kingdom, and may be said to constitute the broad under-
stratum of its vast society of flowermg plants; not as species,
numerous as these may be, but in their countless myriads of indi-
viduals, and their extensive range of habitat from the equator to
the poles—from the scorching sea-borders of tropical lands to the
highest alpine limit of enduring frost. So circumstanced, in the
plan of utilitarian Nature their influence has no more circum-
scribed bound than their distribution, nor is it less varied,—a fact
which will be sufficiently exemplified in the following short history
of British genera and species.

Tn describing some of the species, the term viviparous occasionally
occurs, applied to certain variations of structure to which they are
liable ; and, although explained in the Glossary, the peculiarity it
denotes is an adaptation so curious and striking to the ordinary
observer, as to require a few general remarks in elucidation. A
Grass is said to be viviparous, or producing alive, when, in place of
flowers and seeds, it bears small leafy buds, which eventually drop
off, and, rooting where they fall, produce young plants. The ap-
pearance of the Grass, in this case, is so much altered from its

xix

normal or accustomed form, that, by an observer not familiar with
the modification in question, it would possibly be mistaken for a
different species. The flowering stems shoot up, terminating in
the spiked or panicled form characteristic of their kind ; but, as
the glumes open, the deficiency of the floral structure quickly
becomes apparent. The pales and stamens do not develope, though
their rudiments may be present and, often, easily traceable ; indeed
those of the former are generally so, but so different in character
from the corresponding organs in a seed-bearing plant as scarcely
to be recognized. From the place of the pistil extends a little
- green leaf, from the sheathing base of which a second soon comes
forth, like a Grass growing from its seed, excepting that the little
plant thus produced is stronger and more rigid than those of seed-
ling growth. Regarded in a physiological point of view, there is
not anything to excite our surprise at a result so contrary to that
of the flowering process, by which the species is multiplied under
ordinary circumstances. Every flower is, strictly speaking, merely
a condensed branch or stem, and each of its parts or organs a mo-
dified leaf, liable to develope as a common leaf when unrestricted
by the peculiar conditions which compel it to assume a different
form. Garden cultivation affords numerous instances of this
liability to floral metamorphosis, every double flower decorating
our parterres being an illustration of the passage of one set of
organs into another. Our double roses are frequently disfigured,
in the estimation of the florist, by presenting a green leafy centre,
the result of an imperfect modification of the leaves which in the
natural state of the flower would compose its pistils. I have suc-
ceeded in raising a rose-bush by planting such a production,
which was truly only planting the terminal bud of a branch: the
viviparous multiplication of a Grass is a parallel process in organic
development.

It is, then, only the capability of our Grass to adapt itself to cir-
cumstances that is deserving of remark,—the wonderful plasticity of

c2

XX

living structure, and its power of adjusting the forces which life
generates within it to the end required, that ought to challenge our
admiration. We might search in vain the rich meadow, the level
common, the moist hedge-bank or the wood for any instance of
the kind. It is only on the dry and elevated rocky pasture, the table-
land and the mountain-side, swept by bleak winds, that derange
and interrupt the necessary functions of the delicate floral organs
conducive to the production of seed, or where the short duration
of summer heat is insufficient for ripening the latter, and after-
wards of maturing the young plants to a degree of strength suf-
ficient to enable them to withstand the enduring cold of regions so
circumstanced, that Grasses assume the viviparous habit. This
habit either involves or depends upon certain constitutional
changes, and, being so, is maintained indefinitely, by the Grass
and its offspring, in situations widely differing from those in
which it was first acquired.

One: or two examples of viviparous species will be found among
our figures of British Grasses, and are given with the view, not
only of illustrating this occasional peculiarity in those of alpine
growth, but also of rendering its recognition in other species more
familiar to the eye of the student by comparison with those now
placed before him.

The detail of other circumstances connected with the history of
the Grasses, but less general in their application to them as a tribe,
would lengthen our Introduction to an extent disproportioned to
that of the work; the reader is therefore referred, for further in-
formation on this head, to the descriptions of those families and
species to which they are more immediately applicable.

To the adept and to the student of botanical science, the ab-
sence of obvious classification in the disposition of our figures and
descriptions may appear a defect, and the propriety of such omis-

XX1

sion was a subject of no little consideration on the part of the au-
thor ; but, himself unsatisfied with any existing systems of arrange-
ment, which are all so artificial and uncertain that scarcely any
two, among the more intelligent class of writers, seem agreed as to
the limits of groups or the allotment of genera, it was determined
to avoid interruption to the series of the latter in the body of the
work, and rectify such omission by a tabular arrangement of them
in the Introduction. The decision may, on the one hand, have its
disadvantages; but, on the other, it has tended to render the
book less fearfully technical than it would have been, had the con-
tinuity of the subject been disturbed by sectional paragraphs in
italics, which, however useful to the persevering student, contri-
bute much to perplex and even disgust the uninitiated reader.

The attempts to classify the Grasses, by associating the genera in
‘ natural groups, have been numerous; and some of the highest
names in the annals of natural science are guarantees for the in-
genuity and judgment exercised on the systems to which they have
given existence. That of Endlicher may eventually become the
basis of one less exceptionable than it is itself at present. Under
it, the British Grasses, wild and cultivated, are distributed in the
following tribes, the leading characters of which are given, followed
by the names of the genera appertaining toeach, Such characters
will be more easily understood by reference to the magnified

figures of the flowers on our Plates.

Tribe 1. Onyzem. Rice family.
Spikelets laterally compressed, one-flowered, Glumes absent.

Palez two, enclosing, but not adhering to, the ripe fruit. Stamens

three or six.
Leersia.

In Oryza itself, the Rice-plant, there are two glumes to the
spikelet and the stamens are always six. Zizania and others

furnish valuable farinaceous food in their seeds.

XXL
Tribe 2. Poatarew. Canary Grass family.
Spikelets laterally compressed, with one perfect flower, and,
frequently, one or even two others which are either male only or

rudimentary. Glumes two, generally nearly equal. Pale often
glossy and hardening over the fruit. Styles or stigmas elongated.

Phalaris. Anthoxanthum.
Knappia. Hierochloé.
Phleum. Alopecurus.
Holcus.

Some of our most common and most nutritious pasture Grasses
belong to this tribe.

Tribe 3. Panicem. Millet family.

Spikelets more or less dorsally compressed, with one perfect
flower and, generally, the rudiment of a second. Glumes thinner
than the pale, the lower one smaller, both occasionally abortive.
Pale of a leathery or paper-like texture, usually awnless, the lower
one concave.

Milium. Echinochloa.
Digitaria. Setaria.

Several species are cultivated in other countries on account of

their farinaceous seeds; but, with the exception of Milium, the

British species are of rare occurrence and unimportant.

Tribe 4. Svipzrm, Feather Grass family.

Spikelets not compressed, one-flowered. Glumes nearly equal,
membranaceous. Lower palea rolled inwards, awned at the apex,
becoming indurated around the fruit in maturity. Awn simple or
trifid, usually twisted, articulated at the base. Ovary stalked.

Stipa.

The seeds of some of these Grasses rival those of Rice in uutri-
tive value ; but the most conspicuous member of the tribe is Stipa
pennata,

Xxill

Tribe 5. Acrostez. Bent Grass family.

Spikelets one-flowered, rarely having the rudiment of a second
flower above. Glumes and pale membranaceous; the lower palea
usually awned. Stigmas generally sessile.

Agrostis. Gastridium.
Apera. Polypogon.

The typical genus is an important one on account of its extent

and wide distribution, but they are not valuable meadow Grasses

in the aggregate.

Tribe 6. AnunpiNEx. Reed family.

Spikelets either one-flowered or many-flowered. Flowers gene-
rally surrounded at the base by, or invested with, long soft hairs.
Glumes and paleze membranaceous; the former usually as long or
longer than the flowers. Lower palea often awned.

Phragmites. Calamagrostis.
Ammophila. Deyeuxia.

Generally tall, coarse Grasses of no agricultural value, but of

great importance in the economy of Nature as colonizers.

Tribe 7. Cotorex. Cord Grass family.

Spikelets laterally compresséd, one- or more-flowered ; collected
into unilateral spikes. Glumes and palee membranaceous; the
latter sometimes awned; the former permanent on the rachis,
and the anterior one inserted higher up than the other. Spikes
digitate or panicled, rarely solitary. Rachis continuous, not
jointed.

Cynodon. Spartina.

The British species are only of local occurrence ; their habit is

that of colonizers. The greater portion of the tribe consists of

annual Grasses belonging to warm climates.

XXIV
Tribe 8. AVENER. Oat family.
Spikelets two- or more-flowered ; the terminal flower generally

incomplete. Glumes and pale membranaceous. Lower palea

mostly awned; the awn usually dorsal and twisted.

Aira. Avena.
Corynephorus. Trisetum.
Lagurus. Arrhenatherum.

A valuable tribe as containing the cultivated Oats; but the
British species are mostly hard, wiry Grasses, disliked by cattle,

and apparently containing little nutriment.

Tribe 9. Festucex. Meadow Grass family.
Spikelets many-flowered, rarely few-flowered. Glumes and
paleze membranaceous, rarely coriaceous ; the lower palea generally
awned, the awn not twisted. Inflorescence usually paniculate.

Sesleria. Briza.
Triodia. Catabrosa.
Keeleria. Cynosurus.
Melica. Dactylis
Molinia. Festuca.
Poa. Bromus.
Glyceria. Serrafalcus.
Sclerochloa.

The Grasses of this extensive tribe constitute a large proportion
of the herbage of our meadows. They vary greatly in their nu-
tritive properties ; but many species of Poa and Festuca are among
the most valuable belonging to northern climates.

Tribe 10. Horpem. Corn family.
Spikelets one- or two- to many-flowered; the terminal flower
incomplete. Glumes and paler herbaceous; the former occa-
sionally deficient. Stigmas sessile. Ovary mostly hairy. In-

florescence spicate ; spike simple, solitary; rachis rarely jointed.

xXXV

Brachypodium. Secale.
Lolium. Elymus.
Triticum. Hordeum.
Agropyrum. AXigilops.

This tribe contains most of our Cereals or Corn Grasses.

Tribe 11. Rorrsorizxz. Hard Grass family.

Inflorescence spicate; the rachis in most instances jointed. Spike-
lets one- or two-flowered, lodged in hollows of the rachis; either
solitary or in pairs, one being stalked. One of the flowers, where
there are two, is generally incomplete or only rudimentary. Glumes
one or two, or wanting altogether ; usually coriaceous. Paleze

membranaceous, rarely awned. :

Nardus. , Lepturus.
Coarse grasses, containing little nutritive matter, and hence useless

in agriculture. The British species are insignificant.

The following synopsis of the genera, however exceptional it neces-
sarily is in many instances, will assist in rendering the student’s
reference to description and figures more immediate and decisive,
and greatly abridge the labour of comparison in detail. A small
pocket lens, and a needle, or pointed penknife, are the only positive
requirements for tracing the structure of a grass flower. The latter,
it should be observed, is generally in the most favourable condition
for examination immediately before the extension of the stamens; and
a very little practice, commencing with some of the larger-flowered

species, will remove all apparent difficulty in manipulation.
* Inflorescence spicate. Spikelets one-flowered.

Sptkelets wnilateral.

2. Nardus. — Without glumes. One stigma.
46. Knappia—With two opposite glumes. Pale hairy, erose.

Two stigmas.

11.

40.

45.

24.

25.

27,

XXVI

Spikelets imbricated round the rachas.

. Anthoxanthum.—Flowers diandrous; with two awned outer palez,

one on each side of the flower.

Alopecurus. | —Flower with a single palea, awned from the base.

. Phalaris. —Flower with a palea-like scale on each side

below, the presumed representatives of two
others, asin Anthowanthum ; but distinguished
from that genus by being triandrous.

P. arundinacea has a loosely panicled inflo-
rescence.

Ammophila. | —Flower with silky hairs at the base.

. Phieum. —The inflorescence resembles that of Alopecurus;

but the glumes are bristle-pointed, and the
palese two and awnless.

. Lagurus. —Glumes fringed and hair-pointed. Outer palea

with two terminal hairs, and a long dorsal awn.
Stipa. —Spikelets few, distant. Outer palea investing
the ripe fruit, and terminating in a long,

twisted, and knee-bent feathered awn.

Spikelets alternate on opposite sides of the rachis.

Hordeum. —Spikelets three together on alternate sides of the
notched and jointed rachis. Outer palea
awned, investing the ripe fruit.

Lepturus. —Spikelets solitary, imbedded in the rachis, which

separates at the joints. Glumes two, collateral.

** Inflorescence spicate. Spikelets two- to many-flowered.

Koeleria. —Spike rounded, interrupted below. Glumes
shorter than the flowers.

Sesleria. —Spike rounded, compact. Glumes as long as
the flowers.

Setaria. —Spike cylindrical. Spikelets surrounded by

rough bristles.

34,

39.

Al.

42,

43.

44,

Cynosurus.
Elymus.

Secale.

Triticum.
Brachypodium.

Lolium.

XXvii

—Spike umilateral. Spikelets with pectinated
bracts at the base.

—Spikelets in pairs on a toothed rachis. Glumes
two, collateral.

—Spikelets solitary, parallel to the rachis, with
two fertile flowers, and a middle rudimentary
one. Glumes opposite, subulate. The narrow
glumes and central barren flower distinguish
this from the nearly allied genus Triticum.

—Spikelets solitary, parallel to the rachis, usually
three- to many-flowered. Glumes opposite.

—Spikelets many-flowered, solitary, subcylindrical,
parallel to the rachis. Glumes unequal.

—Spikelets many-flowered, compressed, at right
angles to the rachis. Glume solitary, external ;

a small one occasionally present on the inner
side of the spikelet.

35. Festuca lolcacea much resembles Loliwm.

* * * Inflorescence paniculate. Panicle compact, or somewhat spicate.

1.
10.

11.

12.

17.
26.

28.
29.
35.

Anthoxanthum.

Gastridium.

Stipa.

Polypogon.

Aira preecom.

Panicum.

—Spikelets one-flowered. Flower diandrous.

—Glumes ventricose at the base, not awned.
Spikelets one-flowered.

—Spikelets one-flowered, few, distant. Outer
palea investing the ripe fruit, and terminating
in a very long, twisted, knee-bent, feathery awn.

—Spikelets one-flowered. Glumes bifid at the
apex, with long terminal awns. ;

—For generic character see the following section.

—Spikelets two-flowered; the lower imperfect,

triandrous or neuter. Lower glume small.

Poa, some species.
Sclerochloa, some species. See the following section.

Festuca, some species.

d 2

15.

28.

16.
17.

18.

19.

20.

XXVIil

* x * * Inflorescence paniculate. Panicle lax.

. Leersia.

. Milium.
. Calamagrostis.

. Agrostis.

Apera.

Melica uniflora.

Catabrosa.
Aira.
Corynephorus.
Molinia.

Melica.

. Holcus.

,

Spikelets one-flowered.

—Spikelets without glumes.

. Phalaris arwndinacea.—Flower with one or two small hairy scales

below the palez.

—Spikelets flat, or dorsally compressed. Glumes
nearly equal.

—Spikelets laterally compressed. Flower sur-
rounded by long hairs at the base.

—Spikelets laterally compressed. Flower naked
or slightly hairy at the base. Upper glume
smaller. .A. canina has only a single palea to
the flower.

—like Agrostis, but with the lower glume smaller,

and a long subterminal awn to the outer palea.

Sprkelets two- or more-flowered.

—Glumes and palez broad, truncate, awnless.

—Glumes acute. Palew bifid; the lower one
with a dorsal, twisted awn. Very near Avena,
but with smaller two-flowered spikelets.

—Like Aira, but the awn is clavate or thickened
at the upper part.

—Glumes acute, shorter than the flowers. Palez
entire, awnless.

~—Glumes equal to the flowers in length. Palezx
entire, awnless. A remarkable club-shaped
appendage below the flowers, and within the
glumes, represents a second or third flower.

—-Spikelets two-flowered. Upper flower stameni-

ferous only, awned; lower one perfect, usually
awnless.

22.

23.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

35.

36.

37.

Xxix

Arrhenatherum.—Upper flower perfect, with a short awn; lower

Hierochloe.

Poa.

Sclerochloa.

Glyceria.

Triodia.

Briza.

Dactylis.

Festuca.

Bromus.

Avena,

one stameniferous only, with a long twisted,
knee-bent awn.

—WMiddle flower perfect, usually diandrous; two
lateral ones stameniferous only, triandrous.
—Spikelets awnless, ovate, mostly several-flowered.
Glumes and paleze more or less obtuse. Outer

palea compressed, three- or five-veined.

—Flowers articulated with the rachis. Glumes
shorter than the flowers. Outer palea five-
veined, cylindrical below.

—Flowers articulated with the rachis. Spikelets
linear or sub-cylindrical. Outer palea seven-
veined.

—Glumes nearly equal in length to the flowers.
Outer palea three-toothed at the apex, rounded
on the back.

—Spikelets much compressed, deltoid, or cordate.
Glumes shorter than the flowers. Outer
palea obtuse, boat-shaped.

—Spikelets in dense, round-topped clusters at the
end of the branches of the panicle. Lower
palea with a short awn.

—Glumes and palex narrowing into a sharp point
or terminal awn. Styles terminating the
ovary.

—Outer palea awned below the notched or bifid
apex. Styles from below the summit of the
ovary.

—Palez bifid, or with two points at the apex;
lower one with a long knee-bent and twisted
dorsal awn. A. flavescens much resembles
Aira, but the spikelets are usually three- or

more-flowered.

XXX

38. Phragmites. | —Flowers awnless, with silky hairs at the base;
lower one of each spikelet imperfect.

* * * * * Tnflorescence of two or more unilateral spikes on the same

culm.

47. Spartina. —Spikes two or three, erect. Spikelets single-
flowered, in two rows. Style divided above.
Stigmas elongated.

48. Cynodon. Spikes spreading, digitate. Spikelets sessile,
in a single row. Styles two. Stigmas short.

49. Digitaria. —Spikes spreading. Spikelets pedicellated in
pairs. Styles two. Stigmas short.

The above definitions must not be regarded as having other than mere
general application, but, conjoined to a careful comparison of specimens
with the more extended generic characters as given in the text and
corresponding figures, will be found useful.

Since the publication of the earlier numbers of this monograph, my
remark, that Anthoxanthum is the only native grass the flowers of
which are constantly diandrous, has been a subject of private comment
on the part of some of our botanical subscribers, who consider it
erroneous, directing especial attention to Bromus dvandrus and
Hierochloe borealis. In the first of these, a third stamen is, perhaps,
more frequently present than the contrary ; while the only wild speci-
men of the latter that ever came under my examination, had several
of the central flowers of the spikelets, in this respect, corresponding
to the lateral ones; and in garden examples the triandrous structure
is almost as frequent as the diandrous. Such is not the case with the
flowers of Anthoxanthum. The botanical student may learn from
these facts not to over-value characters the permanence of which
alone can confer upon them any real significance, a principle that it

has been sought to illustrate, on the broad scale, throughout the
volume now laid before him.

XXXi

GLOSSARY OF BOTANICAL TERMS,
Occurring in the Descriptions of the Grasses.

AcUMINATE, narrowing to a point.

Anther, the tip of a stamen.

Apiculus, a short point springing
from an abrupt termination.

Adpressed,) lying against any part

Appressed, i or organ.

Articulated, jointed with, and easily
separating from.

Ascending, curving from the base
upwards.

Awn, a stiff bristle like process
springing from a glume or palea.

Bifid, cut at the summit into two
parts.

Bractea, a leaf or scale at the base of
a flower.

Carinate, keel-like.

Caryopsis, the fruit of a grass.

Ciliated, fringed with hairs like the
eyelids,

Clavate, club-shaped, thicker above
than below.

Convolute, rolled inward from one
margin.

Coriaceous, having a tough or leathery
texture.

Culm, the straw or stem of a grass.

Cymbiform, boat-shaped

Decumbent, lying along the ground
below, ascending at the extremity.

Deflexed, bent downwards.

Deltoid, triangular, or resembling the
Greek delta.

Diandrous, two stamens in a flower.

Digitate, resembling fingers.

Distichous, in two rows, or arranged
on two piped sides.

Dorsal, attached to the back.

Erose, irregularly torn.

Filament, the thread-like part of a
stamen bearing the anther.

Fusiform, spindle-shaped, narrowed
at both extremities.

Gibbous, swollen.

Glaucous, sea-green, covered with a
whitish powder or bloom.

Glume, the outer scales of a spikelet
are so termed.

Hexandrous, six stamens in a flower.
Hispid, rough with hairs.

Imbricated, overlying like tiles on a
roof.

Involucre, applied to two or more
leaves or scales around the base of
flowers,

Involute, rolled inward from opposite
margins.

Ligule, a membranaceous expansion
at the base of a grass leaf.

Monandrous, having only one stamen
in a flower.

Mucro, a stiff point or short bristle
from an abrupt termination.

Mucronate, bearing a mucro.

Ovary, the base of a pistil, becoming
the fruit.

Palea, the inner scales or covering of
a grass flower, of which there are
usually two.

Panicle, applied to a loose and
branched form of inflorescence, as
in the Oat.

Papillose, having granular or pimple-
like projections from the surface.
Patent, spreading more or less widely.
Pedicel, a stalk supporting a single

flower.

Peduncle, a stalk supporting two or
more flowers; its branches are

pedicels.

XXxil

Pistil, the central organ of a flower,
the ovary or base of which becomes
the fruit.

Racemose, a form of inflorescence

resembling a bunch of currants or’

hare-bells.
Rachis, the part of a peduncle on
which the flowers are borne.

Scarious, membranaceous, shrivelled,
dry.

Scion, a young shoot, sometimes
creeping, or spreading along the
ground.

Serrated, having teeth like a saw.

Sessile, being without a stalk, literally
sitting.

Seta, a bristle, or stiff hair.

Setaceous, bristle-like.

Spicate, having a compact form of
flowering like an ear of corn.

Spike, an elongated inflorescence with
sessile flowers.

Spikelet, one of the small clusters
composing the inflorescence of a
grass, usually included by the
glumes; it may be one-, two-, or
more-flowered,

Stamen, the male organ of a flower,
consisting of filament and anther.

Stigma, the apex of a style, or when
the latter is absent of the ovary;
in the grasses the stigma is usually
plumose or feather-like.

Stoloniferous, having stolones, or
creeping shoots.

Style, a thread. or wire-like termina-
tion of the ovary, bearing the

stigma.

Triandrous, three stamens in a flower,
as in most of the grasses.
Truncate, terminating abruptly.

Umbel, an inflorescence in which
several main flower-stalks spring
from the same point.

Umbellate, arranged in an umbel.

Unisexual, flowers are so when bear-
ing stamens only, or pistils only.

Verticillate, arranged in a circle, or
radiating in all directions.

Viviparous, producing leaf buds that
drop off and vegetate.

Whorl, where stalks, or other organs,
are arranged like the spokes of a
wheel.

Whorled, the same as verticillate.

GRASSES

OF

GREAT BRITAIN.

Genus 1. ANTHOXANTHUM. Vernal Grass.

Generic Coaracter. Inflorescence more or less compact. Spike-
lets with two unequal glumes, three-flowered ; the middle flower
perfect, with two stamens and two small awnless palez ; the two
lateral ones rudimentary, each consisting of a single awned

palea.

The three-flowered character of the spikelets in this genus is not
very evident, as the scales, representing individually the two
lateral flowers, would probably appear to the unscientific observer
as outer appendages of the central one. The latter was, indeed,
described by botanists of a comparatively late date as having a
double corolla. The modern reading of the inflorescence is un-
doubtedly correct, but it is apt to mislead the uninitiated.

The genus is a small one, and only a single species is indigenous
to the British Islands. The name, from the Greek anthos, a flower,
and zanthos, yellow, was adopted in reference to the yellowish hue
of the inflorescence compared with that of other Kuropean grasses.

ANTHOXANTHUM ODORATUM. Sweet-scented Vernal Grass. Puate IT.

Inflorescence spike-like, ovate-oblong, compound. Glumes longer
than the awns.

Anthoxanthum odoratum, Linneus. Generally adopted. E. B. 647. ;
ed. 2. 114.

A very common grass in meadows and pastures, whence, indeed,
it is rarely absent, though chiefly abounding in those upon a moist
rich soil. It is among the earliest of its tribe in flowering, and
from this circumstance acquired the English name of Spring-Grass.
The leaves are short, and so scantily produced as to contribute
little to the general crop of hay. The flowering-stems, slender and
wiry, vary much in their height according to situation, on open

B

2

pasture land not rising more than a few inches, while in meadows
they attain a foot, and, under the shelter of woods, in which this.
grass is far from uncommon, sometimes two or three feet. The
inflorescence is similarly diversified, from a short slender spike,
about half the size of the smaller one on our Plate, to a form in
which the stalks of the lower spikelets are so much lengthened as
to render it conspicuously paniculate, a state represented in the
larger figure. The structure of the flowers, upon which the generic
character is founded, will be understood by reference to the mag-
nified views; a, showing one of the spikelets with its two unequal
glumes, the outer or lower one being the smaller, while the two
stamens and two stigmas of the middle fertile flower appear between
them ; at 5, are the two short palez of this flower, seen as separated
from between the two awned scales representing the lateral abor-
tive ones at c: the objects of both these latter figures are supposed
to be included within the glumes of the spikelet at a2. The Sweet-
scented Vernal Grass is the only British species in which the flowers
have constantly two stamens in each, the fertile or seed-bearing
ones of all the others being ¢riandrous, i. e. having three.

Bruised by walking over it, or rubbed between the hands, espe-
cially during the flowering season, this grass diffuses an odour some-
what resembling that of Gum Benzoin, and has long been regarded
as the source of the peculiar scent of new-mown hay: other indi-
genous species yield, however, a similar, though less powerful
perfume, dependent upon a volatile essential oil, and therefore
readily dissipated by the process of drying. Boccone, as quoted
by Withering, mentions that, in his time, a distilled water was
prepared from the Anthoxanthum as a vehicle for some perfumes.

Some of the earlier writers upon the relative qualities of British
grasses as fodder, seem to regard that before us as a valuable and
important one to the farmer. Stillingfleet observes, that, “ being
found on such kinds of pastures as sheep are fond of, and from
whence excellent mutton comes, it is most likely to be a good grass
for sheep pastures,” and recommends the collection of its seeds,
which he assures us, from his own experience, are “ very easy to
gather :” and I have, somewhere else, met with a proposition for
sowing it on those sheep downs where it does not exist, in order to
improve the flavour of the mutton. In opposition to such practice,
I have myself observed that on some of those of Kent and Sussex,
its leaves are, almost constantly, left untouched by the sheep, or
only cropped when, in dry seasons, food becomes scarce. In the
experiments made by Linneus and his colleagues, it appears that
cows, horses, goats and sheep ate it when offered to them apart;
but these experiments were too limited, and too carelessly conducted
to warrant the importance attached to them at the time; and, as
far as the last-mentioned animals are concerned, Stillingfleet’s

3

mutton must have owed its “excellence” to other sources. They
seem, however, to have had considerable influence on the opinions
of the earlier agricultural systematizers of this country, and the
Sweet-scented Verna] Grass always holds a place among the species
recommended by them for the production of improved meadow-land.
The scantiness of the foliage is very much against its value as an
economical grass, it yields little to the scythe, while in permanent
pastures it occupies the place of others more nutritious and better
liked by cattle generally. Whether its wide distribution among
the latter, in almost all soils and situations, may not be pro-
ductive of some wholesome medicinal effect, on the more promis-
cuously feeding grazing animals, is a question perhaps deserving
consideration ; the more so, that certain tropical grasses, celebrated
on account of their fragrance, have long been employed in their
respective countries with a view to the benefit derived from their
tonic, stomachie, and other qualities.
Flowers from the beginning of May to July. Perennial.

Genus 2. NARDUS. Mat-Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Spikelets forming two rows.on one side of the
common stalk or rachis, in the hollows of which they are
sessile ; without glumes, l-flowered. Pale two, the outer one
longer. Style and stigma solitary, the latter filiform.

The single British species of this small genus is at once
distinguishable from the rest of our indigenous grasses by its
solitary style and stigma, as Anthoxanthum is by its two stamens.
Neither the botanical nor the English name is at all applicable to
the qualities or uses of the rigid, wiry, slender and scentless plants
of which it is constituted ; the Greek word nardos, especially, being
applied to an odoriferous shrub, is very inappropriate to a grass
destitute of odour.

Narpvs stricta. Small Matweed. Mat-grass. Puare II.

Stems and leaves erect, very slender, rigid. Spike compact.
Outer palea twice the length of the inner.

Nardus stricta, Linnaeus. E. B. 290; ed. 2. 75. Generally
adopted.

Generally abundant on moors and heaths throughout the
kingdom, ere on sandy pastures in places where moisture
collects during the winter. Each plant forms a dense tuft, con-
sisting of nearly erect, very slender, smooth, bristle-like leaves.
The flowering stems vary from four to eight inches in height, each

with a single node or joint near the base from which a leaf pro-
2B

4

ceeds, and terminating in a slender one-sided spike of inflorescence,
the rachis of which is grooved at intervals on one side, bearing the
single-flowered spikelets in a double alternate series. One of these
spikelets is shown, much enlarged, in figure a. on our Plate. The
lower or outer palea is lanceolate, terminating in a rough awn or
point, is of a rigid texture and purplish-green hue; the inner one,
lying at first within the groove of the rachis, is short and mem-
branaceous. Figure 5. exhibits the pistil with its erect style and
solitary stigma, so different from that of the grasses in general.

This little grass is so rigid that cattle seldom touch it. Its
value in nature seems chiefly that attaching to a vegetable pioneer,
as it quickly disappears under the efforts of cultivation, and is
rarely an occupant of any other than the poorest soil. The rigid
tufts are often to be met with forming part of the nest of the Rook
and other rough building birds.

It flowers in June and July. Perennial.

Genus 3. LEERSIA.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence paniculate. Spikelets one-flowered ;
without glumes. Palez two, carinate, laterally compressed,
awnless, nearly equal in length, the outer one broader, cymbi-
form. Stamens3-6. Stigmas plumose. Fruit free, but en-
closed by the dry palez.

The plants of this genus, of which not more than three or four
are recognized at present, are nearly allied in structure to Oryza,
the Rice, and Leersia oryzoides is the only representative of the
family of grasses named after it, Oryzee, which is indigenous to
Europe. Leersia lenticularis, a North American species, growing
in wet gravelly woods in the southern States of the Union, was
observed by Pursh, who found it on the islands of Roanoak river
in North Carolina, “catching flies in the same manner as Dionea
muscipula,” by the irritability of its pales, which he compares to
the leaves of that singular plant. The generic name was bestowed
by Dr. Solander, in commemoration of J. D. Leers, a German
botanist.

LEERSIA ORYZOIDES. Rice Grass. Puats III.

Panicle spreading, with wavy branches. Flowers semi-elliptical,
triandrous; the pale ciliated. Leaves rough: ligule short.

Leersia oryzoides, Swartz. Borrer, E. B. Supp. 2908. Babington,
&c. Phalaris oryzoides, Linnaeus. Ehrhartia clandestina,
shail Asprella oryzoides, and Homalocenchrus oryzoides,
of others.

5

First noticed as a native of Britain in September 1844, by Mr.
WwW. Borrer, by whom it was discovered at Henfield, Sussex, “ where
it grows in several places within the edges of marsh-ditches in the
Level, the open marshes drained by the river Adur:” since met
with in similar situations in Surrey and Hampshire. Stems form-
ing tufts, about two feet high, smooth, except at the joints, which
are clothed with short deflexed hairs: though generally erect, they
have a tendency to become decumbent and root at the lower part,
and numerous horizontal suckers, extending from the base of the
tuft, render it easy of propagation. Leaves spreading, broad, flat,
atrongly veined, rough, especially on the margins, yellowish-green,
slightly glaucous. Ligule short, abrupt. Panicle, when developed,
lax ; its rachis and spreading branches more or less zigzag, waved
or curled, slender, rough. Flowers compressed, solitary, without
glumes ; palez carinate ; the outer one broad, with five green veins,
those of the keel and margins especially ciliated with strong
bristles ; the inner palea linear, less deeply veined, and with its
margins diaphanous and inflexed. Stigmas plumose, with branched
hairs. Fruit enclosed within the persistent dried palez, but not
cohering with them. The flowers are often imperfect.

Indigenous to a warmer and continental climate, this grass
rarely, if ever, protrudes its inflorescence in England: it may,
however, be found about the end of August enclosed within the
inflated sheath of the uppermost leaf, and occasionally even with a
few flowers pushing forth, to fall off probably without maturing.
Our figure represents a more advanced state, and, with the magni-
fied views of the floral structure, will furnish the home botanist
with the aspect and features which a more congenial residence
would elicit in the grass before us.

The species is widely distributed over the temperate and warmer
countries of the northern hemisphere, on both sides of the Atlantic,
but must be regarded as an alien in the flora of our island, where
the mean temperature of the summer seems too low to admit of
the maturation of its seeds.

Genus 4. ALOPECURUS. Fox-tail Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence compact, spike-like. Spikelets late-
rally compressed, with two nearly equal glumes generally
united at the base, one-flowered. Flower with a single palea,
which is five-veined and awned from the base. Stigmas
filiform.

The grasses of this genus may be generally recognized by their
elongated, hairy inflorescence, which is soft to the touch ; but they
correspond, in aspect, too nearly with those of the genus Phleum
to be determined without reference to the generic character. The

6

resemblance, on comparison, will be found merely superficial, but
is likely to mislead an inexperienced observer. The flowers of
Phleum have two pale, which are destitute of awn, the hairy ap-
pearance of the spike being due to the bristly points of the glumes ;
hence indeed it is, in most instances, rougher to the touch than
that of the Fox-tail grasses.

The name is front the Greek alopex, a fox, and ouwra, a tail, in
allusion to the form of the inflorescence.

ALoprcurus PRATENSIS. Meadow Fox-tail Grass. Puate IV.

Stem erect, smooth. Inflorescence spicate, ovate-elongate, sub-
cylindrical. Glumes hairy, lanceolate, acute, connected below.
Awn twice the length of the palea, arising from its base.

Alopecurus pratensis, Linneus. E. B. 759; ed. 2. 85. Generally
adopted.

One of the most common of our meadow grasses. Its strong
fibrous roots take a firm hold of the soil, but the plants have
little or no tendency to extend themselves laterally by creeping.
The flowering stems vary in height, according to the character of
the soil, from one to three feet; having the sheath of the upper-
most leaf usually much inflated. The ligule is very short and
obtuse. The spike, or spicate panicle, is of a light or yellowish-
green colour, witha tinge of grey owing to the silvery hue of the
long awns ; it varies in length from one to three inches. Anthers
yellow. In the magnified views of the flower, a represents the
two compressed ciliated glumes, united at the base; 4, the solitary
flower, with its single palea and long awn; c¢, the pistil, with its
filiform stigmas and elongated style.

This is almost universally regarded as one of the most valuable
of our indigenous grasses, “ possessing,” as observed by Martyn,
“the three great requisites of quantity, quality, and earliness in a
superior degree to any other.” In regard to quantity, it has been
affirmed to yield more bulk and weight of hay than any other grass
hitherto subjected to experiment ; and, as the first crop may be
cut early, or about the middle of May, the latter math is un-
usually productive, exceeding in value, according to Sinclair, the
crop at the time of flowering, in the proportion of 24 to 13.
These remarks, however, are only applicable to it in favourable
situations, as, at Woburn, the produce was nearly three-fourths
greater from a clayey loam than from a sandy soil, and the grass
from the latter was of comparatively less value in the proportion of
4to6. A moderately stiff and moist soil seems necessary to elicit
the qualities that render the Meadow Fox-tail valuable; in a poor
and dry one it becomes almost useless.

7

Perennial. Flowers from April to June. The seed ripens in
June and July, but remains long after within the husk: it appears
peculiarly liable to the attacks of certain insects, a circumstance
unfavourable to its collection where any large quantity is required.

ALOPECURUS 4LPINUS. Alpine Fox-tail Grass. Puats V.

Stem erect, smooth. Inflorescence spicate, ovate or oblong,
Glumes ovate, abruptly pointed, downy, connected at the base.
Awn longer than the palea, arising from its middle.

Alopecurus alpinus, Smith. E. B. 1126; ed. 2. 86. Generally
adopted.

Only admitted into the European flora as a native of Scotland,
where it is found at an elevation of between 2500 and 3500 feet.
It is recorded as being plentiful in North America and Spitzbergen,
but in its British habitats, about Loch-na-gaar, in Aberdeenshire,
Ben Lawers, and the Clova district, it may be regarded as among
our botanical rarities. Rooting in hollows and the crevices of
rocks about rills and waterfalls, it sends out occasionally a few
lateral creeping shoots, that root as they extend. The flowering
stems are at first decumbent, but assume an erect position beyond
the first or second joint, rising to the height of six inches or a foot.
Notwithstanding the difference in the form of the glumes and in
the attachment of the awn, there is a very close resemblance be-
tween this grass and some stunted specimens of A. pratensis,
which it approximates in the inflated appearance of the uppermost
leaf-sheath, the usually shorter and broader form of the leaf itself,
and the obtuseness of the ligule. The assumed differential cha-
racters upon which the species is founded, may be traced by com-
parison of the magnified figures of the flowers of the present with
those of the preceding, Plate IV., the initial letters of the two
corresponding.

Perennial. Flowers in July and August.

ALopecurus acrestis. Slender Fox-tail Grass. Prater VI.

Stem erect, scabrous. Inflorescence spicate, cylindrical, tapering,
.slender. Glumes lanceolate, acute, united half-way, nearly smooth.
Awn twice the length of the palea, arising from a little above the
base.

Alopecurus agrestis, Linneus. E. B. 848; ed. 2. 87. Generally
adopted.

This grass, known in many parts of the country by the name of
Black Bent, is of frequent occurrence on road-sides and waste

8

ground, as well as in corn-fields, where, indeed, it is one of the most
troublesome weeds. In pastures it rarely intrudes, unless in a
poor and dry soil, and cattle generally leave it untouched. Stems
slender, from a foot to a foot and a half in height. Leaf-sheaths
rough. Ligule obtuse. Spike from two to four inches long,
slender and acuminated, frequently of a purplish hue. The com-
pressed glumes, connected nearly half their length, are smooth
except on the keel or mid-vein, which is ciliated with short hairs.
The awn is occasionally three times the length of the palea, The
references to the magnified views of the flowers accord with those
of A. pratensis.
Annual. Flowers from May to October.

ALopEcuRUs BULBosus. Tuberous Fox-tail Grass. Pxiate VII.

Stem decumbent at the lower part, smooth. Inflorescence
spicate, cylindrical, acuminate. Glumes linear, abruptly pointed,
downy, separate, much longer than the palea. Awn arising above
the base of the palea, about twice as long.

Alopecurus bulbosus, Linneus. E. B.1249; ed. 2. 88. Generally

adopted by modern botanists. A. geniculatus bulbosus ?,
Hudson.

This species is rare, and apparently confined to the southern
parts of our island, where it has hitherto been found only in a few
localities. Salt or brackish marshes, near the sea or the estuaries
of tidal rivers, are its natural habitats, as near Yarmouth, Wey-
mouth, and in Cardiff marshes, Wales; Hudson mentions having
found it near Northfleet, Kent; and, in June 1840, I met with
several plants of it in a meadow on the Thames side, a little above
Erith. Shoots tufted, not creeping, the lowermost joints thickening
into bulb-like tubers. _ Stems six inches to a foot in length, nearly
erect above, but bent in a kneed manner at the first or second
joint from the ground. Upper leaf-sheaths inflated. Ligule ob-
jong. Spike an inch to an inch and a half long, dark, rather
glaucous-green : the very short pedicels, which in other species of
the genus render the apparent spike truly a raceme, in this in-
stance often bear a second, but always abortive flower. The com-
plete separation of the glumes is shown at figure a; the form of
the palea in situ and insertion of the awn at 5; but the former,
when spread out, terminates abruptly with a notch at the ex-
tremity and two minute teeth. Anthers blue or purple.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

The earlier English botanists seem to have doubted the distinct-
ness of this from the next species, and comparison renders their
scepticism far from being unfounded; our modern fellow-students

9

are disinclined to part with a species, especially a rare one, and
artist and author have here done their best to uphold its claim,
which, however, the latter regards, at best, equivocal.

ALOPECURUS GENICULATUS. Floating Fox-tail Grass. Puare VIII.

Stem ascending, bent at the joints, smooth. Inflorescence spicate,
cylindrical, obtuse. Glumes united at the base, obtuse, downy,
ciliated, rather longer than the palea. Awn from near the base of
the palea, and twice as long. Anthers linear.

Alopecurus geniculatus, Linnaeus. E. B. 1250; ed. 2.89. Gene-
rally adopted.

A common species in watery situations, by the sides of ditches
and ponds, the surfaces of which are often covered by its branched
floating stems: occasionally it is met with in dry places, or rather
on ground which, though dry during the summer, is liable to be-
come marshy or even overflowed in wet seasons; more rarely,
specimens of stunted growth occur on old walls and in other un-
likely habitats, in which case the bases of the stems assume the
bulb-like character of those of A. bulbosus. Stems about a foot or
eighteen inches long, branching below, decumbent when not float-
ing, the flowering extremity only erect ; more or less sharply bent
at the joints, and especially at the uppermost, whence the specific
name, and its occasional English one of Kneed Water-Grass.
Leaves variable in length, the sheath of the upper one inflated, as
in the species of this genus generally. Ligule oblong. Spike one
to two inches long, not attenuated above. Glumes united at the
base, but often so slightly as to appear, at first sight, separate.
Palea oblong, obtuse, slightly notched at the extremity, its awn
arising from above the base and extending to twice its length.
Anthers purple or violet, changing to dull yellow or rust-colour.

Perennial. Flowers from June to August.

A. geniculatus is a plant of variable character, as is frequently
the case with others of aquatic habit ; and, whether the preceding,
A, bulbosus, be a distinct species or not, there is certainly a tendency
in this to assume one of its most striking peculiarities, the thick-
ening of the lower nodes of the stem. Most of the grazing animals
devour this grass with avidity.

ALoPecurus FuLvus. Orange-spiked Water Fox-tail Grass.
Puate IX.

Stem ascending, bent at the joints, smooth. Inflorescence
spicate, cylindrical, tapering above. Glumes united at the base,

obtuse, downy, ciliated, not longer than the palea. Awn from the
c

10

lower part of the palea, scarcely exceeding it in length. Anthers
short, broad.

Alopecurus fulvus, Smith, E. B. 1467; ed. 2. 89*; and of most
modern botanists. A. geniculatus, Host, Gram. Aust. v. 2.
tab. 82. Hooker, Fl. Scot. 1. p. 22.

Less common than A. geniculatus, but far from unfrequent on
the sides of ponds and ditches, and sometimes growing in the water
from the bottom. It is a more luxuriant plant, with broader
foliage and larger flower-spikes, though so much resembling the
last species in structure as almost to justify belief in their identity.
Although Dr. Withering and other earlier English writers suspected
it might prove distinct from the species under which they placed
it, Sir J. H. Smith was the first to bestow upon it name and place
as such, and that with some hesitation. Stems one to two feet or
more in length, decumbent at the lower part, branched and knee-
bent at the joints, usually sheathed by leaves to the base of the
inflorescence. Ligule oblong. Spike cylindrical, usually tapering
at the upper part, two or three inches long, pale green. Glumes
connected at the base, about the length of the palea or scarcely
equal to it. Palea oblong, obtuse. Awn fine and very short.
Anthers peculiarly short, or nearly equal in length and breadth ;
when ripe deep orange colour, rendering the plant very conspicuous
at a considerable distance when in flower. Styles generally separate
to the base.

Perennial. Flowers from July to September.

The initial letters appended to the magnified figures of the
flowers, corresponding throughout, will, as in the instance above
cited between A. pratensis and A. alpinus, enable the reader to
contrast the structural differences of the three species last de-
scribed. Of the value attaching to some of the features assumed as
characteristic there may be some question, without involving the
necessity of discarding them altogether. Thus the complete di-
stinctness of the glumes in A. dudbosus, and their, frequently very
equivocal, union at the base in A. geniculatus and A. fulvus, are
characters which must be lightly estimated by the student of vege-
table morphology, as are likewise those derived from the union or
separation of the styles remarked upon by some botanists: but,
however hable to vary, their preponderance must be the result of
organic or physiological action, an action, which though hable to
be influenced by accident, may originate in a more profound and
less unstable source; hence the difficulty in determining between
species and varieties.

ll

Genus 5. PHALARIS. Canary Grass.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence either compact and spike-like, or loosely
panicled. Spikelets laterally compressed, with two equal,
carinated glumes enveloping a single perfect flower and one
or two rudimentary ones. Flower with two unequal coria-

ceous palee. Styles long. Stigmas filiform. Fruit invested
by the hardened palez.

The exotic species of this genus are numerous, and belong gene-
rally to warmer climates than our own. Of the two species, enu-
merated in the British Flora, one only can be regarded as indi-
genous; and they differ so greatly in aspect, that an ordinary
observer would scarcely recognize them as near associates, and, at
the same time, experience a similar difficulty in detecting the rudi-
mentary flowers contained in the spikelets. These flowers are only
represented, in most instances, by two small scales or bracts at the
base of the pale of the fertile one, as exhibited in the magnified
figure 6 on Plate X.

The derivation of the generic name, an ancient one, is doubtful,
but it has been suggested to have been formed from the Greek
phalos, brilliant, in allusion to the glossy seeds of some species.

PHALARIS CANARIENSIS. Cultivated Canary Grass. Pxatz X.

Inflorescence ovate, compact, spicate. Glumes boat-shaped, the
keel extending into a broad, entire wing. Rudimentary flowers
two, half as long as the fertile one. Palez hairy, ciliated.

Phalaris canariensis, Linneus. E. B. 1810; ed. 2. 76. Generally
adopted.

Though long since introduced as a British grass, this species
can scarcely be considered as naturalized, rarely or never being met
with two successive seasons in the same habitat, unless where it is
cultivated in the neighbourhood, Stems erect, one to two feet
high, glaucous. Leaves broad; the sheath of the uppermost one
inflated. Spicate inflorescence broadly ovate. Glumes large, pale
yellow-green, marked with deeper green lines ; conspicuously winged
on the back; much longer than the spikelet they enclose. Of the
enlarged figures, a represents one of the laterally compressed
spikelets, with its two dorsally winged, boat-shaped glumes opened
to exhibit the single perfect flower; 5 shows the pale of this
flower expanded, with the two scales below them which are re-
garded as abortive flowers; ¢ is the perfect flower, less magnified
and without the latter appendages. ;

. This grass, first brought from the Canary Islands, is cers
c

12

for the production of the so-called Canary-seed, used for feeding
caged singing-birds: the demand for this purpose being limited,
the crops raised are only local, and were for a long period almost
exclusively confined to the Isle of Thanet. Horses are fond of the
chaff, and it is esteemed wholesome food for them; but, with this
exception, the value of the seed is the only source of remuneration
to the farmer, the produce in straw being nearly worthless, It
requires a rich soil, well manured, and not too retentive of moist-
ure. The seed is sown in February, in drills about eight inches
apart, and the plants are eventually thinned out to two or three
inches distance in the rows, a necessary provision for the after use
of the hoe to keep them clear of weeds, the growth of which is
more rapid than their own. As the seed ripens, it is more liable
to the depredations of small birds than any other kind of grain, a
circumstance that renders an open country, hke that of Thanet
and the adjoining parts of Kent, with few trees and hedge-rows to
shelter them, essential to the success of the crop. The produce is
from thirty to forty bushels per acre, but the crop is precarious.
In the green state this grass seems peculiarly grateful to cattle,
but it yields too little food on the same space of ground to compete
with those in ordinary use.
Annual. Flowers in July.

PuHaLaRiIs ARUNDINACEA. Reed Canary Grass. Puare XI.

Panicle erect, with spreading branches. Spikelets clustered,
leaning in one direction. Imperfect flowers one or two hairy scales
at the base of the palez.

Phalaris arundinacea, Linneus. E. B. 402; ed. 2.77. Calama-
grostis variegata, Withering. Arundo colorata, Aiton, Hortus
Kewensis, ed. 2. Digraphis arundinacea, Lindley.

A common plant on the borders of rivers, pools, and ditches. It
creeps widely at the root, but, unlike many grasses of similar habit,
tends to form dense tufts, which contribute greatly to the consoli-
dation and support of the banks on which it grows. The flowering
stems, erect, smooth, and comparatively slender, vary in height
from two to five feet ; terminating in a beautiful, variously branched
panicle five to eight inches long, the spikelets of which are clustered
at the extremities of the branchlets and lean in one direction.
Leaves half an inch or more in breadth. Flowers varying in hue
in different situations from almost white to pale green in the shade,
and under exposure to the sun to rich shades of purple and yellow,
with large red anthers; whence the specific names, variegata and
colorata, above quoted. The floral structure will be understood by
reference to the magnified views, of which, a represents the glumes,

13

not winged on the back like those of P. canariensis ; b, the single
fertile flower, removed from between the latter, with the two ciliated
or hairy scales at the base of its pales, indicating the rudiments of
two others; ¢ is the pistil. The rudimentary flowers are not
universally present, often only one will be found, and not unfre-
quently they are both absent.

The variegated grass so frequent in gardens, and known by the
names Ribbon Grass, Painted Lady Grass, and Lady’s-traces, is a
etait of this, occasionally, but very seldom, met with in the wild
state.

The Reed Canary Grass is one of nature’s pioneers, and though
exceedingly valuable in habitats of its own selection, is of small
economical importance elsewhere. The creeping shoots are probably
nutritious ; they have a sweetish flavour, and pigs will often devour
them with avidity, as I have noticed especially with those of the
garden variety ; but the herbage is too coarse and rigid to be liked
by cattle generally. According to Linneus, however, it is used as
fodder for them.in Sweden, and in the province of Scania mown
twice a year for that purpose. The peasantry in that country
employ it as thatch for their cottages and ricks, and find it more
durable than straw.

There is so much difference in habit and general aspect, between
this species and the foregoing, that their relationship would scarcely
be suspected by the ordinary observer. The structure of the
spikelets is, indeed, the only circumstance which warrants their
association in the same genus; the rules of botanical classification,
however useful and necessary to the advancement of their science,
being in this instance very arbitrarily exercised.

Perennial. Flowers in July and August.

The species is very widely distributed on river-sides in the
northern parts of both the eastern and western continents,

Puaranis parapoxa. Bristle-spiked Canary Grass.

Inflorescence spicate, cylindrical. Glumes of the fertile flower
with a blunt toothed keel, many-veined. Rudimentary flowers
several, short, abrupt.

Phalaris paradoxa, W1 illdenow. Babington, Man. Brit. Bot.ed. 4.390.

This species, a native of the south-eastern parts of Europe and
Asia Minor, has been met with in the vicinity of Swanage, Dorset-
shire, but has even less claim to be considered one of the grasses
of Great Britain than its ally P. canariensis. “Stem decumbent at
the base, one to three feet high, branched. Lower part of panicle
usually barren ; branches with about six spikes.”

“Annual. Flowers in July.””—Babington.

14

Not having obtained an English specimen, we have not a figure
of this grass, being compelled at present to postpone it, as well as
further description, to a probable supplementary number of our
work.

Genus 6. AMMOPHILA. Sea Reed.

Gun. Cuan. Inflorescence compact, spike-like. Spikelets with
two nearly equal keeled glumes, one-flowered. Flower with
silky hairs at the base ; pales two, the lower one shorter, with
a very short awn.

The name, from the Greek ammos, sand, and philos, a lover, refers
to the habitat of the following species, the loose and shifting sands
of the sea-shore. The original of ammos being psammos, and the
term Ammophila having been bestowed upon a genus of Hymeno-
pterous insects, prior to its adoption by the botanist, the genus
before us is by some modern writers altered to Psamma.

AMMOPHILA ARUNDINACEA. Sea Reed. UHelme. Matweed.
Marram. Puare XII.

Inflorescence spicate, fusiform. Glumes and palez acute. Basal
hairs one-third the length of the palez.

Arundo arenaria, Linneus. HE. B. 520; ed.2.78. Calamagrostis
arenaria, Withering. Ammophila arenaria, Lindley. Ammo-
phila arundinacea, Hooker. Psamma arenaria, Beauvais,
Babington, &c.

Frequent upon the dry and loose sand by the sea-shore, among
which its creeping stems, rooting from every joint, rapidly extend
themselves to an indefinite length, crossing each other in every di-
rection; and thus forming a coarse network that prevents the sand
from being readily washed away, or driven inland by the action of
the wind. Flowering stems erect, two or three feet high, very
rigid. Leaves rigid, glaucous, very long and narrow, with the
edges rolled inwards or involute, pomted and almost thorn-like at
the extremity. Inflorescence spicate, fusiform, or becoming acu-
minated both above and below, rather than cylindrical, from three
to six inches long and three-quarters of an inch broad about the
middle, yellow or straw-coloured, with red anthers. Glumes longer
than the paler; the larger one of both having, usually, a small
indentation below the acute point.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

Herbivorous animals seem universally to reject this grass, its
extreme rigidity, and the almost total absence of nutritive matter,

15

rendering it neither palatable nor wholesome. Admitting this,
however, its economical value is of no trifling amount, as thousands
of acres of fertile land, adjoining the low sandy parts of our coasts,
must within a few years be reduced to almost hopeless sterility
were it tobe removed. To form any adequate idea of the distressing
effects produced upon cultivation by the drifting of sea-sand, we
must visit districts liable to its inroads, and notice, during the pre-
valence of high winds, the manner in which it is borne by their
resistless force inland. On one part of the coast of Norfolk, espe-
cially, the sand-flood is recorded as having advanced five miles over
the land of the interior, once fertile and productive during the past
century ; but its influx is often far more rapid and fearful. A
district of more than ten miles square on the western coast of
Scotland, near the town of Forres, which on account of its fertiJity
was termed the granary of Moray, was completely inundated by it
in the course of a few years, so that not a vestige was to be seen of
the manor-house, orchards, and offices of the barony of Coubine to
which it belonged. The advance of the sand-flood, in this instance,
is said to have been so great, in the year 1769, that an apple-tree
was buried by it during that winter, only the very top of it ap-
pearing above the surface. This calamity was occasioned by some
persons thoughtlessly pulling up the Mat-grass that had previously
bound the surface of some sand-hills in the neighbourhood. It is
not only by restraining the inland drift of the dry sand, that the
importance of this innutritious, but otherwise valuable species of
grass is manifested. The banks and dunes on which it vegetates
are equally protected from being swept down by the sea which
raised them, a catastrophe to which they are liable during high tides
and in stormy weather; and it is to their early acquaintance with
its efficacy in this respect, that the Hollanders and other maritime
peoples are indebted for the preservation of no inconsiderable portion
of territory. We are not without many examples of a similar kind
in our own island, and among these we may refer to the sea-port
of Hull, in Yorkshire, which would long since have been covered by
the waters, were it not protected by the ridge of sand called
Spurnpoint breaking the force of the waves before they reach the
town; the point itself owing its stability against the tempestuous
action of the German Ocean to the Mat-grass by which it is over-
rown. ;

The strength and toughness of the creeping stems render them
valuable to the lower classes inhabiting some parts of the coast, who
manufacture them into ropes and mats, and Withering observes
that those of Newborough, in Anglesea, derived their chief subsist-
ence from such employment. The land proprietor, the farmer,
and others interested in the soil, ought, however, to watch its ap-
propriation to such or any other purpose with a jealous eye ; its

16

extermination, or even its partial removal, being attended with so
much danger to the neighbouring country ; over which the sand,
once unbound, spreads with a pace scarcely to be interrupted by
any means but those which nature herself employs for the purpose,
a circumstance that cannot be too earnestly commended to their
notice. An act was passed in the reign of Elizabeth, and renewed
in that of George II., prohibiting persons from pulling up or
otherwise destroying it.

As the sand becomes settled, and fertilized by the annual growth
and decay of this and various other plants which then successively
vegetate upon it, the Ammophila gradually yields place to grasses
of different character ; migrating, by pushing its underground stems,
constantly, toward the looser and more recently deposited sand
which it is necessary to fix in its turn. On the sandy shores of the
estuary of the Conwy, and near the mouth of the Mersey, on the
Cheshire coast, I have several times traced these running stems to
the length of twenty or thirty yards, without arriving at their ter-
mination.

Genus 7. PHLEUM. Cat’s-tail Grass.

Gen. Guar. Inflorescence dense, spike-like. Spikelets laterally
compressed, one-flowered. Glumes two, nearly equal, com-
pressed, keeled, truncate with a terminal bristle point, or
acuminate; longer than the palee. Palee two, membrana-
ceous ; the lower one three-veined.

The grasses of this genus so much resemble in general aspect
those of our fourth, Alopecurus, as to be readily mistaken without a
careful examination of the inflorescence ; see remarks on the generic
character of the latter, page 5. The species, with one or two un-
certain exceptions, are of smal] agricultural value, being disliked by
cattle, and either of rare or very local distribution in the British
Islands.

In several of the species a minute subulate (awl-shaped) scale,
accompanying the single perfect flower contained within each pair
of glumes, indicates the presence of a second in a rudimentary
state.

The name is from the Greek phleos, formerly applied to some
aquatic grass or grass-hke plant, and adopted by Linneus as that
of the genus before us probably without any reference to its original
signification.

Puievm pratense. Meadow or Common Cat’s-tail Grass.
Timothy Grass. Puare XIII.

Inflorescence spicate, cylindrical; very long. Glumes oblong,

17

truncate, terminating in an awn or mucro less than half their
length: ciliated on the keel. No rudimentary flower.

Phleum pratense, Linneus. E. B. 1076; ed. 2. 79. Generally
adopted.

Very frequent’ in meadows and pastures, where, unless in very
dry soils, it has a tendency to creep at the root and interfere with
the growth of others among which it vegetates. The flowering
stems are rigid, erect from a little above the base, and vary from a
foot to eighteen inches or more in height, terminating in a long
cylindrical, densely spicate inflorescence, three to seven inches in
length. The glumes, very much compressed, are membranaceous
towards the margin, but with a strongly marked green line along
the keel, which is ciliated with fine hairs that render the spike very
soft to the touch: their general outline terminates very abruptly,
but an extension of the keel vein in the form of a bristle gives them
the appearance of having a terminal awn. a, represents the fore-
going character of the glumes ; 4, the solitary flower, removed from
between them; ¢, the pistil.

Soil and situation affect the habit of this grass so greatly that
accidental varieties have been occasionally regarded as distinct
species. On barren pastures and road-sides it is often decumbent,
and the flower-spikes less than an inch in length. In some
instances, the lowermost joints of the stems become swollen in the
form of tubers, constituting the Phlewm nodosum of Linnzus and
later botanists ; a variety of not unfrequent occurrence in the dry
elevated sheep pastures of Wales and other hilly or mountainous
districts. In moist rich soil, both of these lose their peculiarities
and assume the normal character of the species to which they
appertain.

Much difference of opinion seems at all times to have prevailed,
among our scientific agriculturists, in regard to the value of this
grass, and the question is far from being decided at present. Atten-
tion was first’ directed to it in this country, owing to the circum-
stance of its having been brought over from New York or Carolina
as a novelty, towards the close of the last century, by Timothy
Hanson, whence, indeed, the name by which it is most generally
known among our farmers. The praises bestowed upon it by some
writers and experimenters, and the neglect and even condemnation
it has received from others, are results of the varied circumstances
under which their experience was obtained, and ought to be ap-
preciated with caution. That it is not a grass suited naturally to
the climate of Great Britain appears, it has been remarked, from
its not being generally found in the best natural pastures; a fact
by no means substantiated by my own observation, as there are
few such pastures upon which it does not exist, though in exceed.

18

ingly varied condition, and, probably, equally varied as to nutritive
quality. Hence may have originated the diversity of opinion re-
marked upon above, a summary of which is rather amusing than
satisfactory. Allowing priority in quotation to the earlier writers,
Dr. Pulteney remarked, that, notwithstanding the character which
this grass acquired from La Roque’s recommendation, sheep dis-
like it, neither are cows nor horses fond of it. Leers, on the con-
trary, informs us that it affords an excellent pasture for horses.
Swayne calls it, a hard, coarse grass, of little value for cattle.
Dr. Walker thought it might be introduced into the Highlands of
Scotland with good effect. At Woburn, its comparative merits
were considered very great; owing to its producing abundance of
fine foliage early in the spring, which, as it flowers late, may be
cropped until an advanced period of the season without injury to
the crop of hay. One writer states that the value of the grass as
hay when the seed is ripe, is to that when it is in flower as 10 to
23; another, that when the seed is ripe the stem contains more
nutritive matter than that of any other grass which is cut for hay.
Its value and capabilities may perhaps be more correctly appreciated
from the following facts. On a moderately rich and tenacious soil,
the Phleum pratense is a durable and nutritive grass, though too
coarse to be generally liked by cattle, unless in the spring, when
the early and abundant foliage is often remarkable, in those pastures
in which it is plentifully distributed, among the scanty verdure of
the later grasses. Where quantity rather than quality is an object
in making hay, the Timothy Grass is fully equal, if not indeed
superior, in yield to the Meadow Foxtail; but the hay is harsh
and wiry. All of its better qualities are dependent on the depth
and retentive character of the soil ; where that is light and shallow,
as over chalk and gravel, it either becomes useless or soon ‘dis-
appears.

Perennial, or, according to some botanists, biennial. Flowers
in June and July.

Puirum Atpinum. Alpine Cat’s-tail Grass. Pirate XIV.

Inflorescence spicate, ovate-oblong. Glumes oblong, truncate,
terminating in an awn or mucro equalling them in length : ciliated
on the keel.

Phleum alpinum, Linneus. E. B. 519; ed. 2. 80. Generally
adopted.

This is one of our rarest British grasses, being only met with on
wet alpine moors of from two to four thousand feet elevation : the
Breadalbane mountains, and one or two other districts in Scotland,
are its only recorded native habitats. The above specific character,

Ly

depending upon the shape of the flower-spike and the comparative
length of the glume-awn or bristle, is not so decisive of the difference
between this and the smaller varieties of P. pratense as might be de-
sirable, though its distinction as a species cannot be doubted. Short-
spiked specimens of the latter species, however, do not present the
broad oval outline distinguishing the inflorescence of the present,
which is generally of a much darker colour and with a purplish
tinge. It has the same tendency to creep and root at the base as
ie ee and the flower-stems vary from six inches to a foot
igh.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

Mr. Babington remarks that our plant is the P. commutatum,
and differs from the true P. alpinum by its shorter panicle (inflo-
rescence), not ciliate awn, much inflated upper leaf-sheath, and
short blunt ligule.”

P. alpinum is said to constitute the principal part of the turf in
the most elevated pastures of Switzerland.

PHieum asperuM. Rough Cat’s-tail Grass. Puarz XV.

Inflorescence spicate, cylindrical. Glumes wedge-shaped, trun-
cate, swelling upwards, mucronate ; rough on the keel. .

Phleum asperum, Jacquin. E. B. ed. 2.81. P. paniculatum of
some of the older botanists. E. B. 1077. Chilochloa aspera,
Romer and Schultes.

Local rather than rare in England, where it grows in dry, open,
and generally elevated meadows and pastures ; as on the Gogmagog
hills and in other parts of Cambridgeshire, and in meadows below
King’s Weston, near Bristol. Stems erect, eight inches to a foot
in height, often branched ; leafy almost to the inflorescence, which
is sometimes nearly enveloped by the sheath of the upper leaf.
Leaf-sheaths rough. Ligule blunt. Inflorescence two to four
inches long, bending to one side, about the thickness of a goose-
quill, but usually narrowing upwards. The form of the glumes is
peculiar, widening upwards from a narrow base, and terminating
abruptly, but with a short point or mucro at the broad apex: they
are but slightly keeled on the back, the keel bemg rough, but not
ciliated. The structure of the flowers is exemplified by the mag-
nified figures: a, the two glumes; 8, the single perfect flower,
with its two awnless paler; c, the pistil. The second, rudi-
mentary, flower, mentioned in our notice of the genus, is present
in this species.

Annual. Flowers in July.

It seems indigenous to the upland districts of southern Europe.

D2

20

Pateum Borumert. Purple-stalked Cat’s-tail Grass. Prats XVI.

Inflorescence spicate, cylindrical, elongated. Glumes linear-
lanceolate, obliquely truncate, mucronate: keel ciliated above.
Palez nearly as long as the glumes.

Phleum Boehmer, Schrader. EH. B. ed 2. 82. Smith. Hooker.
Lindley. Babingion. Phalaris phleoides, Linneus. HE. B. 459.
Chilochloa Boehmeri, Beauvois. Loudon, Hort. Brit. 27;
Encycl. 58,

A local species, being apparently confined to dry sandy and
chalky fields in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. Stem decumbent
at the base, slightly creeping, erect through its greater length, from
a foot to eighteen inches high, simple, very slender, glossy purple,
leafless at the upper part. Leaves short, scanty. Flower-spike
from two to four mches long, almost strictly cylindrical, slender.
The acuminate, linear-lanceolate form of the glumes is due to the
obliquity of their termination ; the keel is only ciliated about half
its length, as shown in the magnified figure a. The palez, see
figure 8, are proportionally longer than most of the other species
of the genus, being nearly equal to the glumes below the point.
The rudiment of a second flower accompanies the perfect one.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

Paxteum Micuert. Michelian Cat’s-tail Grass. Piate XVII.

Inflorescence spicate, subcylindrical. Glumes lanceolate-acu-
minate, hairy and strongly ciliated throughout. Pale nearly as
long as the glumes, hairy.

Phleum Michelii, Allioni. E. B. 2265; ed. 2. 83. Generally
adopted by British botanists. Phalaris alpina, Henke.

Hitherto found only in rocky places on the higher mountains of
Clova, Scotland, where it was first discovered as a British Grass by
Mr. G. Don. The stems are erect, varying from a few inches to a
foot in height, slender and wiry. Leaves rigid, short, scanty.
Flower-spike one to two inches or more in length, tapering above.
The gradually attenuating form of the glumes, which terminate in
a sharp point, contrasts strongly with the abrupt, mucronate cha-
racter of those of all the preceding species, and, added to the great
comparative length of the palez, will distinguish this from all its
British congeners; see our magnified views. Traces of a second
rudimentary flower are occasionally present within the glumes.

Perennial. Flowers in July and August. The plants have a
tendency to form tufts, sending up annually, about the base of the

21

flowering stems, sterile leafy shoots, the preparations for the next
year’s flowering.

Puirum arenarium. Sea Cat’s-tail Grass. Puare XVIII.

Inflorescence spicate, ovate, or oblong and tapering above and
below. Glumes lanceolate-acuminate ; keel ciliated above. Palez
abrupt, about half the length of the glumes.

Phleum arenarium, Linneus. EH. B. ed. 2. 84. Chilochloa
arenaria, Schrader. Loudon, Hort. Brit. 27; Encycl. 58.
Phalaris arenaria, HZ, B. 222. Achnodon arenarius, Lindley.

Far from unfrequent on loose sandy ground near the sea-side,
and often met with inland on barren sandy fields and heaths, as on
that of Newmarket. Stems about six or eight inches high, gene-
rally several from the same root. Flower-spike varying in length
from half an inch to one or two inches; when short, often truly
ovate, otherwise fusiform or approaching even to cylindrical.
Glumes lanceolate, terminating gradually in a point, ciliated or
fringed about half-way down the keel. Palez very short, scarcely
half as long as the glumes, membranaceous, broad at the top, and
slightly notched.

Annual, Flowers in June and July.

Genus 8. LAGURUS. Hare’s-tail Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence spike-like. Spikelets compressed, one-
flowered. Glumes two, equal, fringed with hairs, acuminated
into long feathery awn-like points. Outer palea terminating
in two long bristles, and furnished with a longer dorsal twisted
and knee-bent awn.

Named from the Greek lagéos, a hare, and oura, a tail, in allusion
to the form and appearance of the inflorescence in the only known
species.

Lacurus ovatus. Ovate Hare’s-tail Grass. Prare XIX.

Inflorescence spicate, ovate, or ovato-cylindrical.

Lagurus ovatus, Linnaeus. E. B. 1834; ed. 2. 90. Generally
adopted.

Indigenous to the maritime countries of southern Europe, this
beautiful grass has long been naturalized on the sandy shores of
Guernsey, its only claim to admission into the British flora. The
stems rise to the height of six inches or a foot, and are smooth and

22

slender ; bearing a soft, almost silky spike of a pale whitish hue,
which, in luxuriant specimens, has a length of about an inch and
a quarter, with a diameter of nearly an inch at the base. The
leaves are linear-lanceolate, having long inflated sheaths, by which
the stem is almost completely invested. The silky appearance of
the inflorescence is due to the numerous delicate hairs that fringe
the glumes from the base to the extremity of their slender bristle-
like terminations. These glumes are more than twice the length
of the pale, and include the obscure rudiment of a second flower.
The outer palea terminates in two bristles almost equalling it in
length, and bears a very long jointed and twisted awn springing
from above the middle of its back; the inner one is devoid of
such appendages, but its pointed apex is more or less slightly
cloven. :

Annual. Flowers in June.

It is an elegant little grass, but of no economical value. Cul-
tivated in gardens, the spikes sometimes attain a length of two
inches or more and are nearly cylindrical.

Genus 9. MILIUM. Millet Grass.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence loosely panicled. Spikelets stalked,
one-flowered. Glumes two, nearly equal, not compressed,
herbaceous, broadly lanceolate, acute, longer than the flower,
and enclosing it. Palez two, awnless; becoming hard and
investing the ripening fruit.

About fourteen species are enumerated as belonging to this
genus, none of which appear to be of any agricultural value. Not-
withstanding ‘the English name, it must not be supposed that the
several kinds of nutritious grain called Millet are the produce of
the grasses before us, all of them being derived from genera of
widely different structure. In regard to the derivation of Mikum,
botanical writers are divitled; some deducing it from the Latin
mille, a thousand, in allusion to the abundance of seed produced
by the numerously branched panicle of the common species ; while
others trace it to the Celtic mil, a stone or pebble, as referring to
the hardness of its glossy fruit. A single species only is found in
the British Islands.

Mutrum errusum. Common Millet Grass. Pirate XX.

Panicle loose, its branches spreading and subverticillate. Pale
acute. Stem smooth. Leaves linear-lanceolate : ligule obtuse.

Milium effusum, Linneus. EH. B. 1106; ed. 2. 93. Generally
adopted.

23

One of the most elegant of our taller grasses, and of common
Occurrence in moist woods and wet shady places in most parts of
the kingdom. Stems from three to four feet in height. Leaves
half an inch or more in breadth. Inflorescence spreading widely :
branches of the panicle very smooth and slender, in distant alter-
nate tufts, which are so arranged as to appear almost verticillate,
horizontal when in flower, but eventually deflexed. The plants
multiply by the root as well as by seed, sending out horizontal
shoots of considerable length, in some habitats, which root at the
joints as they extend.

Perennial. Flowers in June.

The compass of an octavo plate enables us to convey but a very
imperfect notion of the beauty of this grass in situations favourable
to its growth ; the panicle is often more than a foot in length, and
the slenderness of its branches such, that the small shining spikelets
appear, at a short distance, as though suspended in the air.
Cattle will eat it, but, as it will not grow in pastures, its capabilities
for agricultural purposes need not be discussed. Sinclair, however,
informs us that “birds are remarkably fond of the seeds,” and
remarks that “in covers, where game is preserved, there cannot be
a better grass encouraged ; it will save the cornfields.”

Genus 10. GASTRIDIUM. Nit Grass.

Grn. Cuar. Inflorescence a contracted panicle, subspicate. Spike-
lets one-flowered. Glumes two, unequal, membranaceous,
acute, awnless, ventricose at the base, much longer than the
flower. Palez two; the lower one truncate or toothed at the
apex, with or without a dorsal awn. Fruit invested by the
dried palez.

The species, few in number, were formerly united with Milium,
with which, however, they appear to hage really no structural
affinity, independent of the difference in general aspect and the
form of inflorescence. The striking dissimilarity presented by their
flowers will be readily perceived by comparing the magnified views
of those of Milium effusum, Plate XX., with those of Gastridium
lendigerum, Plate XXI., the figures marked a, 0, c, corresponding
as to the parts represented. ;

The name, from the Greek gastridion, a ventricle, or little
swelling, is characteristic of the peculiar expansion of the base of
the glumes.

GaASTRIDIUM LENDIGERUM. Awned Nit Grass. Pxiate XXI.

. Inflorescence compact. Glumes lanceolate, acuminate, swollen

24

at the base. Outer palea awned; the awn rather exceeding the
glumes.

Gastridium lendigerum, Gaudin. E. B. ed. 2. 94, Generally
adopted by modern British botanists. G. australe, Palisot de
Beauvois. Loudon, Hort. Brit. 25; Encycl. 56. Milium
lendigerum, of older authors. E. B. 1107. Alopecurus
ventricosus, Hudson.

One of the rarer English grasses, and, judging from its very
local distribution, rather a naturalized visitant than indigenous.
It is generally met with in fields near the sea, and especially in
places where water has lain during the winter, or that are occa-
sionally overflowed during spring-tides. The Isle of Sheppey and
the vicinity of Weymouth are habitats recorded by Lightfoot and
Withering ; and the latter author mentions its having been found
by Mr. Woodward growing among wheat, at Gillingham, Norfolk.
Botanists visiting the sea-side, and desirous of adding this grass to
their collections, should examine closely any low marshy spots,
however unpromising in aspect, as my earliest acquaintance with |
it, many years ago, was made at Margate, on the site of the pre-
sent railway terminus, a spot over which I have passed, more than
once, in a boat in the winter-time. It is possibly less rare than
generally considered. Stems from four inches to a foot in height.
Leaves rough at the margins; the ligule oblong. Inflorescence
varying from one to three inches in length; neither strictly pani-
culate nor spicate, but, even in its smallest form, composed of
several apparent spikes compactly arranged upon the common
rachis. Flowers glossy. Glumes peculiarly ventricose or swelling
and colourless at the base, above which they contract rather sud-
denly into a somewhat linear-lanceolate form, the outer one espe-
cially being acuminate at the extremity; both of them are more or
less finely serrulated. The outer palea terminates abruptly with
three or four teeth, and bears a dorsal awn which rises beyond the
glumes: the inner one is much smaller, with two teeth only, and
awnless.

Annual; at least within my own experience of it in the wild
state, as well as when cultivated in the garderl. Others describe it
as perennial, which may, possibly, be its habit in a warmer climate
than that of England.

. Loudon marks it as agricultural, and the abundance and nutritive
character of its small seeds have led to its cultivation on some parts
of the Continent. Cows and horses eat it.

25

Genus 11. STIPA. Feather Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Spikelets stalked, sub-racemose, one-flowered, erect.
Glumes two, nearly equal, membranaceous, enclosing the
flower, not compressed. Palez cartilaginous, hardening and
investing the ripening fruit; outer one convolute, cylindrical,
terminated by a very long twisted and knee-bent awn.

_ Between thirty and forty species of this genus have been dis-
tinguished. They are of no agricultural value, being generally
grasses of rigid texture, unpalatable to cattle, and containing little
nutritive matter: the grain of S. pennata is, however, said to pro-
duce a flower equalling that of Rice. The tough stems of 8S, tena-
cissima are used in Spain for making ropes, baskets, &., a prac-
tice of great antiquity in the Peninsula, where other grasses with
flexible stems are employed for similar purposes.

The name, from the Greek stupe, tow made from flax or hemp,
by an arbitrary transition from fibre to down or feather, applies
especially to Stipa pennata, the typical species, a reputed but very
equivocal member of our English Flora.

Stipa pennatTa. ‘True Feather Grass. Puare XXII.

Leaves rigid, setaceous, grooved. Floral awn very long, twisted
at the lower part, knee-bent, feathered above the knee to the apex.

Stipa pennata, Linnaeus. E. B. 1356; ed. 2. additional plate 160*,
not described in the text. Generally adopted.

Recorded in Ray’s Synopsis as having been found by Dr. Rich-
ardson and Thomas Lawson, on the limestone rocks overhanging
the little valley of Longsleadale, about six miles north of Kendal,
in Westmoreland. We have not any authenticated instance of its
discovery by later collectors on that spot or elsewhere in Britain, a
circumstance which, of course, renders the fact of its existence, at
any time, as an indigenous or even naturalized wild plant of this
country, very doubtful ; and, without impugning the veracity of
the botanists above named, we can only account for its Westmore-
land habitat, at the period of their researches, by the very likely
accident of a seed, so admirably constructed for transportation by
the wind, having found its way thither from some garden. The
slender leaves grow in dense tufts, as do those of most Alpine
grasses, to the length of a foot or more ; they are channeled on the
upper side, smooth and glossy. The roots strike very deeply into
the soil, or into the crevices of rocks, from which latter it is diffi-
cult to extricate them. The flowering stems seldom attain more
than the height of a foot, and are invested by leaves to the top,

E

26

the uppermost of which rise above the inflorescence. The latter is
less conspicuous than that of grasses in general, until a short
period before the ripening of the seed, when the long, beautifully
feathered awns, sometimes a foot in length, make their appearance.
Our figures show the structure of the flowers: a, the glumes
tapering upwards and terminating in long, flexible, bristle-hke
points; 8, the flower, its outer palea bearing the base of the awn ;
c, the pistil separated from the flower; d, the awn, attached to the
outer palea as at the time of dispersion. The awn is necessarily
much shortened, and it is impossible to portray on paper the
beauty and silky texture of its plumes.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

The Feather Grass is common in many of the alpine districts of
Southern Europe, whence it was introduced into the gardens of
England at a very early period on account of the beautiful append-
ages to its fruit, a tuft of which, as remarked by Sir W. J. Hooker,
“is almost as beautiful as the famed tail of the Bird of Paradise.”
Old Gerarde, indeed, informs us that they were worn in his time
by “sundry ladies instead of feathers.” The elegance of these
plumes is, however, even less to be admired than the admirable
mechanism of which they constitute an important part. The
feathered portion of the awn is bent at an angle of 45°, and capable
of being acted upon as a vane when the wind is blowing; while
the base of the fruit (seed), which it terminates, is sharply pointed,
so as to insure its hold on the ground in a perpendicular position
wherever it may light. Thus situated, every varying breath of air
communicates a more or less rotatory movement to the plume, and
the necessary deep insertion of the seed is provided for by the
screw-like twist of the naked part of the awn rising straight above
it, the volutions of which, as they become successively buried,
prevent its return to the surface. It is, in fact, thus screwed down
into the light soil, in which alone it is capable of vegetating. The
size of our plate does not admit of the exhibition of the plume in
the position described, but the knee-like bend, the perpendicular
screw below it, and the sharply-pointed base of the fruit, are
sufficiently explicit of their mechanical capabilities.

No grasses root more deeply than those belonging to high alpine
districts ; a provision that enables their large tufts to resist the
fierce action of the winds in their exposed habitats, as well as the
temporary rush of the mountain-torrents, which would otherwise
uproot and destroy them.

Since writing the above remarks concerning the alleged former
habitat, in Westmoreland, of this curious and beautiful member of
the Grass family, I have been assured that it is still to be met with,
occasionally, growing in rock-fissures of the mountain limestone
of the wild Pennine district of the county ; a circumstance worthy

27

the notice of enthusiastic collectors of our botanical rarities. It
may be further stated, that my informant, a native of the county,
communicated the localities, more than one, in which he had him-
self found it ; but the pleasure of research is always enhanced by
the uncertainty attending its results; and, having a fellow-feeling
with my friend and late pupil, against the obliteration of rare
species, which has too often followed the publication of their little
nooks and corners of refuge, they must here remain untold, and
my kind readers rest content with a scrap of advice that no

rn al would be justified in spurning—“ Search, and ye may
nd.”

Genus 12. POLYPOGON. Beard Grass.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence more or less compact. Spikelets
laterally compressed, one-flowered. Glumes two, equal, each
with a long bristle-like awn arising from a little below the
notched apex, longer than the flower. Pale two, unequal ;
the lower one obtuse, awned from the apex or immediately
below.

A small genus of Grasses, characterized by some peculiarity in
habit and, especially, by the bristly appendages of its inflorescence,
whence originated the name, bestowed by Desfontaines, from the
Greek poly, many or much, and pogon, beard. ;

The species do not appear to be of any economical value. Those
of British growth, confined, almost exclusively, to maritime marshes
in the south-eastern parts of England, cannot be regarded as indi-
genous, though the dates of their introduction by natural causes
may be far from recent. Both of them may be considered as
belonging to our botanical rarities.

PoLyPoGoN MONSPELIENSIS. Annual Beard Grass. Puatre XXIII.

Inflorescence dense, scarcely spicate, lobed. Glumes rather
obtuse, rough ; their awns thrice their length.

Polypogon monspeliensis, Desfontaines. HE. B. ed. 2.91. Gene-
rally adopted by modern British botanists. Agrostis panicea,
E. B.1704. Phleum crinitum, Smith, Fl. Brit. Alopecurus
monspeliensis, Linnaeus.

Found in moist pastures, chiefly near the sea or the estuaries of
rivers, as on the coasts of Hampshire and Essex, about Cley in
Norfolk, near Woolwich and Northfleet on the Thames, and at
Inverkeithing, Fifeshire. Stems about a foot in height. Leaves
few, rough on the edges. Inflorescence varymg im ie and

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28

compactness ; in the more luxuriant form two inches or more in
length, and conspicuously branched ; in smaller specimens scarcely
an inch long and spike-like. Glumes hairy, rough, linear or nearly
equal in breadth throughout, bifid rather than notched at the some-
what obtuse summit: their awns, generally, three times as long,
but occasionally not more than twice, rough with minute points
or bristles.

Annual. Flowers in July and August.

The peculiar pale, hairy, or rather silky, inflorescence of this
beautiful grass renders it very ornamental, and well deserving of a
place in the flower-garden ; but its seeds do not appear to ripen in
any abundance, and in some seasons I have known them fail al-
together; a fact which may account for its sparing distribution
here in the wild state. It is said to be very abundant in some of
the warmer parts of Europe, which is in a degree corroborated by
the specific name.

Po.yroGon LITTORALIS. Perennial Beard Grass. Puate XXIV.

Inflorescence closely lobed or branched. Glumes tapering up-
wards, nearly smooth; the awns scarcely exceeding them im
length.

Polypogon lhittoralis, Smith. EH. B. ed. 2.92. Generally adopted
by modern British botanists. Agrostis littoralis, H. B. 1251.

Muddy salt-marshes are its favourite habitats, though it may be
sometimes met with in drier situations. It is found accompanying
P. monspeliensis in a few of its localities, on the coasts of Norfolk
and Essex, as well as near the powder-magazine by the banks of
the Thames about four miles below Woolwich, but must be con-
sidered more rare. Flowering stems often several from the same
root, decumbent below, and rooting occasionally at the lower joints,
which then send up tufts of leaves, that constitute the basis of the
next year’s vegetation. The fertile stems vary from a few inches
to a foot or more in height. The inflorescence, more or less com-
pact but obviously paniculate, has usually a purplish or reddish
tinge, very different from the pale hue of that of the preceding
species. Glumes more lanceolate than linear, though certainly
not acute as sometimes described ; they are hairy at the lower part
of the keel, but nearly smooth above, and the awn, rarely exceeding,
is often scarcely equal to them in length. The palez are truncated,
and bifid or notched at the apex.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

Notwithstanding the very striking differences between this and
P. monspeliensis, some of our earlier botanists seem to have con-

29

founded them; Withering, one of the most circumstantial writers
of his time, has certainly done so under his Agrostis littoralis.

Sir J. E. Smith seems to have been the first who recognized
P. littoralis as a British Grass, and it was, for some time after its
discovery, regarded as a plant peculiar to England. It is now
known as a native of Germany and some other parts of Europe,
and its migration to our coasts may have been simultaneous with
that of its congener, though circumstances hitherto have not been
favourable to its equal distribution.

The magnified figures on Plates XXIII. and XXIV., lettered
correspondingly, will illustrate the generic character and the dif-
ferential features of the two species described.

Genus 18. CALAMAGROSTIS. Small-Reed.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence loosely panicled. Spikelets laterally
compressed, one-flowered. Glumes two, nearly equal; much
longer than the flower, which is surrounded at the base by
numerous long silky hairs. Paleze two ; the lower one usually
awned.

These Grasses originally composed a portion of the genus
Arundo, from which they were separated by Adanson, chiefly on
account of their spikelets being single-flowered. The separation
is, “however, purely conventional, and only admissible on the
ground of utility ; the presence of a second and, occasionally, even
of a third flower, in the rudimentary state, being indicative of the
close natural affinity which our classification tends to violate.
The other differential characters are of trifling value.

The name adopted is that of the assumed typical species, Arundo
Calamagrostis of Linneus. It is a barbarous Greek compound de-
nomination, under which the plant in question was known among
the earlier botanists, derived from calamos, a kind of Palm, and
agrestis, a term applied to grasses generally.

They are grasses of coarse texture, growing in wet woods and
shady places in marshy ground, and are of no immediate value in
an agricultural point of view, being generally left untouched by
cattle. Our native species are very limited in their distribution.

Cawamacrostis Ericesos. Wood Small-Reed. Piate XXV.

Panicle erect; its branches more or less compact or expanded.
Flowers crowded, unilaterally disposed. Glumes subulate, rough
on the keel. Basal hairs longer than the palee. Awn from the
middle of the outer palea, and nearly equal to it in length.

Calamagrostis Epigejos, Roth. Adopted by most modern writers.
Arundo Epigejos, Linneus. E. B. 403; ed. 2. 168.

30

Far from uncommon in moist woods and thickets, and about
ditches and rivers under the shade of trees, especially in places
liable to be overflowed.

Stems three to six feet high, terminating in a ‘large, copiously
branched, but rather compact panicle from six to eight inches or
more in length. Leaves broad, harsh and rigid. The general
character of the inflorescence is rather peculiar: the branches of
the panicle being all directed to one side and the spikelets having
a similar determination, render it not unlike an exaggerated
specimen of that of the Rough Cock’s-foot Grass, Dactylis glo-
merata, to which Dr. Withering compared it in the first edition of
his “ Arrangement of British Plants.” The compressed awl-shaped
glumes are rigid and rough with bristles, especially on the keel,
as shown in the magnified figure at a. The palez are thin, almost
membranaceous ; and the awn of the outer one arises from about
the middle of its back, as seen in figure 6. Close examination will
often enable us to detect the rudiment of a second flower, although
it has been frequently remarked upon as absent in this species.

Perennial. Flowers in Saly.

CALAMAGROSTIS LANCEOLATA. Purple-flowered Small-Reed.
Pirate XXVI.

Panicle erect, loose. Spikelets scattered, spreading. Glumes
lanceolate, their keel smooth. Basal hairs longer than the palez.
Awn from the base of the notch of the outer palea, very short.

Calamagrostis lanceolata, Roth. Most modern botanists. Arundo
Calamagrostis, Linnaeus. HE. B. 2159; ed. 2. 169.

This is a more local species than C. Epigejos, though found,
like that, in various parts of the kingdom; always in moist, and
more frequently in shady situations, but occasionally in more ex-
posed ones, especially in fenny districts. Root somewhat creeping.
Stems slender, three to five feet high. Leaves narrow, linear.
Panicle four to six inches long; its branches and spikelets com-
paratively loose, and expanding on all sides. Spikelets shining,
with a tinge of rose-purple, which renders the panicle, when in
full flower, very conspicuous. The glumes, figure a, are less at-
tenuated than those of the last species, and nearly smooth. The
short awn of the outer palea, in figure 4, is not dorsal, but extends
from the bottom of the terminating notch, in many instances
scarcely rising beyond the points of the latter.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

A second, rudimentary, flower seems never to have been detected
in this species.

31

CaLamacrostis stricta, Lesser Small-Reed. Pxiare XXVII.

Panicle erect, more or less compact or expanded. Spikelets
erect, not unilateral. Glumes lanceolate, veined, the keel rather
rough. Palez nearly equalling the glumes in length, much ex-
ceeding the basal hairs. Awn from below the middle of the outer
palea and scarcely exceeding it in length.

Calamagrostis stricta, Nuttall. Most modern English botanists.
Arundo stricta, E. B. 2160; ed. 2.170. Deyeuxia neglecta,
Kunth. Macreight, Manual Brit. Bot.

Very rare, on bogs. Discovered by the late Mr. G. Don, on
White Muir Marsh, near Forfar, Scotland, where it is said no
longer to exist ; since found near Rescobie Loch, four miles from
Forfar, and on Oakmere in Delaware Forest, Cheshire. The plant
creeps at the root, sending up erect stems from two to four feet in
height. The leaves vary in outline, those of the flower-stems being
comparatively broad, while on the barren shoots they are much
narrower, and, sometimes, even slender. Panicle two to four
inches long, spreading when in flower. The glumes, figure a, are
more or less conspicuously three-veined, especially the outer one.
Of the pale, the outer is nearly equal in length to the inner
glume, and its awn, arising from a little below the middle, extends
but a short distance above its bifid or notched apex; both are con-
siderably longer than the hairs which invest the base of the flower,
figure 6. The rudiment of a second flower is readily traceable in
the spikelets of this species, in the form of a minute stalk, bearing a
little tuft of hairs ; and in a specimen before me this is surmounted
by a third, of which the stalk or pedicel only is present, without
the hairs. «

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

It appears that the second Forfarshire habitat of this Grass no
longer exists, having been extirpated by drainage.

A slightly distinct variety, discovered by Mr. D. Moore on
Church Island, Lough Neagh, and since found in other places in
the county of Antrim, Ireland, was for a long time regarded as
Arundo lapponica of Wahlenberg ; a species which differs, how-
ever, considerably from any of British growth hitherto collected,
and, especially, in having the awn geniculate or knee-bent instead
of straight; while it resembles our C. Epigejos and C. lanceolata
in the greater comparative length of the basal hairs, a feature
certainly not appertaining to any of the Lough Neagh specimens
which have come under my inspection.

32

Genus 14. AGROSTIS. Bent Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence loosely panicled. Spikelets laterally
compressed, one-flowered. Glumes two, the upper or inner
one smaller, membranaceous, acute, awnless, longer than the
flower. Flower sessile, occasionally with one or two tufts of
very short hairs at the base. Palez two, the inner one rarely
absent, unequal; the outer with or without an awn. ,

The Grasses of this genus contribute in no trifling degree to the
green covering of the earth in temperate climates. Upwards of a
hundred species are known; but, of this number, a few only have
hitherto attracted the attention of agriculturists. Their foliage
is in most instances very sparingly produced, compared with the
ground occupied ; the individual leaves are small and short, or
thin and wiry; they flower late in the season, and their slender
flower-stems are harsh and rigid. Hence in meadows reserved for
mowing they add but little to the crop, and in pastures occupy
space to the exclusion of others more productive, and better liked
by cattle, to whose palate the Bent grasses generally seem ungrate-
ful—indeed they often refuse hay in which any considerable
quantity of them is present. To this collective character of the
genus there are perhaps a few exceptions, of which certain varieties.
of Agrostis alba afford equivocal example.

The generic name was, as noticed under the last genus, a term
applied to grass collectively by the ancient Greeks, derived from
agros, a field.

There are only four species found in the British Islands, but
two of these present several striking varieties.

AGRostis canina. Brown Bent Grass. Puats XXVIII.

Branches of the panicle elongated, slender, erecto-patent, rough.
Glumes unequal, lanceolate, acute, rough on the keel. Inner
palea minute or absent; outer one erose at the summit, four- or
five-veined, with a knee-bent and twisted awn arising from below
the middle and extending above the palea. Lower leaves setaceous,
tufted ; those of the stem narrow linear; sheaths smooth; ligule
oblong, acute.

Agrostis canina, Linneus. E. B.1856; ed. 2.96. Most modern
authors. Trichodium caninum, Schrader. ' Lindley. Loudon,
Hort. Brit. 26, Encyc. 56.

Often very abundant on moist heaths and moors. Its long,
trailing, leafy shoots root at every joint, forming the setaceous tufts

33

above described. The flower-stems, decumbent below, rise to the
height of a foot or eighteen inches, terminating in a rather lax,
rough panicle four or five inches in length, the single-flowered
spikelets of which being stalked, and expanding at the time of
flowering, renders the appearance of the inflorescence very light
and elegant; this is the state represented in our figure, but it after-
wards becomes more compact. The glumes, at a, are only rough
on the lower part of the keel. The flowers vary much in colour,
according to circumstances of soil and situation, assuming different
shades of brownish purple and green. The jointed awn is some-
times scarcely higher than the palea, in other instances it will exceed
the glumes ; the figure of a flower at shows it of a medium length.

Perennial. Flowers from the end of June to August.

The genus Trichodium, to which this species is referred by some
botanists, was separated from Agrostis by Schrader, on account of
the absence of the inner palea: such appendage is, however, seldom
altogether absent, though generally only traceable as a minute
point ; and this circumstance, associated with its small development
and even occasional abortion in other species of Agrostis, renders
the separation useless. Dr. Lindley, in his later and most valuable
work, ‘The Vegetable Kingdom,’ adopts this view, recording T'ri-
chodium only as a synonym of Agrostis.

Rather to be regarded as a troublesome weed than as a grass of
any agricultural value. It vegetates early, but the produce is too
trifling to render that of any account, while during the first sum~
mer droughts the tufts of slender involute leaves assume a parched
and withered appearance that denies all promise for the future.

Aarostis setaces. Bristle-leaved Bent Grass. Prare XXIX.

Panicle slender, oblong; its branches short, few-flowered. Glumes
unequal, lanceolate, acute, rough on the keel. Outer palea erose at
the summit, four-veined, the lateral veins terminating in short sete;
with a knee-bent twisted awn, arising from near the base, and about
twice the length of the palea. Inner palea very small. Leaves
setaceous ; sheaths rough; ligula oblong, acute.

Agrostis setacea, Curtis. E. B. 1188; ed. 2.97. Chiefly adopted.
Trichodium setaceum, Michaux. Ramer. Lindley. Loudon,
Hort: Brit. 26;. Encyc. 56.

Found, almost exclusively, on dry heaths and downs in the south-
western counties of England from Cornwall to Hampshire, especially
toward the sea-coast ; a circumstance indicating its probable migra-
tion thither from the south-western parts of Europe. In Spain
and Portugal it is a very common grass, and its original transport
from the shores of the latter country is farther countenanced. by

F

34

the naturalization of Erica vagans, E. ciliaris, Reseda fruticulosa,
and other continental plants in Cornwall and the south of Ireland.
The grass before us seems to be extending itself eastward in Eng-
land, as I found specimens of it among two small collections made
by my pupils this summer, 1857, on the line of the south downs of
Kent and Sussex. It grows in tufts among heath and furze. The
flowering stems, rising to the height of a foot or more, are very
slender and rigid ; the leaves short, narrow, and rolled inward so as
to be almost hair-like. When in flower, the panicle spreads, but it
collapses on being gathered ; and, in its earlier and later stages of
development, the branches, which in our native specimens are always
very short, lie so close to the rachis as to render the appearance of
the inflorescence spicate. The outer palea is pale and membrana-
ceous, with four strongly marked green veins, the two lateral of
which are prolonged beyond the truncated erose summit : its long,
twisted and jointed awn is attached only at the base. The inner
palea is either so small, that it may be termed minute, or is absent
or only rudimentary; a small tuft of white hairs arises on each side
of the base.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

Sheep avoid this grass generally, unless in default of the more
grateful and nutritive species.

AGrostis vuLGARIS. Fine Bent Grass. Puatrs XXX.

Panicle loose; its branches and branchlets spreading, nearly
smooth. Glumes nearly equal; the outer one toothed on the
upper part of the keel. Outer palea sometimes awned, three-
veined ; inner bifid at the apex, two-veined. Ligule very short,
truncate.

Agrostis vulgaris, Withering. E. B. 1671; ed. 2.98. Generally
adopted.

One of our most common grasses, though preferring rather dry .
soils and situations. It creeps at the base, sending out long pro-
strate shoots which root at every jomt, producing stems the follow-
ing year. The flowering stems are decumbent and rooting at the
lower part, ascending and erect above, having the ordinary height of
a foot or a foot and a half, and terminating in a very loose, spreading,
purplish panicle, three to six inches long. The flowers are small and
pedicellate ; the pedicels rough, though the rachis and its branches
are nearly smooth. Glumes lanceolate, acute, nearly equal in
length, very smooth and glossy ; the outer one strongly serrulated
at the upper part on the keel. Outer palea very little shorter than
the glumes, three-toothed at the apex, and with three veins, mem-

35

branaceous, either awnless or with an awn of varied length spring-
ing from the central vein and from about the middle of its back.
Inner palea about half the length of the outer, two-veined only and
two-toothed at the summit. The characters of the glumes and
palez will be seen in our magnified figures a and 6, the latter ex-
hibiting the flower in its usually awnless condition.

Perennial. Flowers in June and to the beginning of August.

A small variety, occasionally met with on poor sandy soil, not
more than two or three inches high, is the Agrostis pumila of Light-
foot, Flora Scot. p. 1081, fig. in title-page. To the remark of
Withering, that, when cultivated in a garden from seed, this variety
assumed the ordinary size and habit of A. vulgaris, I can testify
from my own experience. Mr. Babington observes that it is
“usually infested with smut ;” a circumstance far from unfrequent,
however, with this species in moist or otherwise unfavourable situ-
ations. There are, certainly, not any decided varieties of this com-
mon grass. It is not one of any agricultural value, unless in per-
manent pastures, where the early development of its foliage is,
perhaps, of some account, as it is almost exclusively the spring
produce of the Bent Grasses which cattle in general will eat.

Sir W. G. Hooker mentions his possession of “ specimens of this
species bearing the rudiment of a second flower upon a rather long
footstalk, in the same calyx,” that is, within the same glumes or
spikelet,—a fact indicative of the very arbitrary rules upon which
our genera are based.

Agrostis 4LBA. Marsh Bent Grass. Prares XXXI. & XXXII.

Panicle loose; its branches and branchlets ascending, hispid.
Glumes nearly equal ; the outer one with its keel toothed through-
out. Quter palea rarely awned, five-veined ; inner two- or three-
veined ; both somewhat obtuse and toothed. Ligule long, acute.

Agrostis alba, Linneus. E. B. 1189; ed. 2.99. Generally adopted.
A. stolonifera, Linneus. E. B. 1532. Sinclair. Loudon,
and others. A. palustris, Sinclair.

Very common, and even abundant, throughout the. kingdom ;
chiefly, though not exclusively, in a moist soil and situation, and
assuming a variety of aspects, which the earlier botanists regarded
and described as so many distinct species. The tendency to spread
and creep from the root is far more strikingly evinced in this plant
than in the preceding, A. vulgaris, and it is at the same time much
stouter and taller, under most circumstances, than that species.
Growing in only moderately moist meadows and pastures, or on
road-sides, the difference in habit is less remarkable than it is else-

where; and a strict attention to the specific characters, as above
F2

36

given, will be necessary to their distinction. The magnified views,
a and 8, will show the entire serrulation of the glume-keel and
more complex veining of the outer palea in the present species ;
added to which the panicle is of a paler hue, and the branches and
branchlets, though similarly disposed, are less divaricated, pointing
upwards, and eventually closing upon each other instead of spread-
ing horizontally, as do those of A. vulgaris both during and after
flowering.

Perennial. Flowers late in July.

The two figures, given in plates 81 and 82, exhibit extremes in
the form of the panicle ; the first representing the normal condition
of A. alba, the second, one of the many varieties included under
A. stolonifera of Linneus and some later botanists. They cannot
be retained as distinct species, and I have preferred giving an ex-
ample of the latter from a specimen in the English Botany herba-
rium, to leaving it without illustration or selecting one more nearly
approaching the ordinary inflorescence of A. alba, exhibiting, as it
does, one of those remarkable departures from mere superficial
resemblance that occasionally occur among the species of the vege-
table kingdom.

The Marsh Bent Grass is a troublesome weed in gardens, and
likewise on heavy arable land, being with difficulty separated from
the latter when it is broken up. It is one of the grasses commonly
known by the names of sguiteh and quick, probably in allusion to
the tenacity with which its creeping stems, or stolones, retain their
vitality when removed from the soil. The variety stolonifera, so
called from the number and extension of these stolones, has been
long a subject of interest and inquiry among agriculturists, on
account of the enormons produce attributed to it by some observers.
It was one of the species noticed by Dr. Maton on a small tract of
meadow land at Orcheston, near Salisbury, remarkable for the
quantity of hay yielded by it in favourable seasons ; and which,
mown twice a year, amounted to near five tons per acre for the
first crop and about half as much for the second. The land in
question, two acres and a half in extent, is described, however, as
peculiarly circumstanced, being occasionally inundated during the
winter by a spring flowing out of a limestone rock; and the pro-
portion in which this grass existed upon it seems doubtful, as it
was accompanied by Poa trivialis, the Rough Meadow Grass, and
specimens of both species were collected measuring from seven to
ten feet in length. Farther, and perhaps more direct attention to
its merits as an agricultural grass, was excited by Dr. Richardson,
under its Irish appellation of Fiorin, and numerous experiments
were made in regard to its capabilities in cultivation, the general
results of which do not appear to have proved very favourable : in
the account given of those at Woburn it is observed, that it appears

37

to possess “ merits well worthy of attention, if the natural place of
growth and its habits be impartially taken into consideration ;” but
that these merits are perhaps not so great as has been supposed.

The following summary concerning the agricultural use of A.
alba appears in the second edition of ‘English Botany” The
value of all the varieties depends upon the creeping stems, which
afford a heavy crop of hay late in the year, and also supply leaves
for early feeding. That variety found on old rich pastures (the
Fiorin) is by far the best, being altogether of larger growth. To
make this thrive, a regular supply of manure upon a moist stiff
soil is required, while some of the other varieties do best upon
sandy ground. Mr. Sinclaix recommends the Fiorin to be mixed
with other grasses, to prevent its stems being trodden into the
ground by cattle, that they may form part of the crop, which is
most productive in December.

As is the case with plants generally which propagate themselves
abundantly by lateral extension, the Fiorin produces little seed ;
hence, those who are desirous of cultivating it, will succeed best by
planting cuttings of the creeping stems in drills an inch deep, and
‘slightly covering them with soil.

The creeping stems, runners, or stolones of this Agrostis and
many other grasses of similar habit are highly nutritive; and in
Italy and the south of France the poor people collect them by the
roadsides and elsewhere, binding them in small bundles, which
they carry to market for sale as food for horses. This is a fact
deserving our consideration while endeavouring to arrive at 4 just
appreciation of the agricultural capabilities of the Marsh or Creep-
ing Bent Grass, because it affords positive evidence in favour of its
foodful qualities when growing naturally. But, unfortunately,
practical men are too prone to overlook natural adaptation, and
expect: more than is consistent with the general laws of organiza-
tion. The Orcheston Long Grass and the Fiorin of Nature’s own
planting flourished in the rich, well-watered, and retentive soil of
the permanent pasture, to the production of an almost miraculous
amount of fodder; but it is surely unreasonable to suppose that,
in the absence of such conditions, and especially under the rotation
system at present followed, any parallel success can attend the
cultivation of the species. The Creeping Bent may be a useless
weed, wiry, nearly leafless, and unpalatable to cattle, or succulent,
abundant in foliage, and as grateful to them as it is productive ;
some of the richest cow-pasture, below the embankments of the
Lea, near London, consisted almost entirely of this grass and Poa
trivialis : see our plate 64; but it was intersected by ditches, into
which the water of the river was repeatedly admitted by sluices
during dry weather.

38

Genus 15. APERA. Wind Grass.

Gren. Cuar. Inflorescence loosely panicled, or narrow and con-
tracted. Spikelets laterally compressed, one-flowered. Glumes
two, the outer or lower one smaller, membranaceous, acute,
awnless. Flower with hairs at the base, accompanied by the
pedicel-like rudiment of another. Palez two, unequal; the
outer with a long, nearly terminal awn.

The difference of character between this genus and Agrostis
rests chiefly upon the comparatively smaller size of the lower
glume, and the very long and nearly terminal awn of the outer
palea: added to which, there is the minute, stalk-like rudiment of a
second flower, with a small tuft of hairs on each side, at the base
of the inner palea, and therefore superior. Such appendages are
but rarely traceable in the spikelets of the latter genus, in which
the species of Apera are sometimes included.

The name, rather arbitrarily bestowed by Palisot de Beauvois, is
from the Greek, signifying literally without mutilation, and applies
to the constant presence in these plants of the long floral awns,
organs which in Agrostis are either comparatively very short or
wanting altogether.

Apera Srica-ventI. Spreading Wind Grass. Pirate XXXIII.

Panicle loose ; its branches and branchlets spreading, elongated,
slender. Glumes unequal, lanceolate, rough on the keel. Outer
palea bifid at the apex, with a long, nearly terminal, straight awn ;
the inner one smaller. Anthers linear-oblong.

Apera Spica-venti, Beauvois, Babington. Agrostis Spica-venti, Lin-
neus. EH. B. 951; ed. 2. 95. Anemagrostis Spica-venti,
Trinwus, Parnel, Lindley.

Though scarcely to be considered rare, this is far from being a
common grass. It is, perhaps, more frequently met with in the
vicinity of London than elsewhere throughout the kingdom, espe-
cially in some parts of Surrey and Essex; growing almost always
in a sandy soil, and preferring spots that are occasionally inun-
dated, sometimes in cornfields. Stems slender, one to three feet
high. Leaves rough. Panicle from three or four inches to a foot
in length; its longer branches often three inches or more, all very
slender and more or less waved and spreading. Spikelets small,
stalked, and distant. Awn several times longer than the palea,
rough, inserted a very little below the bifid, or deeply-notched
extremity. Inner palea scarcely ‘shorter than the outer. The
magnified figure a shows the unequal glumes, the outer of which

39

is the smaller ; 6 is the solitary flower, exhibiting the nearly equal
size of the palez, the insertion of the long, rough awn, and the
form of the anthers.

Annual. Flowers from June to August.

Where found, it is generally abundant, and easily recognized at
a considerable distance by the delicacy of its ample, glossy, and
silk-like inflorescence, agitated by every breath of air. It is one
of the most beautiful of our grasses, and deserving a place in every
flower-garden, growing readily from seed, which ripens about the
end of August.

It is not of any agricultural value, dying away early in the
season, in most instances before the ripening of its seed, as occurs
with many annual grasses which vegetate in dry situations.

APERA INTERRUPTA. Dense-flowered Wind Grass. Puarte
XXXIV.

Panicle slender; its branches directed upwards. Anthers round-
ish oval.

Apera interrupta, Beauvois, Babington. E. B. Supp. 2951.
Agrostis interrupta, Linneus, Hooker and Arnott. Anema-
grostis, Trinius.

First noticed wild in England growing near Thetford, Norfolk,
in June 1847, by the Rev. W. W. Newbould; since met with in
Cambridgeshire and elsewhere. It seems confined to sandy dis-
tricts, and to flourish in more arid situations than A. Spica-venti,
as supposed meagre specimens of which it had probably been over-
looked by previous botanists in the few habitats hitherto recorded.
Stems often several from the same root, rarely more than a foot in
height, and often only a few inches. Panicle-branches rising
almost parallel with the rachis, never spreading as in the preceding
species ; growing in imperfect whorls, which, being distant from
each other, especially at the lower part of the contracted panicle,
give the latter the appearance of division into stages, whence the
Latin name, interrupta. The flowers correspond in structure with
those of the Spreading Wind Grass, except n the form of the an-
thers, which, as shown in figure 8, are proportionally shorter, their
length and diameter being nearly equal. The greater length of
the awn and more spreading stigmas are features lable to vary.
Figure c shows the stalk-like rudiment of the second flower ob-
servable in the spikelets of this genus.

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

Long recognized as a distinct species in central and southern
Europe, from which its rarity in our island seems to indicate it an
accidental wanderer. We must, I suppose, admit its claim to rank

40

as such; but the non-extension of the branches of a panicle is not
of the slightest importance as a distinctive character, unless in
association with others, and the difference in the form of the anther
a very equivocal one; indeed, the latter is not an improbable
result of the constitutional defect by which the former is induced.
Apera interrupta is not, however, the only uncertain species which
the artist may figure and the author describe; and its illustration,
whether species or variety, is equally useful, and essential to the
value of their work as one of general reference.

Genus 16. CATABROSA. Whorl Grass.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence loosely panicled; branches spreading.
Spikelets stalked, ovate, one- to three-flowered. Glumes two,
unequal, concave, very obtuse, membranaceous, much shorter
than the spikelets; the lower one-veined, oblong; the upper
three-veined, obovate, twice as large, eroded at the apex.
Palez two, nearly equal, somewhat coriaceous, oblong ; the
lower three-veined, rounded at the apex; the upper two-veined,
truncated, and eroded.

This genus, the typical and perhaps only true species of which
was formerly assigned to Aira, is readily distinguished from the
latter by the very obtuse termination of the glumes. The number
of perfect flowers in each spikelet is usually two, but occasionally
a third is found; and sometimes even the rudiment of a fourth
flower presents itself, showing the tendency to profuse development
which characterizes the inflorescence of Glyceria, Poa, and some
other genera regarded as widely dissimilar.

The name, from the Greek catabrosis, a gnawing, applies to the
eroded or irregularly-notched extremity of the glume.

Catasprosa aquatica. Water Whorl Glass. Puare XXXY.

Panicle pyramidal ; with alternate half whorls of spreading
branches. Leaves broadly linear, obtuse.

Catabrosa aquatica, Beauvois. Generally adopted by modern bota-
nists. #. B. ed. 2.110. Aira aquatica, Linneus. E. B.
1557. Loudon, Encyc. 58. Poa airoides, DeCandolle.

A common grass in watery situations, and about the banks of
rivers, ditches, and pools, where the flowering stems often rise
among the reeds and other herbage to the height of two or three
feet ; or, extending into the water, float upon the surface, sending
out fibrous rootlets from every joint, and becoming branched.
Leaves broad, flat, flaccid, sometimes very short, but not unfre-

41

quently growing to a considerable length, especially in running
water. Panicle large and handsome in luxuriant specimens, con-
sisting of several, alternately disposed series of semi-whorls of from
five to three branches each. The short lower glume is always
distinctly one-veined, but the veining of the upper one is often ob-
scure: the broad blunt terminations of these, and of the palez
likewise, contribute to render the generally two-flowered spikelets
peculiarly compact in their oval outline. In the magnified figure
a, the form, proportion, and veining of the glumes is shown; in 8,
a spikelet of two flowers, one being expanded.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

_ A-small variety of this species is occasionally met with, growing
in sand on the sea-shore, chiefly on the western side of the island.
It is often not more than two or three inches high. The spikelets
are only one-flowered.

The panicle of the Water Whorl Grass has, when growing ex-
posed to the sun, a beautifully variegated appearance, the glumes
being tinged with purple or pink, and the palee brownish-green
with white or very pale green extremities, the whole contrasting
well with the yellow or orange-coloured anthers.

Being an aquatic plant, it is of course in a great measure beyond
the limit of cultivation for hay or pasture; but all cattle, cows
especially, seem to relish it exceedingly ; indeed, I have often seen
the latter standing midway in the pools, in which it grows floating,
in order to feed upon its sweet succulent shoots and foliage. Geese,
ducks, and other water-fowl are equally fond of it; hence its intro-
duction into decoys for wild birds of the kind has long been prac-
tised, by throwing the floating stems into the water with weights
attached to them.

Genus 17. AIRA. Hair Grass.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence paniculate, more or less spreading.
Spikelets stalked, laterally compressed, two-flowered, rarely
three- or one-flowered. Glumes two, nearly equal, scarcely
shorter than the spikelet. Paleze two, membranaceous, often
hairy at the base; lower one bifid or toothed at the apex,

awned at the back. Fruit glabrous,

The English name of these grasses refers to the slender leaves
characterizing most. of the species, which are numerous and widely
distributed, generally in dry open situations, of which they some-
times constitute the principal vegetation. The British species are
regarded rather as weeds than as of any utility in an agricultural

point of view. The larger kinds are too coarse and wiry to form
G

42

good hay, and cattle will rarely eat any of them in the growing
state, sheep being the only pasturing animals to which they seem
at all palatable.

The generic name is Greek, from the verb airo, to kill or destroy,
and was applied to the Bearded Darnel Grass, in allusion to the
deleterious effects resulting from the use of its seeds: hence it is
altogether meaningless as now bestowed on a family of grasses, the
species of which, if not highly nutritive, are at least harmless.

The genus is in an unsettled state, being considered by some
botanists susceptible of division ito three or four; but as our
indigenous species are few, and the distinctive characters of the
alleged genera, perhaps with one exception, very far from definite,
they are here more conveniently arranged, under the same name,
in two sections.

* Lower palea truncate, erose at the apex. Fruit free.
Deschampsia, Beauvois, and Aira proper.

Aira caspitosa. Turfy Hair Grass. Prare XXXVI.

Panicle spreading; its branches scabrous. Glumes slightly
rough on the midvein. Flowers hairy at the base, two, with the
rudiment of a third; or, rarely, one only. Awn straight, arising
from below the middle of the lower palea and seldom exceeding it
in length. Leaves flat. Ligule acute.

Aira cespitosa, Linneus. E. B. 1453; ed. 2.104. Most British
botanists. Deschampsia cxespitosa, Beawvois. Lindley. Mac-
reight.

This is a common species in moist meadows and woods, and on
hill-side pastures where the ground is wet or springy. In such
situations it is generally very conspicuous in consequence of forming
large tufts that rise above the surrounding vegetation. Under the
shade of trees, the stems often rise to the height of three or four
feet, but in more exposed habitats average between one and two
feet only: they are usually few in number compared with the size
of the tufts, slender, erect, and rigid. Leaves long, flat, linear,
acuminate, rough, on the sheaths and margins especially. Panicle
large, six to ten inches high and about as broad at the lower part ;
its branches slender, rough. Spikelets small, silvery-grey or pur-
plish. Palez very obtuse, the upper bifid, the lower erose; the
lower with two conspicuous veins on each side of the central one,
which separates from it a little below the middle, forming the
straight, rough dorsal awn. Figure a shows a two-flowered spike-
let, with its nearly equal lanceolate glumes, which are rough on the

43

keel; b, a separate flower with a few hairs at the base, the charac-
ters of the palez and the awn.

Perennial. Flowers from J uly to September.

The general aspect and certain secondary characters of the species
are liable to vary in mountainous habitats, and two of the forms
thus induced are distinguished by name.

B. brevifolia, Parnell. This has the radical leaves short, with
smooth sheaths; the panicle small; the awn about the length of
the flower.

Y. longiaristata, Parnell. Awn one-third longer than the flower.
Occasionally this has only one fertile flower in each spikelet.

Another form found in corresponding situations to the two pre-
ceding is the viviparous ; in which the flowers instead of producing
fruit or seed develope buds, that, beginning to vegetate upon the
panicle, eventually drop off, and rooting where they fall, multiply
the species. This is not an uncommon circumstance among alpine
grasses, an example or two of which we shall take occasion to figure
in the course of our work. The viviparous forms are retained for
years under cultivation in the garden; but I have not found this
to be the case with the other varieties of the species before us ;
they have gradually merged into the ordinary condition of the
lowland plant. All these varieties are liable to be mistaken by an
inexperienced collector for the following species, A. alpina, and I
fear that the assumed different position and character of the awn
will not readily determine the question.

The Turfy Hair Grass is a troublesome weed in marshy meadows,
where its tufts occasion little hillocks which interrupt the sweep
of the scythe and blunt its edge; while no feature is more indica-
tive of neglect or carelessness on the part of the farmer, or gives
a more slovenly appearance to his land, than the accumulation of
Tussocks, Hassocks, Rough-caps, or Bull’s-faces, as they are
variously termed in provincial dialect. Pigs seem to be the only
animals that eat this grass with any relish, though it is occa-
sionally cropped by cows when the pasture is overstocked. By
horses it is rarely, if ever, touched, and sheep never take it while
better food is to be had. The harshness and strong flavour of the
abundant foliage will account for this almost universal dislike, in
the absence of analysis to determine its want of nutritive prin-
ciples as compared with other grasses. Of course a plant so cir-
cumstanced must always be regarded, in an economical point of
view, as occupying space which might be more advantageously
employed. Jn well-drained land it rarely intrudes ; but when once
it obtains a place in the permanent pasture, the sooner it is
destroyed by paring up and burning the tussocks the better.

In the economy of Nature, these tufts, so unsightly and dis-

figuring to the cultivated landscape, are valuable, by contributing
G2

44

to elevate and solidify low lands liable to be overflowed by rivers ;
and, where they occur on hill and mountain slopes, by binding
the spongy soil and preventing the slips which would leave them
bare.

Arra atpina. Smooth Alpine Hair Grass. Pirate XXXVII.

Panicle rather contracted ; its branches smooth. Glumes smooth
on the midvein. Flowers hairy at the base; two, with the rudi-
ment of a third. Awn bent, twisted at the base, arising from
above the middle of the lower palea and scarcely exceeding it in
length. Leaves involute.

Aira alpina, Linneus. E.B. ed. 2. 105. Generally adopted.
A. levigata, EZ. B. 2102.

Found growing in the moist crevices of rocks about the summits
of the Highland and Welsh mountains. In these habitats it has
rarely the tufted character of the preceding species, but often
exhibits a tendency to creep and send out stolones. The stems
are seldom more than a foot high, and occasionally only three or
four inches. The leaves are short, turned inwards on the margins,
which gives them a narrow appearance, rigid, and roughish on the
upper surface. The panicle varies much im size and compactness,
being in some instances more expanded than represented in our
figure, in others having the branches almost close. The spikelets
are much larger than those of the normal form of A. cespitosa ;
they are far more frequently viviparous than fruit-bearimg. The
awn, though usually arising from above the middle of the back of
the lower palea, has sometimes a lower attachment; neither is its
bent and twisted character always appreciable.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

This differs sufficiently from the last in general aspect to admit
the probability of its beg a distinct species, were the above-
mentioned varieties wanting, but their occurrence renders the
question doubtful. Having only grown the viviparous form of
A. alpina, I have no evidence to adduce concerning its suspected
identity with the alpine conditions of A. cespitosa, but believe in
it notwithstanding. .

Aira FLexuosa. Waved Hair Grass. PiLatz XXXVIII.

Panicle spreading ; its branches waved. Glumes roughish on
the midvein. Flowers hairy at the base ; two, with the rudiment
of a third. Awn jointed, arising from near the base of the lower
palea, and extending considerably beyond its apex. Leaves-almost
setaceous. Ligule truncate.

45

Aira flexuosa, Linnaeus. E.B. 1519; ed. 2. 106. Generally
adopted.

Abundant on heaths and dry upland pastures throughout the
kingdom. It forms somewhat creeping tufts of nearly smooth,
narrow, bristle-like leaves, among which rise numerous slender,
wiry stems about a foot in height. Panicle two or three inches
long, spreading when in flower ; its rachis and branches more or
less waved or zigzag. Spikelets glossy, purplish, chiefly directed
to one side. Awn knee-bent, half as long again as the palea.

Perennial. Flowers in July and August.

A variety with smaller and more compact panicle, and with the
lower flower a little longer than the glumes, was A. montana of
some of our older botanists.

It is not a grass deserving any attention in cultivation, but in
the dry natural pastures where it flourishes the sheep seldom allow
it to flower.

** Lower palea bifid at the apex: both hardening and enclosing
the fruit. Aéropsis, Fries.

AIRA CARYOPHYLLEA. Silvery Hair Grass. Pruare XXXIX.

Panicle spreading, with ternate branches. Spikelets rounded
below. Flowers two, shorter than the glumes. Awn arising from
below the middle of the lower palea, and extending beyond the
glumes. Leaves short, narrow.

Aira caryophyllea, Linneus. HE. B. 812; ed. 2.109. Generally
adopted by British botanists. Avena, Koch.

Common on dry sandy or gravelly heaths and pastures, where
its slender stems vary in height from two or three inches to a foot.
Leaves very few, narrow, sometimes almost bristle-like; their
sheaths rough. Panicle spreading in maturity ; its branches grow-
ing by threes and dividing on the same plan, very slender, often
slightly flexuose, but never zigzag like those of A. flexuosa.
Spikelets small, silvery-grey, obtuse or rounded at the base; two-
flowered, without any rudiment of a third. Flowers destitute, or
nearly so, of hairs at the base. Glumes ovato-lanceolate, pellucid
at the upper part. Palez hardening eventually over the ripening
fruit. Awn twice as long as the bifid lower palea from below the
middle of which it arises. :

Annual. Flowers in June and July. ed

A very elegant and ornamental grass, but its foliage is so scanty
as to yield little nutriment, and place it beyond the pale of culti-

vation.

46

Atra pracox. Early Hair Grass. Puate XL.

Panicle compact, often spicate. Spikelets two-flowered. Awn
from below the middle or near the base of the outer palea, extend-
ing beyond its bifid apex. Leaves short, narrow; their sheaths
smooth.

Aira precox, Linneus. E. B. 1296; ed. 2. 108. Generally
adopted by British botanists. Avena, Koch.

Very frequent on sandy heaths and commons and by road-
sides. The stems, from one to five or six inches high, rise erect,
usually several from the same root amidst a tuft of small, almost
setaceous leaves. Panicle of few branches, and, even im larger
specimens, scarcely expanding as such ; while in those of average
and smaller size, the spikelets are nearly sessile, giving the in-
florescence the character of an oval or oblong spike, varying
from half an inch or less to an inch in length: the colour when in
flower is a pale greenish-grey. The glumes are ovate-lanceolate,
but less inflated or turgid at the base than those of A. caryophyllea ;
hence the spikelets are less rounded below than in the latter species.
The length and insertion of the awn are variable, but it is always
extended considerably beyond the bifid extremity of the palea.
No rudiment of a third flower is traceable.

Annual. Flowers in April and May.

It is difficult to frame a specific character of distinction between
this and the preceding species, except from the compactness of the
panicle and comparatively larger size of the spikelets in the present.
Their general appearance is, however, so very dissimilar, as to
render mistake by the most superficial observer next to impossible.
Our figures express the peculiarity of habit, laxity in the one and
rigidity in the other; and though in small specimens of A. caryo-
phyllea these features are less exaggerated, they will still be found,
on comparison, sufficiently expressive to keep apart two plants,
which, with many common characteristics, have no real affinity
beyond association in the same genus.

It will be observed, by reference to the sectional arrangement
and synonyms of the five British species of Aira above described,
that they have been regarded by different botanists as involving
types of three distinct genera, Deschampsia, Aira, and Airopsis.
In a local monograph, like that before us, such a division, founded
between the first two upon very equivocal features, and not gene-
rally adopted in either instance, has been avoided as unnecessary
to accuracy of description, and tending to. complicate the subject.
But the attention of every practical botanist must be arrested by
the fact, that the two species, composing our second division, are

47

separated from their assumed congeners, by a feature of far greater
importance than the relative dimensions of a glume or palea or the
twisting or insertion of an awn; namely the hardening of the
palez around the ripening fruit, a character involving physiological,
not mere accidental, difference in development. The reference of
our Silvery and Early Hair Grasses to Avena, the Oat family, on
this consideration, is scar¢ely consistent with other circumstances ;
but the genera of the grasses are at present, almost throughout,
highly unsatisfactory: to revise and establish them on a firmer
foundation would be the labour of a life—our work must float
with the tide.

Genus 18. CORYNEPHORUS. Club Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence paniculate, more or less dense. Spike-
lets stalked, two-flowered. Glumes two, nearly equal, longer
than the flowers. Paleze two, membranaceous ; the lower one
entire, awned above the base. Awn straight; jointed in the
middle, with a tuft of hairs at the joint; club-shaped above.

This genus was separated from Aira by Palisot de Beauvois, in
consequence of the peculiar structure of the awn in A. canescens
of Linnzus, for which see our magnified view of the flower in
Plate XLI.

The name is from the Greek koryne, a club, and phoreo, to bear ;
in allusion to the club-like extremity of the awn.

CoryNEPHORUS CANESCENS. Grey Club Grass. Prats XLI.

Panicle rather compact than spreading. Glumes longer than
the flowers, acuminate. Awn arising from near the base of the
palea. Leaves slender.

Corynephorus canescens, Beauvois, Lindley, Babington, Macreight,
Loudon. Aira canescens, Linneus. E.B.1190; ed. 2. 107.
Hooker and Arnott.

Not strictly indigenous, but in many places abundant, on the
sandy sea-coasts of Norfolk, Suffolk, Dorset, and the Channel
Islands. Stems slender, six inches to a foot in height, often many
from the same root. Leaves very narrow, nearly setaceous.
Panicle, in its full development, spreading, but more frequently
compact, or interruptedly spicate ; often, when in flower, scarcely
escaping from the sheath. Spikelets variegated, purple and white,
small, stalked. Anthers purple. Awn straight, rismg from near the
base of the outer palea; jointed about the middle ; the lower part
thicker, cylindrical, striated, and twisted, brownish-yellow, opake,
terminating in a circular tuft of short bristles ; upper part club-

48

shaped, whitish tinged with purple, translucent, articulated to the
broad summit of the lower, and surrounded at the base by the
ring of bristles, as seen in our magnified figure.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

An elegant little grass, when the panicle expands in full flower.
Interesting to the botanist on account of the peculiar character of
the awn; but of no value to the cultivator,—a consequence rather
of the scanty foliage than of its being ungrateful to cattle, as I
have seen it eaten down in its natural habitats both by cows and
sheep.

Genus 19. MOLINIA.

Gey. Cuan. Inflorescence paniculate, contracted or spreading.
Spikelets stalked, one- to three- or more-flowered. Glumes
two, unequal, acute, one-veined, shorter than the contiguous
flowers. Paleze two; the lower one entire, smooth, rounded
on the back, eventually hardening around the upper one and
enclosing it with the fruit.

Originally confounded with the following genus, Melica, from
the general character of which, however, our solitary British species
differs considerably. The aumber of perfect flowers in each spikelet
varies from one to five or six, and, ever with the latter number, the
rudiments of one or two others may sometimes be traced ; showing a
tendency to super-development that in some instances completely
alters the aspect of the plant. Named in commemoration of
Giovanni Ignatio Molina, the author of the ‘ Natural History of
Chili,’ published in 1782,

Motinta cHrurea. Lavender Grass. Pratre XLII.

Panicle erect, more or less contracted. Spikelets erect, cylin-
drical. Outer palea three- or, sometimes, five-veined.

Molinia cerulea, Manch, Lindley. Most modern British botanists.
Melica cerulea, Linnaeus. HE. B. 750; ed. 2.117. Aira,
Hudson.

Frequent on moors and wet heaths, where its numerous slender,
bluish-purple panicles render it very conspicuous during the
flowering season. It forms dense tufts, which often present an
almost bulbous appearance at the base, especially when growing
about the borders of pools or in bogs, owing to the bottoms of the
last year’s leaves becoming persistent and of a fleshy texture; on
drier ground this peculiarity is less markéd. Leaves long, narrow,
linear-acuminate, flat, usually having a glaucous hue. Stems
slender, wiry, from six inches to two feet high; leafless at the
upper part, owing to the absence of nodes or joints, of which there

49

is generally only one near the base. Panicle in most instances
erect and very close, especially when simply branched ; but in ex-
ceedingly luxuriant specimens with elongated and dividing branches,
it sometimes assumes a slightly curved and unilateral character :
the length varies from two to six or eight inches. Spikelets
purple, rarely greenish, mostly only two- or three-flowered, with a
terminal rudiment of another. Anthers deep purple.

Perennial. Flowers in July and August.

The diversity of size, general aspect, and corresponding difference
in the development of the panicle, have induced some botanists to
record mere accidental, or, at farthest, local varieties, as species.
Such are: M. depauperata, Lindley. A variety first noticed by
the late Mr. D. Don, on the Clova mountains of Scotland, where
it grows at an elevation of 3000 feet, and named by him M. alpina:
in this the spikelets are only one-flowered; but, cultivated in the
garden for a few years, it shows no difference from the common-
form of the species on the heaths around London.

Another form, perhaps not met with in Britain, is M. altissima,
Link: with stems sometimes three or four feet high, a long
branched panicle, and many-flowered spikelets.

The slender rigid stems have considerable elasticity, and are
employed in some parts of the West of England to make brooms,
which for ordinary purposes are used as substitutes for those made
of hair. They are not very durable, but sufficiently cheap to
render deficiency in that respect of little importance, and the
collection of material, the simple manufacture and sale about the
country afford occupation and subsistence to many poor people.
Sinclair remarks upon the presence of this grass as useful in indi-
cating those deep peat soils which are adapted for the production
of Ash, Alder, and Willow. In Skye and other islands among the
Hebrides, where it grows abundantly, the stems are applied to a
variety of purposes, being made into ropes, mats, baskets, &c. ;
the ropes are valued especially by fishermen for their nets, on ac-
count of the length of time they last without rotting.

It is eaten by sheep ; but cattle generally leave it untouched,
or crop it only when compelled by hunger ; or early in the spring
before the flower-stems shoot up.

Genus 20. MELICA. Melic Grass.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence paniculate or racemose. Spikelets
stalked, ovate, one- or two-flowered, with a stalked, club-shaped
rudiment. Glumes two, nearly equal, blunt, three-veined,
scarcely shorter than the enclosed flowers. Palee two; the
lower one concave, rounded on the back, hardening around
the upper and enclosing it with the ripening fruit.

H

50

The genus, containing between twenty and thirty species, is
widely distributed. Few grasses are more elegant in habit; but
their foliage is in general too scanty to render them of much value.
Our two British species are not tenants of the pasture, growing
only in woods, thickets, and other shady situations. Their seeds
are comparatively large and have a sweetish flavour; hares and
rabbits appear to be exceedingly fond of them, as in preserves, where
the more common species, M. uniflora, grows abundantly, they are
usually consumed before sufficiently ripe for shedding.

The generic name, bestowed by Linneus, is borrowed from the
Italian medliga, a term applied to the Sorghum vulgare or Mullet,
from the Latin mel, honey, on account of the honey-like sweetness
of its stems.

The stalked club-shaped rudiment, mentioned in the above cha-
racter, constitutes a marked feature of this genus: mdependent of
its presence, the glumes of each spikelet, in our native species at
least, contain only one or two perfect flowers. The rudiment springs
from between the two flowers, or from the base of the ner glume,
between it and the solitary flower, as represented in the magnified
figures 6, Plates XLIII. and XLIV. Dr. Withering has very cor-
rectly described the structure of its club-shaped apex in M. uniflora,
as “ composed of the rudiments of three or even four florets, each
consisting of two membranaceous valves similar in shape to those of
the perfect floret ; each supported on a fruit-stalk of its own, rising
from the base of the inner valve of the last rudiment ; and each as
small again as the floret below it. No stamens or pistils in any of
them.”

Me ica nutans. Mountain Melic Grass. Prats XLIII.

Panicle slightly drooping, nearly simple, or like a raceme. Spike-
Jets unilateral, distant, drooping ; with two perfect flowers.

Melica nutans, Linneus. EE. B. 1059; ed. 2.116. — Generally
adopted.

A native of rocky mountain woods, chiefly in the North of Eng-
land. Stems slender, leafy, from a foot to eighteen inches high.
Leaves narrow, acuminated, flat ; the ligule short and obtuse. In-
florescence usually three or four inches long, the short branches all
directed to one side, and almost constantly simple, hence constitu-
ting, strictly speaking, a unilateral raceme. Glumes ovate, convex,
deep brownish purple with pale margins, three-veined, nearly as
long as the included flowers. Palez cartilaginous, unequal, the
larger outer one often tinged with purple. The club-shaped rudi-
ment rises between the two flowers, and is shown attached at the
base of the magnified one figured at 5d.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

51

Though a local, the Mountain Melic is not a rare grass, growing
abundantly in many places in Yorkshire, Westmoreland, Cumber-
land, and, less frequently, in Scotland.

MELIca UNIFLORA. Wood Melic Grass. Pirate XLIV.

Panicle distantly branched, slightly drooping. Spikelets erect;
with one perfect flower. en eee we

Melica uniflora, Retz. E. B. 1058; ed. 2.115. Generally adopted.

Common in woods and under hedges, especially in hilly districts.
Somewhat creeping at the lower part, rooting wherever the nodes
come in contact with the soil. Flowering stems erect, slender, from
one to two feet in height. Leaves much broader than those of M.
nutans, flat, the ligule short, obtuse, with, occasionally, “ a slender
acuminate lobe on one side” (Babington). Panicle few-flowered,
three to six or eight inches long ; the branches distant, very slender,
almost capillary. Glumes reddish purple, with pale margins.

Perennial. Flowers from May to July.

Genus 21. HOLCUS. Soft Grass.

Gun. Cuar. Inflorescence paniculate, spreading when in flower.
Spikelets stalked, two-flowered ; the flowers rather distant ;
the lower one perfect, awnless ; the upper stameniferous only,
with a long dorsal awn. Glumes two, nearly equal, membra-
naceous, keeled, longer than the flowers. Palez two, mem-
branaceous, equal; the lower one awned in the imperfect
flower. Fruit loosely invested by the dry palez.

The grasses included in this genus are in general very soft to
the touch, in consequence of the downy covering of their leaves and
inflorescence ; hence the English name. They yield abundant
foliage, but are so much disliked by cattle, that, even in overstocked
pastures, the tufts of the more common British species often remain
untouched, while every other |-af around them is closely cropped.
Utility and plenty are not by any interpretation synonymous, and
its recommendation on the latter plea is unsupported by any evi-
dence asto the former. In this case at least, the herbage which our
horses and oxen decline eating on the field, is equally ungrateful to.
their palates as hay, and hunger alone will induce them to feed upon.
that of which the Soft Grass constitutes any considerable proportion.
The farmer would be justified in regarding all the members of the
genus Holcus as weeds, and so far from admitting the seeds of either
foreign or British species, in the mixtures advertised by their seeds-
men, for laying down fresh pasture, they would act more wisely in
endeavouring to eradicate the latter wherever they spring up spon-
taneously. H.odoratus?, H. fragrans of Pursh, a North American.

H2

52

grass, has been recommended here as an early-flowering species
likely to prove advantageous; but Mr. Sinclair states that it is
tender, the spring produce of herbage inconsiderable, and that its
powerful creeping roots render it altogether unfit for agricultural
purposes. :

The generic name is altered from the Greek olkos, applied to some
plant, a supposed grass, which was considered to have the property
of extracting thorns from the flesh, and so termed from the verb
elko, to draw out. The original signification has no immediate
reference to the grasses before us. ; ;

The upper flower is very often perfect and fertile, especially in
H. mollis, and the rudiment of the ovary is almost universally
present, circumstances tending to show that its more frequent
deficiency is the result of accident.

The copiously branched, variegated or silvery inflorescence, and .
broad, downy, almost silky foliage, render these conspicuous among
our native grasses ; few of which equal them in beauty.

Hoxcus motuis. Creeping Soft Grass. Prats XLV.

Panicle erect; its branches spreading when in flower. Upper
glume somewhat acuminate. Awn of the upper flower knee-bent,
rough throughout, extending beyond the glumes. Knots of the
stem woolly. Creeping at the root.

Holeus mollis, Linneus. #.B.1170; ed. 2.112. Generally
adopted.

Not unfrequent, or even common, in woods and under hedges,
to which situations it is usually confined; unless in light sandy
soils, where it intrudes on the pastures and corn-fields, constituting
in the latter one of the most troublesome weeds, and at the same
time the most difficult to eradicate, in consequence of its rapid
growth and widely creeping habit. Stems one to two feet high,
conspicuously hairy or woolly at the joints. Leaves rather broad,
soft to the touch, owing to the presence of a fine, but nearly invisible
down ; their sheaths more or less inflated. Panicle pale, pyramidal,
rather distantly branched, two to five inches in length, and from an
inch and a half to two inches or more in breadth at the base.
Glumes nearly smooth, often tinged with purple; the upper one
acuminated. Upper flower supported on a short stalk (see the mag-
nified figure 6), generally barren, containing stamens only with the
imperfect rudiment of an ovary ; bearing a sharply-bent awn on the
back of the lower palea. Lower flower sometimes, but very rarely,
awned.

Perennial. Flowers in July and August.

This is one of the grasses called couch and wick, quicken or squitch,
in different parts of England. The creeping root-stems or stolones,

53

in light arable land, extend themselves rapidly in all directions
round the parent plant to the distance of many feet: Mr. Sinclair
has found them “ five feet in length, the growth of a few months
only,” and remarks that, when once in possession of the soil, they
cannot be expelled without great labour and expense ; the best mode
of doing so being to go over the field after ploughing, and collect
them with the fork. Like the corresponding underground or sur-
face-creeping stems of other grasses of similar habit, these trouble-
some stolones, or roots as they are commonly regarded, abound in
nutritive matter, starch, sugar, &c.; and, though net apparently
palatable to other animals constituting the well-fed stock of an
English farm, pigs are exceedingly fond of them, turning up the
soil in which they spread in their eagerness for the luscious repast.

Houcvus tanatus. Meadow Soft Grass. Piate XLVI.

Panicle erect ; spreading when in flower. Upper glume obtuse,
with a small pot or mucro. Awn of the upper flower curved in-
wards like a hook, not extended beyond the glumes, quite smooth
except towards the tip. Knots of the stem nearly smooth. Not
creeping.

Holeus lanatus, Linneus. E. B. 1169; ed. 2. 111. Generally
adopted.

Common in meadows and pastures, and little less so in woods ,
and thickets. It forms tufts springing from a fibrous root, and
though the stems are sometimes decumbent at the lower part, they
exhibit no tendency to the creeping habit which so strikingly cha-
racterizes H. mollis. The height varies from a span to one or two
feet ; and the joints, though not devoid of pubesence, have not the
peculiar woolly or downy tufts by which those of the last species
are ordinarily distinguished, Independent of this, however, the
whole plant is more decidedly hairy, which renders the hue of both
leaves and stem pale or whitish green, and bestows upon them a
velvet-like softness to the touch, while a similar character extends
to the inflorescence, the glumes especially beimg covered with a
short down. Leaves usually broader than those of the Creeping Soft
Grass, and, perhaps, feeling rather rougher when passed through
the hand, in a direction opposite to the inclination of their hairy
covering. Sheaths inflated. Panicle dense, owing to the number
and repeated division of its branches and branchlets; two to six
inches in length, and from an inch and a half to three inches or
more in breadth ; pale green, but often beautifully variegated with
white and pinkish purple. Upper glume terminated abruptly, but
with a projecting point or mucro at its apex. Both of the flowers
are supported upon very short stalks, but the upper one is not

54

much elevated beyond the lower, and its awn is curved in a pecu-
liar manner, so as to have been compared by some botanists to a
fish-hook (see magnified figure 6): this flower is usually, but not
universally barren.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

The general distribution of this grass in old or long unbroken
pastures and upon almost every kind of soil, has probably led many
persons to entertain higher notions of its value than careful inves-
tigation will substantiate ; at the same time it yields largely to the
scythe, and where abundant and luxuriant, as it often is on moist
peaty lands, wonderfully increases the bulk of the hay crop; such
hay, however, is soft and spongy, and, as experience manifests,
neither agreeable nor wholesome fodder, for horses especially.
Mr. Sinclair recommends, where this species predominates, sprink-
ling the hay with salt when it is carried, which would render it
more palatable. In its more favourite habitats, the abundant pro-
duction of seed, and broader foliage, soon enable it to overpower
and destroy the more slender and less prolific grasses; hence
advantage should be taken of its first appearance to eradicate it
from the soil, before a few scattered tufts have had time to multiply
into hundreds and thousands.

Genus 22. ARRHENATHERUM. Oat-like Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence loosely paniculate. Spikelets stalked,
two-flowered. Lower flower stameniferous only, with a long
dorsal knee-bent and twisted awn inserted above the base of
the lower palea: upper one perfect, with a short straight awn
inserted near the apex of the lower palea. Glumes two, mem-
branaceous; the upper one longer and equalling the flowers.
Palez two, herbaceous, terminating in two points.

This genus was founded by Palisot de Beauvois upon a single
species, which has been variously distributed by different botanists.
Linneus arranged it under Avena, the Oat family, to which it
appears most nearly allied.

The name is derived from the Greek arren, male, and ather, an
awn or point, in allusion to the conspicuous awn of the lower barren
flower ; like many others, belonging to botanical phraseology, its
value rests rather upon its being a name, than on euphony or
peculiar adaptation to generic character.

ARRBENATHERUM AVENACEUM. Common Oat-like Grass.
Puate XLVIL.

The character of the species is that of the genus, of which it
appears to be a solitary representative.

55

Arrhenatherum avenaceum, Beauvois. Lindley. E. B. ed. 2. 118.
Generally adopted by modern botanists. Holcus avenaceus,

Scopoli, E. B. 813. Loudon, Encycl. 860. Avena elatior,
Linneus.

One of the commoner British grasses, growing in most soils and
situations, but generally preferring the skirts of woods and thickets,
hedges, and other sheltered places, where its flowering-stems often
attain the height of three feet or more. It is, however, not unfre-
quent in meadows and open pastures. The roots are fibrous, but
the lowermost joints of the stems, near the ground, often enlarge
in the form of small bulbs or tubers ; and, in dry soils especially,
this peculiarity occasionally becomes so strikingly developed, that,
associated with a slight corresponding difference in habit, it has
been regarded significant of a separate species, A. bulbosum of
Lindley and others. In luxuriant specimens the panicle is some-
times more than a foot in length, but in exposed situations not
above six inches, or even shorter; the slender, nearly verticillate
branches expand when in flower, but ultimately close upward
against the rachis. Spikelets few, pale green, the bases of the glumes
more or less tinted with brown. The structure of the two flowers,
and the absence of stigmas in the lower one, together with the
characters of the glumes and palez, and the difference between the
awns of the latter in the barren and fertile flowers, are features of
the genus illustrated in the magnified figures.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

The habit or general aspect of this grass is more accordant with
that of an Oat than of one of the Soft Grasses, but in the structure
of the spikelets it more nearly resembles the latter, differing chiefly
in the position of the barren flower, a feature which I have never
found reversed.

The herbage is very productive, and, when growing in natural
or permanent pastures among other grasses, cattle and sheep eat it
promiscuously, though it has been affirmed that they decline it
alone, and dislike hay in which it may be present in any large pro-
portion. Sinclair’s remarks upon it are rather contradictory, but
certainly very little in favour of its agricultural capabilities. After
mentioning the fact of its rapidity of growth, and the early and
plentiful supply of herbage which it yields in spring, properties
that would entitle it to a high rank among the grasses adapted for
alternate husbandry, he adds that it contains too large a proportion
of bitter extractive and saline matters to warrant its cultivation,
without a considerable admixture of other kinds. To me it appears

.that a grass so circumstanced is unworthy of the farmer’s atten-
tion, especially when associated with a habit that renders its intro-
duction in alternate cropping highly unsatisfactory, namely the
difficulty of extirpation when no longer wanted. In accordance

56

with this habit it constitutes one of the many species known as
couch grasses, as well as by other provincial appellations already
noticed in our work. In some of the northern counties it is called
“knot-grass,” and a Yorkshire farmer calls it “the vilest of all
light-land wickens.” The tendency which it has, in light soils, to
form small bulbs or tubers, is the cause of this execration. A very
intelligent correspondent of the “Farmer’s Magazine,” June 1855,
in his paper on the “classification and extirpation of weeds,”
observes that ‘no weed is more troublesome to the farmer than
this on the better turnip soils, and on the more loamy clay fallows.
The root is perennial, and composed of knobs or bulbs that are
joined together at distances by intervening threads, and from each
bulb shoots proceed, which circumstance renders the extirpation of
the weed exceedingly difficult and tedious.”—“ The roots are very
tenacious of life, and no degree of arid exposure will destroy the
vital principle. Decomposition in a heap, along with other earthy
matters, requires to be very minutely inspected at each turning
over of the heap ; for some roots are very apt to escape on the out-
side of the compost, and which, being carried to the land, will
immediately grow, and multiply very fast. Even the burning of the
roots in heaps on the field is not thoroughly safe; for the outside
may escape ignition, and grow as before. The most effectual
method is to carry the roots from the field at once, and to lay them
in some waste corner, where they may be burned at leisure.” This
extract may serve to caution the amateur or even the practical
farmer against the admission, knowingly, of the seeds of the grass
before us among those selected by seedsmen and printed in their
catalogues, as insuring copious crops, and adapted for artificial pas-
ture. Nature has distributed it widely, and so long as it has to
struggle for existence with other self-established tenants of the soil,
it is harmless, and probably beneficial to the animals feeding upon
the mingled herbage, among which it is an admitted but never a
predominant associate. On the down, and the heath, and the com-
mon, its ill qualities are all either counterbalanced or restricted; it
is only when the ground is broken up, and the pasture converted
into arable land, that the mischief commences ; then, its bulb-form-
ing habit and tenacity of life come into action, and, resisting the
destructive processes to which its less enduring brethren have
yielded, it becomes one of the worst of weeds.

Dogs eat the leaves to excite vomiting, in the same manner as
they do those of Triticum repens.

Genus 23. HIEROCHLOE. Holy Grass.

Guy. Cuar. Inflorescence paniculate. Spikelets stalked, three-
flowered. The two lower or lateral flowers stameniferous only

57

and triandrous; the uppermost or central one perfect, dian-
drous. Glumes two, nearly equal, membranaceous, as long
as the flowers. ales two; upper one of the barren flowers
two-veined, that of the fertile flower one-veined ; lower ones
cartilaginous, permanent.

A genus of confined but uncertain limits, the species of which
are distributed over the colder regions of both hemispheres. They
were originally regarded as appertaining to Holcus, resembling the
grasses of that genus in general aspect and imperfectly developed
spikelets, while they differ in the number of flowers associated in
the latter being three instead of two.

The name was bestowed by Gmelin on Hierochloe borealis, which,
being sweet-scented, is, in some parts of Prussia, strewed about
the entrances and pavements of the churches on festival days.
The English title is a translation from the Greek hieras, holy, and
chloe, grass.

HigRocuioz soreatis. Northern Holy Grass, Puars XLVI.

Panicle erect, spreading, with smooth branches. Flowers awn-
less. Outer palea ciliated on the margins. Leaves flat. Creeping
at the root.

Hierochloe borealis, Roemer et Schultes. E. B. Supp. 2641. E. B.
ed. 2. 118*, Generally adopted by modern botanists. Poa
58, Linneus, Fl. Lapp. Uolcus odoratus, Linneus, Fl. Suec.
H. borealis, Schrader. HH. repens, Host.

First recognized as a native of Britam in 1812, by the late Mr.
G. Don, who discovered it growing in a narrow mountain valley,
Glen Kella, in Forfarshire. It has since been met with in two or
three other places in Scotland, but may still be regarded as one of
our botanical rarities. Creeping rather widely at the root, it sends
up straight, smooth stems about a foot in height. Leaves rough
on the margins. Panicle reddish brown, glossy, Spikelets ovate.
Flowers scarcely extending beyond the glumes. Central fertile
flower smaller than the external barren ones.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

The odour of the plant nearly resembles that. of Anthoxanthum
odoratum, but is more powerful, especially when it is dried. Sir
W. J. Hooker mentions that in Iceland, where it grows very plen-
tifully, the people employ it for scenting their apartments and
clothes. In Prussia this grass was dedicated to the Virgin Mary,
hence Loesel named it Gramen Marie Borussorum.

58

Genus 24. KOELERIA.

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence rather densely paniculate. Spikelets
» nearly sessile, laterally compressed, few-flowered. Glumes
two, unequal, membranaceous, keeled, shorter than the flowers.
Paleze two, membranaceous, naked at the base ; the lower one
keeled, sharply pointed or with a straight subterminal bristle.
Fruit free.

A small genus, but widely distributed, chiefly over the northern
hemisphere. In structural affinity it is nearer to Poa than to
Aira, under which latter the only British species was formerly
arranged. They are grasses of little value, many of them being
only annuals, while the foliage of others is too scanty to afford
much food.

Named by Persoon, in honour of George Louis Koeler, of
Mayence, author of a work on German and French Grasses,
published in 1802.

Kopreria cristata. Crested Koeleria. Pirate XLIX.

Panicle erect, interruptedly spicate. Spikelets with two or more
perfect flowers. Lower palea acute, three-veined. Leaves narrow,
hairy or ciliated on the margins.

Koeleria cristata, Persoon. Most modern botanists. Aira cristata,
Smith, E. B. 648; ed. 2.103. Airochloa, Link, Lindley,
Parnell.

This is far from being a rare grass, though its partiality to cal-
careous soils and dry situations renders it local in distribution.
On the upiand pastures of North Britain it is often met with in
abundance, especially, as remarked by Sir W. J. Hooker, in the
vicinity of the sea. Old walls and ruinous buildings are not
unfrequently decorated with its silvery-grey inflorescence. In
very dry exposed habitats it seldom attains a height exceeding six
or eight inches, the stem rising from a tuft of pale, short, slender,
convolute, radical leaves; but in moister and more sheltered situa-
tions it is sometimes much more luxuriant, the leaves expanding,
though still narrow, and nearly equalling the stem in its increased
length of a foot or more. The cylindrical spike-like panicles vary
in length from one to two or even three mches, and are liable
to differ greatly in appearance, as do the leaves likewise, owing
to their being more or less downy or glabrous. The keel of the
glumes, especially that of the outer one, is finely toothed or
ciliated.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July

59

Genus 25. SESLERIA. Moor Grass.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence compact, spike-like. Spikelets nearly
sessile, laterally compressed, with two or more perfect flowers.
Glumes two, nearly equal, pointed, as long as the flowers.
Palez two, naked at the base, membranaceous, nearly equal ;
the lower one keeled, jagged at the end with three or five
points, the central one of which, an extension of the keel-vein,
is longest. Styles united to about the middle. Stigmas
long, filiform, papillose. Fruit free.

A small genus of perennial European Grasses. They were
originally referred to Cynosurus, but appear to have little affinity
with that or any other genus. The presence of a glume-like bract
at the base of the spikelets is characteristic of most of the species.

The name was bestowed by Scopoli in commemoration of Leo-
nard Sesler, an Italian physician and botanist of the eighteenth
century.

SESLERIA CHRULEA. Blue Moor Grass. Puate L.

Inflorescence spicate, ovate or oblong, slightly unilateral, brac-
teate at the base. Bractez alternate. Spikelets imbricated. Lower
palea ending in four teeth; its mid-vein rough, and extending
beyond it as a short mucro or bristle. Leaves abrupt, terminating
in a minute rough point.

Sesleria cerulea, Scopol. HE. B. 1613; ed. 2.118. Generally
adopted. Cynosurus ceruleus, Linneus.

Not uncommon and often abundant on the mountain moors and
pastures of the north of England, and in Scotland and Ireland;
especially in limestone districts, where it is one of the most fre-
quent species that vegetate in the clefts of the rocks. The roots
descend very deeply into the soil, ramifying into every crevice of
the stone on which it rests, and thus secure the widely spreading
but compact tufts of the Grass from being washed or blown away
from their exposed habitats. Stems six inches to a foot high,
scarcely exceeding the foliage; sometimes described as being
without joints, though one or two of the latter will generally be
found near the base on close inspection. Leaves comparatively
broad, linear, obtuse, but with a minute rough point at the apex,
pale glaucous green. Spike from half an inch to an inch in
length, bluish grey or silvery. Spikelets in pairs, one sessile,
the other shortly stalked, oblong ; the lower ones especially have
an ovate or ovate-lanceolate, ciliated and toothed bractea at the
base, as exhibited in one of our magnified figures. Glumes
broadly lanceolate, three-toothed, the middle one sengetenta into

I

60

a point, and sometimes bifid; keel and margins hairy. Flowers
generally exceeding the glumes in length. Lower palea ciliated,
jagged and toothed ; the teeth usually five, including the prolon-
gation of the mid-vein, which is more or less extended beyond the
apex: upper palea bifid at the extremity. Stigmas very long,
linear.

Perennial. Flowers in April, or, in very elevated situations, in
May or June, and frequently again in September. ;

A very beautiful Grass, and well deserving of a place in the
alpine garden or among rock-work, situations in which its bluish
shining spikes, and large, orange-yellow anthers tipped with purple,
are among the earliest indications of approaching summer. It is,
however, only under full exposure to sun and wind that the blue
hue of the inflorescence becomes at all a predominant feature.

It is the most productive in foliage of all the alpine Grasses,
and, though distasteful to cattle generally, sheep will often climb
in search of it rocks so precipitous as to appear all but inaccessible ;
a circumstance not a little surprising when the extreme rigidity of
the leaves is considered, added to the fact that their margins and
mid-vein are furnished with siliceous serratures pointing upward,
like the teeth of a fine saw, and so sharp as to cut the hand
deeply when drawn through it in an opposite direction.

Sesleria cerulea has at first sight, perhaps, somewhat the aspect
of a Carex ; and when the rigid texture and jointless stem are
observed, a novice in Grass examination would be liable to regard
it as such, especially when, on further inspection, the leaf-sheaths
appear entire and the presence of the ligule equivocal. The
tubular character of the stem, however, which is not triangular,
the existence of at least one joint at its base, and, above all, the
structure of the flowers, will determine the question. To the
professed botanist, who may turn over our pages rather critically
than with the view of deriving benefit from the consultation, these
remarks may appear superfluous; but, as Carex ovalis was given
last May to a pupil of mine by a Fellow of a certain learned
Society, as a specimen of the Grass before us, the persevering
student will better appreciate their intended application.

Genus 26. PANICUM. ECHINOCHLOA. Panick Grass.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence paniculate; branches spike-like, uni-
lateral in the mass and in each part. Spikelets all on one
side of the flattened partial rachis, two-flowered, the lower
flower imperfect. Glumes two; the lower one small, three-
veined ; the upper as long as the spikelet, five-veined, mu-
cronate or awned. Lower palea of the imperfect flower

61

resembling and equalling the upper glume ; upper membra-
naceous or wanting. Palex of the fertile flower two, equal,
cartilaginous ; permanent ; investing, but scarcely cohering to,
the ripe fruit.

The original genus Panicum, so named from the Latin panis,
bread, on account of the foodful quality of the seeds of certain
species, has been much curtailed and broken up by modern
botanists, the solitary British species here retained being itself the
type of one of the more recently established- genera, Echinochloa.
The number of species of Panicum as formerly estimated, upwards
of two hundred, renders any available character of separation
deserving of our notice; but, however generally adopted, those
now in use are, with very slight exception, far from being satis-
factory.

The Panick Grasses have an exceedingly wide distribution, but
are chiefly met with among the natural vegetation of warm and
especially of tropical countries, where, in many districts, they con-
stitute the chief support of herbivorous animals, being the true
pasture grasses of the land. Several of the species thus subservient
attain the height of from six to ten or twelve feet, the herbage being
equally “tender and delicate ” with that of our English meadows.
One species, P. arborescens, is among the tallest of the Grass
family, contending for elevation with the loftiest trees of the forests
of Hindustan, through the branches of which its slender stems,
scarcely thicker than a goose-quill, penetrate, until they are seen
towering above their summits.

Notwithstanding the small, in some instances even diminutive,
size of the grain in these Grasses, several of them have been objects
of agriculture among the Eastern nations from time immemorial.
Of these P. miliaceum is the best known, from the long cultivation
of its two varieties, Brown and Yellow Millet, in southern Europe ;
it is the cheena of the Hindus, by whom P. miliare and P. frumen-
taceum are likewise grown, as food for the poorer classes, in dry
and elevated lands,—the latter, called shama and sanwuk, being
esteemed one of the most wholesome and nutritious kinds of grain.

In England the Millets are seldom used except for feeding
poultry.

Panicum (EcuinocHioa) Crus-cauui. Loose Panick Grass.
Prate LI.

Panicle erect; its branches alternate, unilateral, more or less
adpressed to the angular common rachis. Spikelets ovate, turgid,
hispid, subunilateral. Lower glume very short, between heart-
shape and ovate, mucronate; upper one ovate-acuminate, five-
veined, hispid. Barren flower with two palez, the lower one large,
and terminating in a more or less elongated bristle-like point.

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Panicum Crus-galli, Linneus. E. B. 876; ed. 2.102. Hooker &
Arnott. Echinochloa Crus-galli, Palisot de Beauvois, Lindley,
Babington. Oplismenus Crus-galli, Kunth.

Occasionally met with on moist arable land and waste ground
in the southern and eastern counties of England, chiefly in the
vicinity of tidal rivers and about garden grounds, as around
Battersea, Deptford and Greenwich near London; Petersfield,
Hampshire; and about Norwich and Thetford, Norfolk. It is
evidently not indigenous, but, introduced with garden seeds, or
floated hither from the Continent, vegetates from seed, in any
favourable situation, for a few years, and then disappears until
renewed by a fresh importation. The natural production of a warmer
climate, few of its seeds seem to mature under garden culture here ;
and, while different species of exotic annuals spring up spontaneously
from year to year, like those of indigenous growth, P. Crus-galli can
never be depended upon as a self-renewer. A strong coarse-looking
Grass, forming compact tufts of foliage, from which the stems,
at first decumbent, rise to the height of one or two feet. Leaves
broad, linear-acuminate, often destitute, or nearly so, of ligule.
Panicle three to six inches long, when short more or less compact
and pyramidal, but generally conspicuously branched ; lower branches
one to two inches in length, and distant, the upper ones becoming
gradually shorter and at length, confounded in a terminal spike;
dark green or tinged with purple. It is an exceedingly variable
grass ; and the identification of the alleged naturalized species under
this name is doubtful, two, at least, having been associated with
it by English collectors.

Annual. Flowers in July and August.

As aweed it is naturalized over most parts of Europe, especially
in the south ; it appears under the same character in North America;
and I have seen it this summer in a collection of dried specimens
from South Australia. Its native country is doubtful; but it has
probably emanated from northern India, where it is still found
wild with P.Crus-corvi and others of its congeners.

Genus 27. SETARIA. Bristle Grass.

Gun. Cur. Inflorescence spike-like, or more or less distinctly
branched. Spikelets compressed, single or two or three
together, surrounded by an involucre of bristles, two-flowered,
the lower flower imperfect. Glumes two, awnless; the lower
one smaller, three-veined ; the upper as long as the spikelet,
many-veined. Lower palea of the imperfect flower resembling
and equalling the upper glume ; upper often wanting. Palex

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of the fertile flower two, the outer larger, cartilaginous; in-
vesting the ripe fruit.

Separated from Panicum by Palisot de Beauvois, and now generally
adopted by British botanists as a distinct genus ; differing from the
latter chiefly in the more compact form of the inflorescence, and in
the presence of bristles at the base of the spikelets. These bristles
remain attached to the rachis after the spikelets have fallen; and
the generic name, from the Latin seta, a bristle, is derived from
this circumstance. The species, about thirty in number, are annual
plants indigenous to tropical and warm climates, where several are
cultivated for their seeds as a substitute for Millet. Setaria Italica
and 8. Germanica, Italian and German Millets, so termed from being
first known to botanists as grasses of economical culture in central
and southern Europe, are among these, and were originally brought
from India. S. Germanica is largely grown in Hungary as food for
horses, being preferred for such purpose beyond all other grasses.
In England the genus is little known, the two or three naturalized
species being only very locally distributed, and regarded by the
farmer as weeds. An objection to them in an agricultural point
of view is the lateness of their appearance; but the foliage is
succulent and abundantly produced until very late in the autumn,
with an equally profuse succession of rapidly maturing and nutri-
tious seeds, that are a favourite food of most seed-eating birds,
especially those of S. viridis.

SETARIA VERTICILLATA. Rough Bristle Grass. Puare LID.

Inflorescence interruptedly spicate, cylindrical, with whorled
branches. Bristles of the involucre rough, with declining teeth.
Lower, barren flower with a single palea. Outer palea of the
fruit nearly smooth.

Setaria verticillata, Beauvois. Most modern botanists. Panicum
verticillatum, Linneus. E. B. 874; ed. 2. 100.

Not unfrequent as a weed in and about arable- and garden-
ground in the vicinity of London and Norwich, but of rare
occurrence elsewhere. Stems decumbent at first, a foot and a
half to two feet high, smooth, except just below the spike, where
it is angular and rough, slender. Spike-like inflorescence two to
four inches long ; not always presenting the interrupted or divided
appearance arising from its branched composition, dark green or
purplish. Occasionally one or two of the lowermost series of
branches become separated from those above by the extension of
the rachis between them, rendering the interrupted character more
prominent. Spikelet clusters shortly stalked. Involucral bristles

64

seldom more than one or two, possibly abortive spikelets, rough
with stiff hairs or teeth pointing downwards, which cling to the
hand or fingers as the spike is drawn downwards through them ;
hence the English name.
Annual. Flowers in July, and thence often to the end of the
ear.
: A common Grass in many parts of southern Europe, but
scarcely naturalized in England, owing its introduction thither to
accidental admixture of its seeds with those imported for agri-
cultural and gardening purposes.

Seraria viripis. Green Bristle Grass. Prats LITI.

Inflorescence spicate, continuous, cylindrical. Bristles of the
involucre rough with erect teeth. Lower, barren flower with a
single palea. Outer palea of the fruit nearly smooth.

Setaria viridis, Beauvois. Most modern botanists. Panicum
viride, Linneus. E.B. 875; ed. 2.101.

Found in similar habitats to the preceding species, which, indeed,
it often accompanies about London and Norwich; but it is much
more distributed as to locality and station, though hitherto almost
exclusively confined to the south-eastern counties of England.
Stems one to two feet in height, smooth throughout, more gene-
rally erect than those of S.. verticillata, the leaves being at the
same time broader and more succulent than in that species. Spike
two or three inches long, perfectly continuous, cylindrical, bluntly
attenuated at the apex, pale green or yellowish. Involucral bristles
many, rough, with minute teeth projecting at right angles or up-
wards, brown or reddish.

Annual. Flowers in July, and until the end of autumn.

This would be a valuable grass to sow in game preserves and
warrens, hares and rabbits feeding upon it with avidity. It will
flourish in the driest and poorest of light soils, indeed in almost
any medium, water and shifting sand excepted. The compara-
tively large seeds are easily collected; and few plants are so prolific,
a single specimen in the garden having yielded 127 spikes during
the season.

Seragia GLaucA. Glaucous Bristle Grass. Pratre LIV.

Inflorescence spicate, continuous, cylindrical. Bristles of the
involucre rough with ascending teeth. Lower, barren flower

triandrous with two pale. Outer palea of the fruit transversely
wrinkled.

Setaria glauca, Beauvois. Most modern botanists. Panicum
glaucum, Linneus.

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First observed as a naturalized species by Mr. Borrer, about
Weybridge, Surrey ; since found near Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire,
and Swanscombe, Kent. Stems ascending at first, afterwards
erect, a foot and a half to two feet in height, more or less angular
immediately below the inflorescence. Leaves bearded at the base.
Spike about two inches long, generally compact and strictly cylin-
drical, pale. Spikelets usually two together. Involucral bristles
many, rigid, rough, with minute teeth projecting upwards. Lower
flower with three stamens and two palezx.

Annual. Flowers in September.

Undoubtedly a distinct species, though liable to be passed over
as one of the preceding, of which perhaps it more nearly resembles
S. verticillata. The generally paler and more or less glaucous or
whitish-green hue, of the foliage especially, is however a striking
feature.

S. glauca appears, from its comparatively recent discovery and
more local distribution, to be a later importation than its two con-
geners, and at the same time less adapted to the climate of this
country. Its later flowering, indicating derivation from a lower
latitude, is much against naturalization in England. It is, however,
a frequent and abundant weed in arable land throughout Southern
Europe, though no more strictly indigenous to the countries of the
latter than to our own.

The English botanist ought to be prepared to meet with other
species of this genus as occasional visitants, introduced, as they
frequently are, with corn and other agricultural seeds from the
Continent and elsewhere. In this way, and by chance distribution
from our gardens, S. Italica, and even S. Germanica and two or
three more, will, probably within a few years, have an equal, if not
a superior, claim to rank in our British Flora, to that under which
S. glauca is now admitted. ;

The three species above described have long since been carried
across the Atlantic, and become equally naturalized productions of
the-United States of America as they are of Europe.

Genus 28. POA. Meadow Grass.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence paniculate, generally loose and spread-
ing. Spikelets stalked, two- or many-flowered. Glumes two,
obtuse, more or less unequal, shorter than the flowers. Palez
two, membranaceous, obtuse; the lower one three or five-
veined, keeled, compressed, scarious at the apex; the upper
one usually notched at the apex.

The genus, as originally constituted, is one of great numerical
extent, containing about a hundred and fifty species, and distributed
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66

over almost every part of the world. The above character, however,
applies strictly to one portion of the group, which some modern
botanists have separated into two or more genera. These latter are
adopted in the present work, as the divisions, though far from being
precise as to their limits on the broad scale, are so far valuable to
the home student, that, by directing his attention to a compa-
ratively small number of species under each generic type, they
relieve the tedium of comparison with many. Actuated by a laud-
able desire to simplify as much as possible the classification of the
tribe, many of our best practical botanists retain the genus Poa
entire ; even while admitting that its division by others is founded
upon characters equally important and valuable as those con-
stituting the leading differential ones of genera universally
admitted.

Named from the Greek poé, applied to pasture or herbage in
common, and well adapted to a genus of Grasses which, throughout
Europe especially, forms the basis of most natural meadows.

The species of Poa proper are generally characterized by their
tender succulent stems and foliage, of which most cattle are fond ;
hence the more productive kinds usually form a portion of all arti-
ficial pastures, though varied according to the quality of the soil and
situation, and the experience or caprice of the cultivator. Poa Abys-
sinica,an annual species, is cultivated for the sake of its seeds, used for
making the ¢eff bread of the Abyssinians, the poorer classes among
whom rarely eat any other: in preparing it, the dough is leavened
by being allowed to turn sour, and is then made into circular cakes
for baking. These cakes are white and spongy, and are described
as having a hot, disagreeable,:sourish flavour; they are, however,
considered very nutritive and easy of digestion: toasted brown, and
infused in water, they furnish a liquor called bouza, the common
drink of the country.

Of the thirteen Grasses figured in this work under the genus
Poa, several are unquestionably only varieties or hybrids; but so
uncertain at present are our rules for specific distinction among the
plants before us, that it is difficult to determine the limits of true
species, of which it seems probable that the British Flora does not
actually contain more than five or six at the utmost, namely P. annua,
P. alpina, P. nemoralis, P. trivialis, P. pratensis, and perhaps, as a
naturalized continental intruder on our coasts, P. bulbosa; this
latter, however, notwithstanding the peculiarity of its habit and
webbed flowers, occupies a very equivocal position apart from P.
alpina.

The arrangement of the quasi species is adopted, with slight
verbal alteration, from Mr. Babington’s ‘Manual of British Bo-
tany,’ not only with the view of rendering them more readily re-
cognizable to the student, but because the several sections appear

67

to me, with all due deference to my learned compeers, to mark the
confines of those which may be regarded as true ones.

* Root fibrous, annual ; not stoloniferous. Panicle branches solitary
or in pairs.

Poa annua. Annual Meadow Grass. Prate LV.

Panicle erect, widely spreading, with a triangular outline. Spike-
lets oblong-ovate, five- or six-flowered ; flowers rather distant, free
(not connected by a web). Lower palea with five veins, all more
or less silky. Stems compressed. Upper leaf much shorter than
its sheath ; ligule oblong, acute.

Poa annua, Linneus. E. B.1141; ed. 2.131. Generally adopted.

The most common and universally distributed of all our Grasses,
growing in all soils and situations throughout the kingdom. Stems
varying from an inch to eight or ten inches in height, generally
more or less prostrate at the lower part, and throwing roots from
those joints which lie in contact with the soil. Leaves flat, rather
obtuse, broad, flaccid, often wavy, very bright green; the upper-
most always short, with a very long sheath, usually inflated towards
the upper part. Inflorescence very loosely spreading, an inch and
a half to three inches long; the branches slender, gradually short-
ening upwards so as to render the panicle triangular. Spikelets
pointing to one side, three- to six-flowered, rarely more. Glumes
unequal, obtuse, ovate-lanceolate, three-veined. Lower palea ovate-
lanceolate, rather acute, diaphanous at the margins, five-veined ;
the veins minutely silky. The magnified figure a shows the many-
flowered spikelet ; b, a single flower with its dissimilar palez and the
diaphanous margin of the outer one.

Annual ; springing up, flowering, and ripening its seeds through-
out the year, unless during the prevalence of frost.

Although named and described annual, and although, as observed
by Mr. Bentham, “ it will often germinate, flower, ripen, and shed
its seeds and die away in the course of a few weeks,” this grass in
certain situations assumes somewhat the character of a perennial,
in consequence of the lateral rooting of its partially-decumbent
stems, the bases of which remain and form new tufts around the
old one; this modification of its general habit may be observed on
well-kept lawns, frequently mown and rolled, or on the borders of
footpaths where it is liable to be trodden upon from time to time ;
but in no instances do we see any tendency to the extension of
creeping branches or stolones from the bases of the stems.

Poa annua is not a grass of much agricultural importance, as,
although greatly relished by cattle and among the -_ nutritious

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68

of its family, its produce is too small to yield other than a very
scanty crop in hay; hence, under the rotation system, many prac-
tical farmers consider it little better than a weed, and, as such,
would exclude it altogether from the list of economical species re-
commended for laying down new meadows. Another objection
that has been urged is “ that, although a dwarf plant, it has large
spreading roots, and is so prolific, by spreading its abundant seeds
in every direction the same year that it is sown, that it is seldom
that a bare space of ground is not quickly occupied by it, to the
exclusion or detriment of more productive and better grasses.”
Observation will satisfy any one interested in grass lands that such
objections are altogether unimportant, as, so far from displacing the
more productive grasses, it is itself soon overpowered by them,
unless in situations where frequent treading assists it in establishing
dominion over them: such is the ease in many of the park and
square inclosures in and about the metropolis and other large towns,
where this grass sometimes constitutes the chief portion of the
green sward,—while in the open and less-frequented meadow and
pasture it will probably only be noticed about the footpaths and
roads by which they are traversed. It is a troublesome and per-
severing weed in gardens, especially on gravel walks, from which
it can only be successfully eradicated by careful and frequent re-
moval as soon as it appears: a very customary remedy is to strew
salt over it during damp weather, renewing the application from
time to time until the grass is destroyed, by which period the box-
edgings and not a few valuable border plants will probably have
disappeared likewise.

The Annual Meadow Grass is a vegetable colonist, indigenous to
the whole of the northern hemisphere, its tropical regions scarcely
forming any exception,—while it seems to have followed European
cultivation wherever that has been extended into the southern.

It is sometimes called Suffolk Grass by the older writers.

** Root fibrous, perennial ; not stoloniferous. Lower panicle branches
solitary or in pairs. Dorsal and marginal veins of the lower
palea hairy or silky.

Poa BuLBosa. Bulbous Meadow Grass. Puate LVI.

Panicle erect, more or less compact. Spikelets ovate, three- or
four-flowered ; flowers connected by a web. Lower palea with
three silky veins. Stems swollen or bulb-like at the base. Leaves
with a narrow, white, cartilaginous, serrated margin. Upper leaf
much shorter than its sheath; ligule prominent, acute.

Poa bulbosa, Linneus. E. B.1071; ed. 2.128. Generally adopted.

This is a very local species in England, being almost exclusively

69

found on the sandy sea-shores of our eastern and southern counties,
though occasionally occurring inland on dry sandy ground, upon
which alone it seems calculated to vegetate. It grows in great
abundance on the Denes at Yarmouth, where it constitutes, perhaps,
the predominant vegetation. The root is tufted and fibrous, re-
sembling that of an annual grass; but the bases of the stems and
leafy offsets form a cluster of oval or rounded bulb-like bodies,
which, separating eventually as the foliage withers, or after the
flowering season has passed, are drifted in all directions by the
wind, and appear to be the chief source of its propagation. Stems
erect, six or eight inches in height ; usually bearing two, or at most
three very short leaves with long sheaths, the uppermost of which
originates below the middle of the stem. Ligule of the upper leaves
generally very prominent, and terminating acutely. Panicle often
so compact as to appear spike-like, from an inch to an inch and a
half in length. Spikelets compact, three- or four-flowered. Glumes
nearly equal, three-veined. Flowers copiously webbed at the base.
Lower palea usually five-veined ; the dorsal and marginal veins con-
spicuous and silky, the intermediate ones obscure, smooth. See
the magnified figures : a, the spikelet ; b, a separated flower with its
webbed base.

Perennial. Flowers in April and May.

Cattle are fond of it as spring pasture; but the produce is too
small and transitory to render it of much value as food. During
the greater part of the summer, the bulbs, which have been com-
pared to little onions, remain inactive, and are blown about at ran-
dom. With the setting-in of the autumnal rains they vegetate,
fixing themselves to the sandy soil by long downy radicles, throw-
ing up thick tufts of leaves, that wither after the production of a
new crop of their viviparous offspring and the ripening of the
seeds. .

This habit is so striking and peculiar as to confirm the opinion
generally entertained by botanists, that the plant before us is one
of the most distinctly marked species of its genus,—a fact to which
I cannot myself subscribe, deeming it merely an altered form of
P. alpina, a grass liable to considerable variation in development,
and capable of accommodating itself to circumstances that mvolve
no ordinary degree of metamorphosis in general appearance. This
conviction on my part has not at all interfered in biasing the
above description, as will appear by comparison with those given
in other works. See further remarks upon the subject under
P. alpina and at the close of this section. P. bulbosa is widely
distributed over the continent of Europe, especially in the more
temperate and warmer regions; and, judging from its local or,
rather, limited disposition m England, and apparent total absence
from Scotland and Ireland, is probably a, naturalized wanderer on

70

our sea-coasts, arriving thither from warmer shores, instead of de-
scending from its surmised relative so plentifully distributed on the
British mountains.

Poa taxa. Wavy Meadow Grass. Puiare LVII.

Panicle slightly drooping, more or less compact. Spikelets ob-
long-ovate, three- or four-flowered ; flowers acute, connected by a
web. Lower palea five-veined; the dorsal and marginal veins
silky. Upper leaf folded and slightly incurved, but tapering,
much shorter than its sheath ; its ligule long and acute.

Poa laxa, Haenke. Lindley. Hooker and Arnott. Poa minor,
Gaudin. Babington. P. flexuosa, H. B. 1128; ed. 2. 127.

A native of the higher mountains of Scotland, where it was first
observed by Mr. J. Mackay, who gathered it on Ben Nevis, and
afterwards found by Mr. G. Don, Dr. Graham, and others on Loch-
na-Gar and the Clova Mountains. Tufted or very slightly creeping,
more or less glaucous. Stems slender, weak, six inches to a foot
in height. Leaves flat, linear, acuminated, more numerous and
narrower than those of the ordinary P. alpina. Panicle rather
loose, though occasionally somewhat compact, scarcely drooping at
the upper part, one to two inches long. Spikelets with about
three flowers ; the glumes more pointed than in most plants of this
genus. Flowers webbed at the base. Lower palea five-veined;
the dorsal and marginal veins silky, the intermediate ones smooth
and indistinct.

Perennial. Flowers in July and August.

Poa minor. Lesser Mountain Meadow Grass.

Panicle slightly drooping. Spikelets oblong-ovate, three- or four-
flowered ; flowers free (unconnected by a web). Lower palea with
three silky veins (no intermediate ones). Upper leaf flat and taper-
pointed. Ligules all long, acute.

Poa laxa, Babington. Parnell. Bentham. P. laxa 8, Hooker and
Arnott.

Found in the same habitats as the preceding, from which, indeed,
it is not easily distinguishable, unless by the flowers not being
webbed,—a feature of very equivocal importance, as instances occur
of its occasional deficiency in some of the flowers of a spikelet
while others possess it, in those grasses of which its presence is
assumed to be a leading characteristic.

In the ‘ British Flora’ of Messrs. Hooker and Arnott, P. Jaza and
P. minor are regarded as varieties of the same species. Mr. Babing-

71

ton, who, in his ‘ Martual,’ has apparently taken much pains to point
out the differences between them individually, and between them
mutually and P. alpina, remarks, independent of peculiarities to be
noted in the uppermost leaf of each, that the uppermost node or
joint of the latter is exposed, while in the two former it is concealed
by the sheath of the lower leaf,—a character surely too dependent
upon the accidents of growth to be available in the establish-
ment of a variety, far less of a species. ;

Like many other alpine grasses, the two above described are
often viviparous, and in this state they are scarcely distinguishable,
unless by their narrower foliage, from the corresponding form or
state of P. alpina.

Poa atrina. Alpine Meadow Grass. Puare LVIII.

Panicle erect, spreading when in flower. Spikelets ovate, three-
or four-flowered ; flowers free (unconnected by a web). Lower
-palea with three silky veins, and downy between them. Upper-
most leaf shorter than its sheath, “folded and rounded behind the
tip” (“cymbiform at the apex”). Leaves broadly linear, obtuse ;
ligule of the upper ones oblong, acute,—of the lower ones short,
obtuse.

Poa alpina, Linneus. EE. B. 1003; ed. 2. 126. Generally
adopted.

A truly alpine species, very abundant in all the loftier moun-
tainous districts of Great Britain and Ireland, growing as well on
the highest peaks as on the sides of the rocky passes and valleys
that intersect them. Roots fibrous, tufted. Stems erect, six inches
to a foot in height, often enlarged at the base when growing in
very dry places, somewhat in the manner of those of P. bulbosa.
Leaves mostly radical, rather short compared with their breadth,
which, though exceedingly variable, is usually much greater than
that of the other species (?) of this section of the genus: they have
a glaucous hue, and terminate more or less obtusely, but are
furnished with a short inflexed point or mucro; the uppermost are
in general strikingly distinguished from the lower by the form of
the ligule, which, though not always positively acute, is consider-
ably elongated, instead of being short and ending abruptly. Pa-
nicle about two inches long, ovate in the general outline, spread-
ing its short branches at the time of flowering, but contracting
afterwards so as sometimes to appear almost spicate. Spikelets
broadly ovate, in luxuriant specimens four- or five-flowered.
Glumes ovate-lanceolate, compressed ; the middle or keel-vein, of
the outer one especially, rough, and terminating beyond the apex
of the glume in a short stiff point or awn; the two lateral veins

72

very short. Outer or lower palea ovate-lanceolate, somewhat
pointed, diaphanous at the margin; the keel-vein and two lateral
ones silky, with downy spaces between them. See the magnified
figures : a, the spikelet ; b, the separated webless flower.

Perennial. Flowers from June to August.

It is very frequently viviparous, the flowers being supplanted by
little leafy bulbs, one of which is exhibited on our plate. See the
observations on this subject in the Introduction, page xviii et seq.

This is one of the most commonly distributed of all the alpine
grasses, being met with on all the great mountain-ranges of Eu-
rope, central and northern Asia, and North America, displaying
in different situations great diversity in general aspect, and thence
affording almost unlimited opportunity to the ardent discoverer
of new species for the exercise of his ingenuity in their fabrication.

I have endeavoured to embody in the foregoing description of
the Alpine Meadow Grass, as well as in those of the rest of the
division it represents, all the leading characteristics by which the
more careful and discriminating authors consider themselves justi-
fied in maintaining their separation, and reserve further observations
to the close of the section.

Poa casia. Grey Meadow Grass. Prare LIX.

Panicle erect, more or less spreading or slender. Spikelets
ovate, two- to five-flowered; flowers rather acute, free (not con-
nected by a web). Lower palea five-veined ; but with only three
of the veins silky. Uppermost leaf about the length of its sheath,
folded and slightly incurved, but tapering at the tip. “ Upper-
most knot near to the base of the stem.” Ligule obtuse.

Poa cesia, Smith. E.B.1719. Babington. Parnell, 40. p. 88?
Poa glauca 8, #. B. ed. 2.133. P. nemoralis var., Hooker.
Bentham. P. alpina?, Hooker and Arnott.

Not unfrequent on the mountains of Wales and Scotland, on
the former of which it certainly does not materially differ from
P. alpina. Scotch specimens I have only seen in the dry state.
Stems varying from six inches to a foot or more. Leaves rather
broad, not constantly glaucous, or only in very high and exposed
situations. Panicle perhaps generally larger and more spreading
than in the last-described, but not often so large as in the ‘ English
Botany’ figure. The lowest flower of each spikelet is described as
being longer than the larger glume ; but this feature is very equi-
vocal. The number of flowers contained by a spikelet varies, but
not more so than in P. alpina and many other grasses. Of the
five veins of the lower palea, the two intermediate ones are often
so indistinct as to be scarcely traceable, and in the upper flowers
their presence seems an exception.

73

Mr. Babington makes two varieties : «. cesia proper, the panicle
of which is rather spreading, and the spikelets four- or five-flowered
—to this he refers the E. B. figure 1719 and that on Mr. Parnell’s
plate 40:—. glauca, distinguished by the broader leaves, the
closer panicle, and the spikelets two- or three-flowered only. The
habitats given by him for a, are Ben Lawers and Clova; for @,
Ben Nevis and Snowdon. The differences are so liable to altera-
tion by season and situation as to be of small account, in respect,
at least, to the recognition of a plant so variable as to be alike
identical with the figures both of Mr. Parnell and of the elder
Mr. Sowerby. The Snowdon district about Llanberis will be
found to yield both of the varieties named in the ‘ Manual.’

Perennial. Flowers about July. Occasionally viviparous.

Poa cesia of Sir J. BH. Smith, as associated with the ‘ English
Botany ’ figure 1719, has been very unfortunate in its recognition
among later botanists, as indicated by the variety of synonyms
above quoted; a circumstance possibly due to the unusually luxu-
riant state of the panicle represented, which is, however, identical
with that of the specimen from which the drawing was made.

In considering the characters by which the Grasses of this
section are distinguished from each other, their structural value is
surely deserving of our closest investigation, before admitting them
to be decisive of separation between species. It is unfortunate
for botanical science, so far as regards the correct appreciation of
specific limits, that few plant-collectors are either plant-cultivators
or vegetable physiologists ; and that the enthusiasm which inspires
them to the rapid enlargement of their Herbariums, too often
leads them to imagine differences where such do not exist, or are
only denoted by features so prone to vary as to be utterly value-
less in a physical point of view. Our island Flora is rich and
varied, and commercial intercourse, aided by natural causes con-
tinually in operation, is slowly, from time to time, adding to its
extent by introductions from other lands ; but few of such immigra-
tions of flowering plants contribute to swell the four volumes of
the Supplement to ‘English Botany,’ or the descriptive ‘Ma-
nuals’ of some of our modern botanical authors. The nineteen
British wild roses, forty-one brambles, and indefinite alpine saxi-
frages, would be sadly diminished if subjected to the test of ana-
tomical investigation. ‘The greater number of these figure as
species upon trivial differences in the form and proportions of a
leaf or a calyx, or perhaps the presence of a few hairs or gland-
like excrescences on a part that is usually smooth.

The discussion of the subject at length is not calculated for the
pages of this work, but the rising botanist would do well to regard

L

74

all such minor features of comparison as equivocal, unless sup-
ported by others less commonly the sport of circumstance. Now,
assuming that Poa alpina and its associates rival our native roses
and brambles in relative position, it is necessary that the principal
alleged differences between them should be examined and their
value determined. Of the five Grasses above deseribed, P. bulbosa
and P. laza have the flowers webbed, while in the remainder they
are free: the importance of this character is, however, certainly
much over-estimated, as in those Grasses generally distinguished
by its presence it is not unfrequently absent, and even so in
spikelets of the same panicle in which others are furnished with
that really striking appendage: see observation under P. minor,
p- 70. The veining of the lower palea is hable likewise to vary in
flowers belonging to the same spikelet; the two intermediate
ones, where five are noticed in description, being often scarcely
traceable, if not absent altogether. Foliage is so much affected by
habitat and exposure, that characters drawn:from it in the separa-
tion of the plants of this group cannot be relied upon; while the
“narrow white, cartilaginous, serrated border” of the leaves of
P. bulbosa is only a little less conspicuous in the broader ones of
P. alpina and others. The ligule, of the upper leaves at least, is
long and pointed in all, except P. cesia, the true position of
which seems a very doubtful point with botanical authors. I
place the latter in this section, having always considered it a mere
variety of the normal species, and deeming the form of the ligule
a feature of questionable value in Grasses generally.

*k* Root fibrous, perennial; not stoloniferous. Lower panicle
branches in fives or threes, rarely in pairs, Dorsal and marginal
veins of the lower palea hairy or silky.

This section is only separable from the preceding by the more
copious branching of the inflorescence, which is far from being
constant, and is only adopted as denoting the limits of the pro-
bable varieties of P. nemoralis.

Poa NEMORALIS. Wood Meadow Grass. Prate LX.

Panicie rather drooping, with slender branches. Spikelets ovate-
lanceolate, two- to five-flowered ; flowers more or less webbed at
the base. Lower palea five-veined, the central and marginal veins
silky. Uppermost sheath not longer than its leaf. “ Uppermost
knot at about the middle of the stem, exposed.” “Ligule short,
truncate or obtuse.

Poa nemoralis, Linneus. E.B.1265; ed. 2.1384. Generally
adopted.
Common in woods and shady places, especially in the North,

75

where it often constitutes the chief portion of the herbage under
the trees. Stems very slender, one or two feet high, smooth, with
a tendency to creep, root, and throw up branches at the lower part,
but the plant is scarcely stoloniferous. Leaves long and narrow ;
the ligule usually very short and terminating abruptly. Panicle
more or less spreading, with slender branches, two to six inches
long, drooping or erect. Spikelets ovate-lanceolate, acute, com-
pressed, very variable in the number of their flowers, which are
generally three or four, rarely two only or five. The web is not
unfrequently wanting, and seldom very conspicuous.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

This is a grass of variable habit, a circumstance which has led
to as much multiplication and confusion of species as in P. alpina
and its allies. ‘The authors of the ‘ British Flora’ unite with it
the three following, as well as P. montana of Parnell, which
scarcely differs from the normal form, unless in its smaller spikelets
and webless flowers.

The Wood Meadow Grass is widely distributed over the northern
hemisphere, extending in Europe from the borders of the Medi-
terranean to those of the Arctic Ocean, and being likewise a na-
tive of northern Asia and the United States of America. Mr.
Parnell places it among “ the superior permanent pasture Grasses,
producing a considerable deal of fine succulent and nutritive
herbage, which horses, cows, and sheep are remarkably fond of; ”
and observes that, though found growing naturally in shady
situations and woods, it will grow freely in exposed places.
Mr. Sinclair found it, when cultivated, to be invariably attacked
by the “rust.” As an economical Grass, its value seems doubtful ;
in mountainous districts I have never seen it eaten down by sheep,
and deer generally leave it untouched in parks. Hares and rabbits
devour the herbage, and game-birds are fond of the seeds ; hence it
might be worth introduction in preserves where it does not grow
spontaneously, which is the case in many parts of southern

England.
Poa Parnewu. Parnell’s Meadow Grass. Prats LXI.

Panicle erect, large, rather close, oblong. Spikelets ovate, two-
or three-flowered ; flowers acute, free (not webbed at the base).
Lower palea five-veined, the central and marginal veins hairy.
Uppermost sheath generally longer than its leaf. Uppermost
knot at about the middle of the stem, exposed. Iigule very
short, truncate.

Poa Parnellii, Babington, Man. Brit. Bot. E. B. Supp. 4. 2916.
Parnell, Brit. Grasses, 210. tab. 93. Poa nemoralis, 8,

Hooker and Arnott. Bentham.
L2

76

First noticed by Mr. C. C. Babington, growing from the
crevices of rocks about High Force in Upper Teesdale. Stems
ascending, a foot or more in height, very slightly compressed,
smooth ; bearing usually from four to six leaves with smooth
striated sheaths, the uppermost of the latter being almost always
longer than its leaf. Of the five or six joints of the stem, several
are generally uncovered, the uppermost always so. Ligule very
short and truncate, or terminating abruptly, “six times as broad
as long, but longer than that of P. nemoralis.”’ Panicle rather
close, with slender rough branches. Glumes unequal, acute, three-
veined, the midvein minutely toothed towards its extremity.
“ Flowers not webbed, although occasionally one or two longer
hairs may be taken for a web.’ Lower palea five-veined ; the
central and lateral ves hairy or silky, the intermediate ones
more or less obscure, smooth.

Perennial. Flowers in July and August.

The above description is but very slightly abridged from that
given of the Grass before us in the fourth volume of the Supple-
ment to the English Botany, and is sufficiently circumstantial, it
is to be hoped, to satisfy the most ardent of species manufacturers.
As, however, several of the features enumerated are common to
P. nemoralis, it will be convenient to select those by which it may
be known from the latter. I cannot do better than copy a pass-
age to this effect from Dr. Parnell:—‘‘ Poa Parnellii is di-
stinguished from Poa nemoralis by its flowers not being webbed,
and its upper sheath being longer than its leaf; whereas in Poa
nemoralis the flowers are distinctly webbed, and the upper sheath
is shorter than its leaf.” Now this is terse and decisive; and
though we may not agree with the talented author of the ‘ Grasses
of Britain’ as to the differential value of the characters thus pre-
sented, such is mere matter of opinion between us, open to ques-
tion and demonstration. In the meantime, facts, minor as they
may be, are always valuable in the pursuit of natural science. But
what says the discoverer and recorder of P. Parnellit in support of
the value of these facts, upon the establishment of which it is se-
parable from its congener P. nemoralis? Simply this: “ Occa-
sionally there is a slight trace of a web to the flowers,” and that
the “upper sheath is usually longer than its leaf.”? What would
our great masters in natural history, from Aristotle down to
Linneus and Cuvier, have thought of species, the assumed leading
characteristics of which admit the application of such adverbs ?
Mr. Babington may well remark, that the two plants are, perhaps,
too nearly allied.

177

Poa Batrovrit. Balfour’s Meadow Grass. Prare LXII.

Panicle erect, rather spreading. Spikelets ovate, three- or
four-flowered ; flowers webbed at the base. Lower palea five-
veined ; the central and marginal veins hairy, intermediate‘ones in-
distinct. Uppermost sheath about as long as its leaf. Uppermost
knot in the lower third of the stem. Ligule prominent, obtuse.

Poa Balfourii, Parnell. Babington. E. B. Supp. 4.2918. Poa
nemoralis, «. Hooker and Arnott. Bentham.

Professor Balfour of Edinburgh was the first observer of this
Grass, which he found growing on Ben Voirlich, near the head of
Loch Lomond. It has since been recognized as not at all unfre-
quent in the other parts of the Highlands of Scotland, as well as
about the more elevated mountainous districts of the north of
England and elsewhere. The root is described as creeping, but
I have not seen any specimens presenting such a character, or at
least more approaching to it than is observable in that of P. ne-
moralis. Stems usually ascending, from. three to fifteen inches
high, rigid, compressed, very slightly rough; bearing three or
four leaves with roughish sheaths, the uppermost of the latter
being about the length of its leaf. The knots are so situated as to
occupy only the lower third of the stem, and the uppermost one is
but rarely exposed, all of them being generally covered by the
sheath next below them. Ligule prominent, obtuse. Inflores-
cence less compound than in the ordinary forms of P. nemoralis,
erect, one to three inches long ; branches more or less spreading,
short, rough, the lower ones usually in pairs. Spikelets erect,
ovate, two- to four-flowered ; the lower flower as long as the larger
glume. Glumes uuequal, acute, three-veined, the midvein rough,
with minute points at the upper part. Lower flowers slightly
webbed at the base. Lower palea five-veined; the central and
lateral veins hairy, the intermediate ones indistinct, or only ob-
servable when held between the eye and the light, smooth.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

Regarding this Grass as a mere variety of the Wood Poa, owing
those peculiarities it may possess to its high aipine habitats, I
have been careful, as in the case of P. Parnellit, not to omit any
feature in description to which the slightest value might be at-
tached by the most punctilious observer. It is unquestionably a
more marked variety than the latter, but its claim to be regarded
as a distinct species is but little enhanced by that admission. . Mr.
Babington coincides with Dr. Parnell in assigning, as its chief
differential characters from P. nemoralis, the prominence of its
liguie, shorter and lower-placed upper leaf, covered upper joint,
and slightly rough stem; but he remarks that English specimens

78

are more luxuriant than those from Scotland, and differ from
them, not only in having more frequently longer, more compound,
and many-flowered panicles, but that in them the upper leaf is
often inserted rather higher upon the stem, though still “ below the
middle”?! The ‘ Manual of British Botany’ is a very valuable tield-
book, its author an ardent and discriminating practical botanist ;
he will pardon the non-appreciation of such lax specific distinctions
by one whose only aim in observing upon them is to further the
advance, on stedfast principles, of their mutually-loved branch of
natural science.

From P. Parnellii this Grass is considered to be well distin-
guished by the webbed flowers; but the presence of the web is
often equivocal, and, where that appendage is most obvious, it
rarely consists of more than three or four long silky hairs, the ru-
diments of which are sometimes observable in the former plant.
Notwithstanding a general difference in aspect, I cannot avoid the
impression that the two are not unfrequently confounded by
collectors.

Dr. Parnell remarks that sheep seldom eat this Grass, as they
give a preference to the Festuca ovina, which grows in abundance
in the same situations ; a fact according with my own observation
regarding P. nemoralis.

Poa guauca. Glaucous Meadow Grass. Puiate LXIII.

Panicle erect, spreading. Spikelets ovate, two- or three-
flowered ; flowers free (not connected by aweb). Glumes unequal,
rather obtuse, hairy at the base. Lower palea five-veined, the
central and lateral veins hairy or silky, the intermediate ones in-
distinct. Stipules very short, obtuse.

Poa glauca, Smith. HE. B. 1720; ed. 2. 132. P. nemoralis «,
Hooker and Arnott. P. nemoralis, Bentham. P. nemoralis y.
glauca, Babington, who, however, does not quote the English
Botany figure. P. cesia, Parnell.

A Grass of alpine growth. Stems six inches to a foot in height,
rather slender and wiry. Leaves narrow, and, as well as the rest
of the plant, very conspicuously glaucous. Panicle erect, from two
to five inches long; its branches slender, rigid, much divided,
spreading, the lower ones growing by threes. The palee are
usually more or less variegated with shades of purple, with pale
margins, a circumstance which, added to the glossy silk-like hairs
of their veins, renders the mass of inflorescence extremely beau-
tiful when the sun is shining upon it.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

This Grass, like P. cesia in the preceding section, is one of very
doubtful affinity. My own acquaintance with it is confined to

79

garden specimens. Plants of P. cesia, which somewhat resemble
it in hue, occasionally present themselves on the Snowdon range,
but I have certainly never met with the P. glauca, as described by
Sir J. E. Smith, in a wild state. The great inequality in the
length of the glumes, and their almost abrupt termination, seem
to constitute the leading characters of distinction from its nearest
allies. Without being at all satisfied with the direct reference of
Mr. Bentham, or the questionable one of the authors of the British
Flora, to the English Botany figure under this title as a variety of
P. nemoralis, I reproduce it in the present work as a guide to
future inquirers.

*k* Root fibrous, perennial; not stoloniferous. Lower panicle-
branches subverticillate. Dorsal vein of the lower palea hairy ;
marginal ones smooth.

Poa triviatis. Rough Meadow Grass. Pxrare LXIV.

Panicle erect, widely spreading. Spikelets oblong-ovate, two-
to four-flowered ; flowers acute, connected by a web. Lower palea
five-veined ; the middle vein only silky or hairy, the others
smooth. Uppermost sheath much longer than its leaf. Ligule
oblong, acute. Stem and leaves roughish.

Poa trivialis, Linnaeus. E. B. 1072; ed. 2. 129. Generally
adopted.

One of the most common of our meadow and pasture Grasses,
especially where the soil is moist and rich. Grows in tufts. The
stems, decumbent and rooting at the lower part, give it somewhat
the appearance of being stoloniferous; but though usually de-
scribed as creeping, it does not send out any succulent shoots from
the base, that, spreading along or beneath the soil, form new plants
around the old one. Thus the Rough Meadow Grass ranks among
those of its kind distinguished as being fibrous-rooted, an import-
ant feature in the eye of the agriculturist. It varies much in
height, according to the nature of the land and accompanying
herbage, but seldom reaches more than a foot or eighteen inches.
Denuded of its leaf-sheaths, the stalk is nearly smooth, unless
towards the upper part, below the panicle, where the roughness is
readily felt by passing it through the hand from below upwards.
The thin flat leaves are likewise rough on both sides, and their
sheaths are so externally, the uppermost being always considerably
longer than its leaf. Ligule usually very thin, long, and termi-
nating in a point. Panicle, in luxuriant specimens, six or eight
inches long and three or four broad at the lower part ; the branches
very rough, widely spreading in partly unilateral whorls of three or
five. Spikelets compressed, ovate, generally about three- or four-

80

flowered. The silkiness of the middle vein of the lower palea seldom
extends more than half-way from its base.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

Owing to that general resemblance in aspect which is frequently
found to prevail among Grasses of the same genus, an inexperi-
enced collector is liable to confound this species with the following,
P. pratensis, a mistake that simple comparison of the figures will
scarcely rectify. Hence the necessity of longer and more minute
description, in this and other instances, than might at first sight
appear essential. By careful attention to the features detailed, the
Rough and Smooth Meadow Grasses may be easily recognized ;
but the tyro will do well to recollect that there is no royal road to
knowledge.

Though one of the commonest of European Grasses, as indicated
by the specific name, and distributed over the whole northern he-
misphere, from the latitude of the Mediterranean to the Arctic
Circle, Poa trivialis scarcely presents any tendency to the produc-
tion of varieties, so frequent among other species of this genus and
its allies; a circumstance probably dependent upon its almost ex-
clusive preference for moist habitats, and apparent incapability of
subsisting long enough in any other to acquire a new or different
aspect through seed-propagation.

The only variety hitherto noticed by botanists is figured by Dr.
Parnell, plate 35 of his ‘Grasses of Great Britain,’ under the
name of

P. trivialis parviflora. Spikelets small, one- or two-flowered.

Stem generally smooth.

This form is not uncommon in moist shady woods, and, as ob-
served by Dr. Parnell, might, at the first view, be mistaken for the
slender narrow-leaved one of P. nemoralis, figured in his plate 86
of the same work, unless by careful attention to the character of
the ligule and lower palea. Though generally quoted as such, it
is not, strictly speaking, a variety, not being permanent, but
when planted in the garden returning to the normal condition of
its species.

Agricultural writers m general extol this Grass highly for its
nutritive qualities and abundant produce ; and it is certain that
not any among our indigenous species are more generally liked by
sheep and cattle of all kinds. Its merits, however, have their
limits, and a moist rich soil is essential to their development.
Where this latter exists, no grass is better adapted for constituting
a leading portion of both permanent and alternate pasture; but
when sown on dry exposed situations, according to Mr. Sinclair,
its produce is not only from the first inconsiderable, but yearly
diminishes, and ultimately, within four or five years, it dies off
altogether, a fact quite consistent with its natural predilection for

81

moisture. The same experimentalist ascertained that its produce is
always much greater when combined with other grasses, than when
cultivated by itself; and that, with a proper admixture of the latter, it
becomes nearly doubled, though on the same soil, so much does it
delight in shelter. He adds, that this grass should be cut for hay
when in seed, as the loss sustained by taking the crop at the time of
flowering exceeds one-fourth of its value. Loudon mentions P. trivialis
as being well adapted for forming grass plots in towns, and in con-
fined situations generally, remarking, that this and P. annua are almost
the only species of grass that will flourish under the circumstances ;
a fact that an examination of the turf in most of the old London
squares tends to corroborate.

*eeeK Root stoloniferous (sending out creeping shoots or stolones),

Poa pratensis. Smooth Meadow Grass. Puate LXV

Panicle eréct, widely spreading. Spikelets oblong-ovate, three- or
four-flowered ; flowers acute, more or less copiously webbed. Lower
palea five-veined; the dorsal and marginal veins hairy. Uppermost
sheath much longer than its leaf. Ligule obtuse. Stem and leaves
smooth.

Poa pratensis, Linnews. EL. B. 1073; ed. 2.130*. Generally adopted.

No species is more common; but it seems to prefer lighter and
drier soils than P. trivialis, which, however, it frequently accompanies.
Being less affected by deficiency of moisture than the latter, it has a
wider distribution, and has hence a much greater tendency to assume
that diversity of size and aspect necessary to constitute varieties. The
creeping or stoloniferous habit is much influenced by the nature of the
soil, being in some instances a very prominent feature, while in others
it would scarcely be observed. Stems a foot to eighteen inches high.
Leaf-sheaths smooth, striated, the uppermost always much longer than
its leaf. Leaves narrow, flat, often roughish on the margins, but
smooth on the under surface ; the ligule short and blunt, never pointed.
Panicle spreading, three or four inches long; the branches slender,
rather rough, forming partly unilateral whorls of three or five. Spike-
lets slightly compressed, oblong-ovate, about four-flowered, stalked, or
nearly sessile. Outer palea of the lowermost flower five-veined ; the
dorsal and marginal veins hairy towards the base. The webbing of
the flowers is usually very copious and conspicuous.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July, but generally much earlier
‘than the rough meadow grass. ,

To enumerate the varieties of this common grass would be of smail
use to the student, without accompanying the descriptions with figures,
which would extend our work far beyond the proposed limits. The
leading features of the species are—the copiously webbed flowers, the
hairy marginal veins of the lower palea, and the short obtuse ligule,

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82

characters universally present in all of its forms; one of the latter, P.
subsceerulea of the ‘English Botany,’ is figured in Plate LXVI, as
indicating the striking difference in general aspect which soil or situ-
ation may occasionally produce without alteration of structure.

Although the differential characters assigned to this grass and P.
trivialis are individually, perhaps, of slight value, their constancy ren-
ders them important in the aggregate, associated as they are with a
form of growth altogether dissimilar. No two species of a genus are
more decidedly distinguished.

Poa pratensis produces abundant foliage, and at an earlier season than
most of our other common meadow and pasture grasses; hence, being
a favourite food of cattle generally, it might be considered one of the
most valuable, did not its creeping habit interfere with the growth of
others equally luxuriant and better adapted for the promiscuous crop of
the hay-field. Its earlier flowering, often about the first week in June,
is otherwise disadvantageous, as its seed is ripening at the period when
most of its associates are in full blossom, and, if allowed to remain
uncut until this occurs, a loss of more than one-fourth of the crop is
sustained. In addition to these objections to its employment under the
improved system of agriculture, it may be remarked that all creeping
plants tend to impoverish the soil over which they spread; a fact
evinced by their natural habit of sending out their new stems to seek
that nutriment at a distance which the older ones have exhausted near
at hand. Thus a grass once regarded as being among the most useful
of British species, and under this view still dispensed by our unpractical
seedsmen, is considered by most experienced cultivators as a weed.

The flower-stems have been used in this country for manufacturing
straw-plait, in imitation of Leghorn, and the imitation is said to be
very successful. :

Lhe Smooth Meadow Grass appears to be distributed over the whole
northern hemisphere, at least within the temperate zone.

Poa supscHRvuLEA. Glaucous Meadow Grass. Puars LXVI.
A mere alpine or starved variety of P. pratensis.

Poa subsceerulea, /. B. 1004. P. pratensis, var. #. B.; ed. 2. 130.
generally so considered. P. caerulea, Sinclair.

The appearance of this grass is so dissimilar to that of P. pratensis,
not only in its normal form, but in most of its varieties, that, without
close examination, it might readily be mistaken for a distinct species.
The inflorescence is more compact; the spikelets broader and more
strictly ovate, and usually three-flowered ; the leaves proportionately
broad and short, somewhat folded and compressed at the upper part,
or rather incurved and rounded at the back, of a more or less glaucous
hue, often tinged with purple. Setting aside these peculiarities, which
are altogether independent of structure, the identity of species is
beyond question. The present is not an exclusively alpine plant,
though common in the mountainous districts of Wales, and the north

83

of England and Scotland; it is not at all unfrequent on walls and
rocks, or even on very dry sandy soils, especially near the sea.

According to Sinclair, it contains a considerable quantity of bitter
extractive matter, and the same author has noticed that hares left it
untouched during five successive years, while they cropped the normal
form which grew in the immediate vicinity.

Poa comprussa. Flat-stemmed Meadow Grass. Puate LXVII.

Panicle erect, more or less spreading when in flower, somewhat
unilateral, spikelets oblong-ovate, five- to seven-flowered; flowers
obtuse, the lower ones webbed. Lower palea with three hairy or silky
veins. Uppermost sheath about the length of its leaf. Ligule short,
obtuse. Stem, compressed from the base.

Poa compressa, Linnceus. E. B. 365; ed. 2.125. Generally adopted.

Frequent in dry situations, especially on waste land, where the soil is
barren and unretentive of moisture, and on walls, road-sides, and rocks.
In habit it is not dissimilar to P. pratensis, the stolones or creeping
shoots sending up erect strongly-compressed stems a foot or more in
height. Leaf-sheaths smooth, striated, the uppermost not longer or
even shorter than its leaf. Leaves flat, acute, rough on the margins,
and often so on the upper face, smooth beneath. Ligule very short
and blunt. Panicle oblong, two or three inches long; the branches
short, spreading when in flower, nearly unilateral, many of the spikelets
sessile. Outer palea three-veined; the veins hairy towards the base.
Flowers webbed, but less copiously so than in the preceding species.

Perennial. Flowers from June to September.

In geographical distribution it accords with P. pratensis.

There is much in the general aspect of the flat-stemmed meadow
grass that seems to favour its being a separate species. The remark-
able compression of the stem, usually more abundantly-flowered spike-
lets, and three-veined outer palea, constitute its leading distinctions :
the first is very constant, the second too variable to be of any import-
ance, the last not to be depended upon, as the intermediate veins, and
sometimes even the marginal ones, of P. pratensis, are liable to be
obscure and inconspicuous.

It is said to be liked by cattle, and produces its foliage very early in
the spring, but the latter is too scanty to prove of much service.
However nutritious analysis has shown it to be, the same objections
apply to it in cultivation as to the species of which I am inclined to
consider it only a marked variety. ; ar

Poa polynoda of Dr. Parnell, adopted by Mr. Babington in his
‘Manual,’ is by many botanists regarded as a variety of the present.
I am not sufficiently acquainted with this grass to offer an opinion as
to its specific validity or otherwise ; but if its claims as a species rested
on its webless flowers and five-veined outer palea be rejected, it only
enhances the view already expressed in this work, ee the

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84

utter worthlessness of such characters of distinction being employed in
the arrangement of the plants before us.

The authors of the ‘ British Flora,’ remark, under P. compressa, that
its flowers are “by no means always connected by a web; in French
and North American specimens, and in those from this country, there
is often not the least trace of one, yet they are not otherwise distin-
guishable. In « (the normal form) there are usually only three veins
to the outer palea, all of them silky ; but an intermediate pair may be
occasionally detected, and this constitutes P. subcompressa, Parnell.
In 8 (P. polynoda, Parnell) we have always observed five veins, of
which sometimes the two lateral ones and the midvein are silky, some-
times only the former ; sometimes all are naked.”

P. polynoda was first observed by Dr. Parnell, growing in small
patches on rather dry stony soil, in the vicinity of Edinburgh, where
it comes into flower about the last week in June, and ripens its seed
towards the close of July. Plants reared from seed retained the cha-
racters of the original, differing only from the wild state in the in-
creased size of the panicle. According to the account of its discoverer,
the learned author of the ‘ Grasses of Britain,’ it does not appear to be
liked by cattle, “the leaves being always found entire, while the
surrounding foliage of other grasses was cropped close to the ground.
This is probably owing to the large quantity of silicious matter con-
tained in the sheaths and stems, which is considerably greater than
that found in other grasses, rendering the herbage hard and disagree-
able to the mouths of cattle. When dry, it might form a substitute for
fine sand-paper, and prove valuable to turers for polishing wood.
The minute granular surface can be very perceptibly, though disagree-
ably, felt by drawing the stem through the teeth.”

The circumstances above detailed may result from peculiarity of
habitat, or may be really indicative of distinction as a species. At
present I incline to the former view, and to the belief that Poa
pratensis is not alone the type, but the origin of all the supposed
species of its section—in other words, of all the stoloniferous forms of
the genus as it is at present circumscribed.

Genus 29. SCLEROCHLOA. Hard Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence paniculate, generally more or less compact.
Spikelets many-flowered, rarely three- ‘or four-flowered only.
Glumes two, unequal, acute, membranaceous. Paleze two, mem-
branaceous; the lower one five-veined, cylindrical below, often
keeled at the tip, or terminating with a very minute mucro.

A genus established by Palisot de Beauvois. The species, origin-
ally included in Poa, are grasses of little value, unless as colonists,
vegetating almost exclusively on sandy sea-shores; a few grow in
salt marshes occasionally overflowed at spring-tides, others inland,
on walls or rocks, or in very dry, barren ground, unfavourable to the
development of more nutritious herbage.

85

The name, from the Greek scleros, hard, and chloa, grass, is siguifi-
cant of the harsh, almost wiry character of the stems.

SCLEROCHLOA MaRiTIMA. Creeping Sea Hard Grass. Prats LXVIII.

Panicle erect, the lowermost branches in pairs or simple. Spikelets
linear, adpressed, five- to eight- or ten-flowered. Lower palea obtuse,
apiculate, the mid-vein reaching the point. Leaves convolute. Roots
stoloniferous.

Sclerochloa maritima, Lindley. Babington. Glyceria, maritima,
Smith. Poa maritima, Hudson. E. B. 1140; ed. 2. 122.
Hooker and Arnott. Parnell. Bentham.

Frequent in saline marshes and rather moist sandy places on the
sea-coast, often spreading widely by means of its creeping scions or
stolones. Stems decumbent at first, and rooting at the joints, after-
wards ascending and erect, more.or less compressed, a foot or more in
height. Leaves generally involute, occasionally flat, rather short, hard
and almost pungent at the apex. Ligule obtuse, ovate. Panicle rigid,
nearly unilateral, three- to five-inches long; the lower branches in
pairs, or sometimes, in luxuriant specimens, two or three together,
upper ones often simple, all tending to an erect position after flowering,
rarely widely spreading during the latter period, and never deflexed.
Spikelets linear, shortly stalked, usually six- or eight-flowered. Glumes
rather acute, or at least pointed, three-veined ; the outer or lower one
shorter, and neither of them reaching the apex of the lowermost flower.
Paleze nearly equal, the lower one five-veined, the upper two-veined.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

Distributed on most sea-coasts of the northern hemisphere, from
the latitude of the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle.

Scierocuioa pistans. Reflexed Hard Grass. Puare LXIX.

Panicle erect; its branches slender, distantly whorled, spreading,
eventually deflexed. Spikelets linear, three- to six-flowered. Lower
palea obtuse, the mid-vein not reaching the apex. Leaves flat. Root
fibrous (not stoloniferous).

Sclerochloa. distans, Babington. Glyceriadistans, Smith. Poa distans,
Linneus. E. B.986; ed.2.121. Hooker and Arnott. Parnell.
Bentham. Festuca distans, Kunth.

Far from being an uncommon grass, in England especially, though
less generally distributed in these islands than the preceding species.
While the latter prefers moist habitats, the present is always found on
dry ground, and though more frequent near the sea, appears equally
at home in barren sandy situations, far inland. Wherever met with,
it forms tufts, springing from a clustered fibrous root, without any
tendency to the creeping or stoloniferous habit. Stems sometimes

86

slightly decumbent at the base, from a foot to eighteen inches in height,
smooth, rigid. Leaves flat, acute, roughish on the upper face. Ligule,
short, broad, abrupt. Panicle three to six inches long: the branches
long, slender, spreading when in flower; arranged at the lower part in
somewhat unilateral distant whorls of four or five together, which ulti-
mately become rigidly deflexed or bent downwards, a character that
strikingly distinguishes this grass from S. maritima and others of the
genus. Spikelets linear, or approaching to elliptical, seldom more than
four- or five-flowered. Glumes very unequal, shorter than the lower-
most flower of the spikelet. Lower palea five-veined, the middle vein
not extending to the summit.

Perennial. Flowers in July and August.

Most botanical authors seem to regard §. distans as a very near ally
of S. maritima, and some incline to consider the two as varieties of
the same form. The great difference in habit seems decisive on this
point, and I have not observed any change produced under cultivation
which would tend to affect their allotment as separate species.

In geographical distribution S. distans nearly accords with S. mari-
tuma.

The peculiarity of its inflorescence renders this species deserving a
place on rock-work, or in the alpine garden. ;

Screrocutoa Borrert. Borrer’s Hard Grass. Prats LXX.

Panicle erect, spreading when in flower; branches half-verticillate.
Spikelets linear, four- to seven-flowered. Lower palea obsoletely five-
veined ; the middle vein extending beyond the summit as an apiculus
or mucro. Leaves flat. Root fibrous, tufted.

Selerochloa Borreri, Babington. Glyceria Borreri, Babington in
i. B. Supp. 2797. G. conferta, Fries. Poa Borreri. Hooker
and Arnott. Parnell.

Found in muddy salt marshes, and on the borders of ditches near the
sea, on the southern and south-eastern coasts of England. It was first
noticed as a native species by Mr. Borrer, near Gosport, but has since
been ascertained to be not unfrequent along the whole line of coast
from Dorsetshire to the Wash. Root tufted, sending up several
smooth, compressed, more or less decumbent stems, six inches to a foot
in height. Leaves short, flat, or partly involute. Ligule short, scarcely
obtuse. Panicle two or threo inches long, more or less compact or
spreading ; its branches when most expanding rather ascending than
deflexed. Spikelets usually four-flowered. Glumes membranaceous at
the margins. Lower palea obscurely five-veined, the middle vein termi-
nating beyond the apex in a short mucro ; upper palea with two fringed
or ciliated veins, rounded at the summit, or very slightly emarginate.

Perennial. Flowers in July. It is sometimes described as annual,
but it survived three or four years in a garden.

The authors of the ‘ British Flora’ remark that this plant is “obviously
intermediate between Pow distans and Poa procumbens,” the preceding

87

and following species of Sclerochloa. The latter grass, which it fre-

quently accompanies, is unquestionably a near ally, a slight difference
of habit excepted.

ScLEROcHLOA PRocuMBENS. Procumbent Hard Grass. Prater LXXI.

_ Panicle more or less compact, ovate-lanceolate ; branches distichous,
rigid, rough. Spikelets linear-lanceolate, four- or five-flowered. ‘Lower
palea obtuse, with an apiculus formed by an extension of the middle

vein beyond the upper margin. Leaves flat, with inflated sheaths.
Root fibrous..

Sclerochloa procumbens, Beawvois. Lindley. Babington. Glyceria
procumbens, Smith. Poa procumbens, Curtis. FE. B. 582; ed. 2.
123. Hooker and Arnott. Parnell. Bentham. Poa rupestris,
Withering.

Frequent in saline marshes and on waste ground on the sea-coast of
southern England; more rare in Scotland and Ireland. Stems procum-
bent, rarely when growing in water erect, rigid, round, smooth, six inches
to a foot or more in length. Leaves flat, rough on the upper surface,
sharply pointed. Sheaths inflated. Ligule oblong. Panicle about
two inches long, generally compact, lanceolate inclining to ovate: the
branches distichous, but directed to one side. Spikelets seldom more
than four-flowered, linear-lanceolate. Glumes obtuse, shorter than
the lower flower. Lower palea slightly hairy at the base, obtuse at the
summit, but having a mucro formed by the projecting extremity of the
middle vein; upper palea rather shorter than the lower. Whole plant
usually glaucous.

-Annual, Flowers in July.

This grass appears to be chiefly confined to the western shores of

Europe, from Spain to the mouth of the Elbe.

Scuerocunoa Riaipa. Wiry Hard Grass. Puare LXXII.

Panicle erect, rigid, lanceolate, sometimes compact and spike-like ;
branches short, distichous, inclining to one side of the bordered rachis
(main stalk of the inflorescence). Spikelets linear-acute, seven- to
ten-flowered. Glumes acute, single-veined; summit of the upper one
extending to the base of the third flower of its spikelet. Lower palea
obtuse, obscurely five-veined ; the middle vein extending into a mucro.

Sclerochloa rigida, Link. Lindley. Babington. Glyceria rigida, |
Smith. Poarigida, Linneus. E. B. 1371; ed. 2.124. Hooker
and Arnott. Parnell. Bentham. Festuca rigida, Kunth.

A very common grass on rocks, walls, and dry waste places and
hedge-banks, in a sandy and gravelly soil; varying, according to
circumstances, from two to six or eight inches in height. Root fibrous.
Stems erect, or decumbent at the base, round, striated, slender, stiff

88

and wiry. Leaves linear, nearly flat, taper-pointed, involute and
bristle-like, very rigid. Ligule oblong, pointed, often jagged. Panicle
erect, one to three inches long, with an angular or bordered rachis; in
the larger plants with numerous short, alternately disposed, unilateral
branches, and a lanceolate or linear-lanceolate general outline; in
smaller, the spikelets ate sometimes sessile, and the general mass of
inflorescence so compact as to present the appearance of a spike.
Spikelets linear, compressed, with usually about eight rather logsely-
disposed flowers. Glumes without lateral veins, acute, unequal; the
upper one reaching to the base of the third flower. Lower palea five-
veined, the marginal veins usually broad and distinct, the intermediate
ones scarcely perceptible, the central one extending into a very short
but obvious mucro. ‘

Annual. Flowers in June and July, soon after which the foliage
dries up and becomes bleached, while the rigid wire-like stems assume
a dark red or purple hue, and continue long after the scattering of the
seed has taken place.

Where this grass grows about rabbit-warrens, which is the case in
some sandy districts towards the sea, the young foliage is often cropped
by the animals, but apparently rather in default of more succulent
herbage at the period, than in consequence of any instinctive fondness
for it as food.

Without very strict attention to their respective descriptions, small
specimens of S. rigida are liable to be mistaken for the next species
S. loliacea, between which and the present there is considerable diffi-
culty in establishing determinate characters of distinction, although the
latter-named plant was, until recently, referred to a widely-separated
genus. So uncertain are our existing means of classification.

The geographical distribution of S. rigida does not appear to be a
very wide one, being, exclusive of its British habitats, limited to
central and southern Europe, and the basin of the Mediterranean.
In these islands it can only be regarded as a common plant in the
south of England and Ireland. In Scotland, it is only of local occur-
rence, and chiefly in the vicinity of Edinburgh; nor is it found at any
considerable elevation above the sea-level in countries farther south.

ScLerocuioa Lowtacea. Dwarf Hard Grass. Prare LX XIII.

Panicle unilateral, racemose, or spike-like, erect, or slightly curved.
Spikelets oblong-ovate, many flowered. Upper glume reaching to the
base of the fourth flower. Lower palea obtuse, terminating with a
mucro. Root fibrous.

Seclerochloa loliacea, Woods. Babington. Triticum loliaceum, FE. B.
221; ed.2. 181. Catapodium loliaceum, Lindley. Poa loliacea,
Hudson. Hooker and Arnott. Parnell.

A grass of the sea-side, growing in tufts in the crevices of rocks,
and on sandy shores, often within reach of the tide, especially along
the coast of England; less common in Scotland and Ireland, but

89

gencrally abundant in those places where it occurs. The whole plant
1s exceedingly rigid and wiry, varying in height from two to four or
five inches at most. Stems usually decumbent at the lower part,
rather thick compared with their length, smooth, striated. Leaves
linear, rigid, flat, or only becoming convolute when dry. Panicle
dense, often resembling a spike, or otherwise with the spikelets arranged
as a raceme. Spikelets mostly solitary, on short footstalks, ovate,
oblong, or occasionally linear; six- to twelve-flowered; alternately
disposed upon the rachis, but inclining to one side. Glumes nearly equal,
the apex of the upper one reaching to the base of the fourth flower, a
feature remarkably constant if of any real value. Lower palea more or
less distinctly five-veined; the marginal veins broad and well marked,
and often with a white line down the middle; the dorsal one extended
beyond the obtuse extremity of the palea as a short point or mucro.

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

Although the generic allotment of this little grass has been long
undetermined, as the above synonyms sufficiently indicate, while the
affinities of Sclerochloa rigida have seldom been questioned, they cor-
respond so closely in structure as to render their specific separation
even problematical, some states of the latter species being all but un-
distinguishable from the present. Modern writers have not much
relieved the difficulty by pointing out the difference in the comparative
length of the upper glume, reaching in one case to the base of the third
flower of the spikelet, in the other to that of the fourth. A dissimi-
larity in habit or general aspect, familiar to my eye from boyhood,
renders me averse to the decision that they are mere local varieties,
and raised, from seed, in the inland garden, Sclerochloa loliacea retained
its usual character, or only differed in being rather less glaucous than
its sea-side progenitors: still, in the absence of more marked structural
characters, its individuality is dopbtful. Withering, who regarded it
as a species of ZJ'riticum, in opposition to Hudson, who classed it as a
Poa, remarks “the serpentine spike-stalk (rachis), which from the spike-
lets facing one way becomes visible behind through its whole length,
has a strong wood-like mid-rib, edged with a thinner and greener
border, the same as in the Poa rigida.” Apart from the natural mari-
time habitats of the present, its geographical distribution nearly accords
with that of the last species.

Genus 80. GLYCERIA. Sweet Grass.

Gun. Cuan. Inflorescence, more or less branched and loosely pani-
culate. Spikelets stalked, four- to many-flowered. Glumes two,
single-veined, unequal, obtuse, membranaceous, small, shorter
than the pales of the lowermost flower. Palez two; the lower
one seven-veined, with scarious margins, subcylindrical; the
upper one shorter, bifid at the apex, with two marginal veins.

Nearly allied to Poa, of which genus it is by many botanists only
regarded as a section, while by others it is ignored altogether. The

90

genus, proposed by Dr. R. Brown, and adopted by Sir J. EH. Smith,
as at present limited, consists of certain species of large, handsome,
aquatic or semiaquatic grasses, abounding in nutriment, and containing
a considerable quantity of sugar; from which latter circumstance the
name is bestowed, from the Greek glyceros, sweet.

Guyceria aquatica. Reed Sweet Grass. Prare LX XIV.

Panicle erect, repeatedly branched; branches rough, widely spread-
ing. Spikelets numerous, stalked, ovate or passing into linear-oblong,
compressed, about six- or eight-flowered. Flowers obtuse. Lower
palea seven-veined, the dorsal vein extending to the summit. Leaves
broad, channeled. Root creeping.

Glyceria aquatica, Smith. Babington. Poa aquatica, Linneeus, EL. B.
1315; ed. 2.120. Hooker and Arnott. Parnell. Hydrochloa
aquatica, Hartman. Lindley.

Very common on the banks of rivers, ditches, and ponds, often
growing in the water. Root creeping. Stems three to six feet high,
erect, smooth, slightly compressed and two-edged. Leaves long,
broad, channeled, rough on the margins and keel. Ligule short,
obtuse. Panicle erect, large, spreading, six to ten inches long, and
four or five broad, tinged with brown or purple; branches slender,
angular, rough, often much divided. Glumes small, obtuse, or very
slightly acuminated. Outer palea, of the lowermost flowers, especially,
with seven prominent veins; that of the upper ones often only five-
veined ; the middle or dorsal vein rough with minute teeth.

Perennial. Flowers in July and August.

Abundantly distributed throughout Kurope in similar situations to
those which it occupies here, but the North American plant described
under the same name appears to be of doubtful identity.

This is a valuable grass in moist land liable to lie under water at
times, being one of the most nutritious, and generally liked by cattle.
In some districts, as in the fens of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire,
and on low marshy ground about the Thames and other large rivers, it
may be profitably cut twice or thrice in a season, yielding each time an
abundant crop. According to Mr. Sinclair the mowing should take
place at the period of coming into flower, as the proportion of nutritive
elements the grass then contains is greater than when the seed is ripe,
in the ratio of 19 to 17. In some of the districts above mentioned,
the richest summer pasturage, as well as the principal supplies of winter
fodder, are alike yielded by this useful species. As a set-off against
its value in this respect, it ought, however, to be mentioned, that it
creeps so rapidly at the root as quickly to fill up the ditches and water-
courses, and even slow rivers, thus constituting a formidable obstacle
to the improvement of the land by drainage. Curtis has described the
mode by which the removal of this and other vegetation of the kind
from such channels is effected, and the river or the water-course
cleansed out, by means of an instrument called a bear ; consisting of

91

an iron roller, with a number of small spade-blades fixed upon it: this
is drawn up and down the streams by horses walking along the banks,
and cuts and tears up the plants by the roots, which floating are
carried away by the flow of the water.

Guyceria riurrans. Floating Sweet Grass. Prats LXXV.

Panicle nearly erect, slightly branched; branches nearly simple.
Spikelets long, linear, from about seven- to twenty-flowered. Lower
palea seven-veined with short intermediate ones at the base, the dorsal
vein scarcely extending to the summit. Leaves folded at the mid-vein.
Root creeping.

Glyceria fluitans, R. Brown. Smith. Lindley, E. B. ed. 2. 119.
Bulington, inclusive of G. plicata. Poa fluitans, Scopoli, E. B.
1520. Hooker and Arnott. Parnell. Bentham. Festuca fluitans,
Linneus.

One of the most common of British Grasses in wet muddy places,
and about ponds, ditches, and the banks of rivers, the waters of which
are frequently covered by its long floating stems and leaves. Flower-
ing stems, decumbent and rooting at the base, varying according to
circumstances, from one to two or three feet in height, round, smooth,
and usually comparatively thick and succulent. Leaves long, linear-
acuminate, rather rough on both surfaces; the upper ones, especially,
folded inward or compressed from the mid-vein; the lower and floating
ones flat. Ligule oblong, pointed, often jagged or torn on the edges.
Panitle erect or slightly drooping, slender, frequently a foot or more in
length; its branches few, mostly simple, or but little branched, slender,
roughish, arranged alternately on the rachis in pairs of unequal length,
but with an inclination to one side of the latter. Spikelets half an inch
to an inch or more in length, erect or more or less divaricated when in
flower, linear, variegated with green and white; very variable in the
number of the flowers in different specimens, the more luxuriant some-
times presenting fifteen or twenty, while the smaller may not consist of
more than six or eight, the lowermost of which is always considerably
longer than the larger glume at its base. Outer palea, especially in the
lowermost flower, with seven prominent veins, and usually short inter-
mediate veins at the base, the middle veins scarcely reaching the apex,
and rough with minute teeth.

Perennial. Flowers from the end of June to August or September.

The character of this grass is so truly protean, that our readers must
* content themselves with a single figure, although many modern bota-
nists consider that at least two native species have been hitherto con-
founded, under the above name. It was our intention at first to have
given figures of both these, as adopted by Mr. Babington in his
‘Manual ;’ but close examination and repeated comparison of speci-
mens from various localities, have led to a contrary decision. Taking
the extremes of form apart from all intermediate developments, G.
plicata of Fries is sufficiently distinct from the normal G. fluitans,

92

perhaps, to warrant their separation as species, but certainly not in
association with the latter, numerous and varied as they are. For the
discrimination of the species at large, the ‘figure in Plate LXXV. will
be found sufficient: for the satisfaction of the more fastidious student
the leading characteristics of its most marked varieties are subjoined.

a—G. flwitans, R. Brown. Leaf-sheaths nearly smooth, striate.
Flowers more or less acute. Anthers long (about five times
longer than broad).

g.—G. plicata, Fries, Leaf-sheaths rough, furrowed. Flowers rather
obtuse. Anthers short (from two to four times longer than broad).

To the latter of the two the EZ. B. figures above quoted are usually
referred.

In allusion to these and other slight differences observable among
specimens of the grass before us, the authors of the ‘ British Flora’
remark that “to those who rely on such points, and on the form and
colour of the anthers, for characters, there must be at least six or eight
varieties or species in this country, and as many, though not quite the
same, in North America.” Their estimation is certainly moderate so
far as our own islands are concerned.

Certain states of G. fluitans and of Festuca loléacea nearly approach
each other in general aspect, and, when the latter grows in wet situa-
tions, a cursory observer is liable to mistake one for the other; but
the single-veined glume and seven-veined outer palea, generic distinc-
tions of the former, serve at once to distinguish it from the latter, the
only British Grass which at all resembles it in habit. :

The Floating Sweet Grass is very generally distributed over Europe
and northern Asia, the extreme colder parts excepted; is likewise a
native of North America, and, either it or a kindred species, is found in
Australia, :

Though naturally confined to watery situations, it is said to prove
productive when cultivated in comparatively dry ones, and to be thus
valuable for permanent pasture in some cases. The only instances-in
which it would be found to flourish so as to add greatly to the quantity
of the crop, are fens, marshes, or river-meadows liable to occasional in-
undation, and even in such lands it is doubtful whether its introduction
is desirable, on account of the creeping habit that tends to exclude
other grasses from the soil. Agricultural writers and experimentalists
differ in their accounts of the estimation of this grass by cattle: we
find it stated by one, perhaps, that it is a favourite with horses, cows,
and swine; while another observes that cattle will eat it, but there
are many grasses they like better—a discrepancy probably arising
from the varied times and circumstances under which their information
on this point has been obtained; one fact may be admitted, all herbi-
varous animals are fond of the seeds as they approach ripeness.
The seeds are large, compared with those of most of our common
grasses, are easily collected, and having a sweetish flavour, have
received the name of manna seeds. Under this title they are occasion-

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ally met with in our English shops, being used here as a delicacy or
luxury for making light puddings and gruels, and for thickening and
flavouring soups; but in some parts of the Continent, especially in
Germany and Poland, their use is more general, and the plant is culti-
vated to a considerable extent for obtaining a crop. In regard to
nutritive qualities, they hold a high rank among the different kinds of
grain, and are said to form a bread, little, if at all, inferior to that made
from wheat. They afford a grateful food to all graniverous birds,
and to geese, ducks, swans, and other water-fowl especially, as well
as to many species of fresh-water fishes, but above all to the trout;
hence the growth of this grass on the borders of streams, ponds, lakes,
and swampy places about preserves, decoys, &c., is deserving encou-
ragement by those interested.

The sharp bran obtained in the preparation of the manna seeds is
used on the Continent for destroying intestinal worms in horses, its
action being mechanical, like that of the Indian remedy in the human
subject, known as Cowitch, the pungent hairs on the pods of the Mucuna
pruviens. After administering the dose the horses are kept for a time
without water, which is supposed to impair its efficacy.

Genus 31. TRIODIA. Heath Grass.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence raceme-like. Spikelets stalked, alternate,
compressed, two- to four-flowered, Glumes two, nearly equal,
acute, three-veined, as long as the flowers. Pale two; the
lower one somewhat coriaceous, rounded on the back, three-
toothed at the apex, hairy below; the upper one obtuse, with two
marginal veins.

A genus established by Dr. R. Brown for the reception of certain
Australian and South American grasses. A single species, formerly
associated with Poa, belongs, perhaps, exclusively to Europe. The
name, from the Greek trezs, three, and odous, teeth, alludes to the
triple division of the apex of the lower palea.

The European plant has much more the habit of a Festwca than of
a Poa, and’ was by Linnzus placed in the former genus, although
regarded by him as allied to Melzca.

TRIopIA DECUMBENS. Decumbent Heath Grass. Pisare LXXVI.

Panicle erect, usually simple or racemose. Spikelets few, ovate,
about four-flowered, not longer than the glumes. Ligule a tuft of
hairs.

Triodia decumbens, Beawvois. Smith. Lindley. Hooker. E. B.
ed. 2. 135. Poa decumbens, Withering. EH. B. 792. Festuca
decumbens. Linnceus.

Frequent on mountainous and hilly pastures, heaths, and moors,
throughout the kingdom, though chiefly in poor, wet soils, or in such

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as, though dry during the summer, admit of the rain collecting upon
the surface at other times of the year; hence it is often met with
growing on sandy fields and commons. Whole plant usually prostrate
and spreading, the stems only ascending and becoming erect at the
time of flowering, when they vary in height, according to circumstances,
from a few inches to a foot. Leaves linear, acummate, more or less
hairy, rough towards the points. Ligule represented by a tuft of hairs.
Inflorescence consisting of a very small number of spikelets, seldom
more than five or six, arranged like a raceme; containing three or
four flowers each, and standing erect on smooth alternately disposed
footstalks. Glumes very nearly equal, lanceolate, very acute, strongly
three-veined,* smooth, as long as or even longer than the spikelet.
Outer palea ovate, convex, or rounded externally, five-veined or
ribbed, with a small tuft of hairs on each side at the base; three-
toothed at the apex, the middle tooth usually very short and stiff, being
an extension of the central vein. Inner or upper palea broad, obtuse,
entire at the apex, with two green, marginal, minutely ciliated veins.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

Its presence is always indicative of a poor soil. Harsh, rigid, and
insipid, like other colonizing grasses, it is generally rejected by cattle.

Triodia decumbens is almost essentially a European grass, being met
with on barren grounds over the whole Continent, from the borders of
the Mediterranean to those of the Gulf of Bothnia. It is a native like-
wise of some parts of Russian Asia.

The peculiarity of the ligule is a marked feature, by which this grass
may be readily recognized. ;

Genus 82. BRIZA. Quaking Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence loosely panicled. Spikelets stalked, much
compressed, ovate or deltoid, with from three to eight densely
imbricated flowers. Glumes two, nearly equal, broad, obtuse,
three-veined, much shorter than the spikelet. Paleze two; lower
one boat-shaped, obtuse, rounded on the back, faintly many-
veined. Glumes and pales membranaceous, passing into coria-
ceous, with scarious margins.

A small, but rather widely distributed genus of highly graceful and
ornamental grasses, of no agricultural value.

The name, from the Greek britho, to droop, suspend, or balance,
applies to the position of the broad oval or triangular spikelets, the
long stalks of which are so slender as to occasion them to tremble with
the slightest movement of the air. The English name is of course
expressive of the same result. :

All of the species are deserving of attention on account of their
beauty; and an annual one, Briza maxima, a native of southern
Europe, has long occupied its place in the English flower-garden, now
and then escaping from the limits of the parterre, and appearing spon-

95

taneously in the vicinity of towns and villages, but not sufficiently per-
manent in its wild propagation to be considered ag naturalized.

Briza mepta. Common Quaking Grass, Maiden’s-hair, Cow-quakes,
Lady’s-hair, Prare LXXVILI.

Spikelets broadly ovate, about seven-flowered. Glumes shorter than
the lowermost flower. Ligule short, obtuse.

Briza media, Linnews. E. B. 340; ed. 2.187. Generally adopted.

A common grass on open downs and pastures, especially in poor
shallow rocky soils, in which it often constitutes the principal vegeta-
tion, but rapidly disappears before the advance of cultivation, being
soon overpowered by the more succulent and luxuriant species thus
brought into competition. An elegant plant, forming tufts, never
spreading at the root. Stems from a few inches to a foot or even a
foot and a half in height, erect, smooth, and slender. Leaves flat,
short, linear, acute. Ligule usually very short, occasionally all but
obsolete, always terminating abruptly. Panicle two to four inches
long, widely spreading, triangular in general outline; branches smooth,
very slender, wiry, wavy or zig-zag, arranged in alternate pairs on
the smooth rachis. Spikelets pendulous on long slender footstalks,
mostly six- or seven-flowered, broadly ovate, compressed, purple or
brown, variegated with green and white. Glumes and outer paleax
nearly corresponding in texture, approaching coriaceous, but with thin
or scarious whitish margins. Glumes shorter than the lowermost
flower. Lower palea roundish-oval, not gibbous, upper one minute,
resembling a flat membranaceous scale.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

Eaten by cattle generally in the pastures where it grows, especially
by sheep, but of little value on account of the comparatively scanty
foliage. For cultivation, even on poor soils, it is altogether unfitted,
as the produce would scarcely repay the expense of seed and sowing.
In the slow economy of nature it is a pioneer, valuable and efficient
in that office, but out of place elsewhere.

Found throughout Europe, the extreme northern parts excepted, in
similar situations to those which it occupies in England.

Briza minor. Lesser Quaking Grass. Prate LXXVIII.

Spikelets triangular, five- to seven-flowered. Glumes longer than
the lowermost flower. Ligule long lanceolate, acute.

Briza minor, Linneus. E. B. 1816; ed. 2.136. Generally adopted
by British botanists.

Not indigenous, though long naturalized in the extreme south-west
of England, where it occurs occasionally on dry sandy fields and
heaths, especially towards the sea: it is likewise met with in the

96

Channel Islands. Grows in tufts from a fibrous root, sending up erect,
smooth, slender stems, varying from two or three inches to a foot in
height. Leaves flat, acute, roughish; shorter and broader than those
of Briza media. ligule very long, lanceolate acuminate. Panicle
much branched and spreading; branches very slender, roughish.
Spikelets smaller than those of the last species, and generally more
numerous, pale green variegated with white, compressed, triangular.
Glumes as long as, or sometimes longer, than the lowermost flower,
having, as well as the palew, membranaceous and whitish margins.
Lower palea broad, obtuse, or roundish-heart-shaped, very strikingly
gibbous on the back, cartilaginous; upper one small, thin, flat.

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

Southern Europe, and the basins of the Euxine and Mediterranean,
appear to constitute the natural geographical limits of this grass.
Although met with occasionally far mland, as in Switzerland and
Southern Germany, it is a plant of maritime habitats, of which the
shores of the English Channel seem at present to be the boundary
northward.

Genus 38. DACTYLIS. Cock’s-foot Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence paniculate. Panicle with the secondary
branches short and crowded; subunilateral. Spikelets in dense
clusters, compressed, three- to five-flowered. Glumes two, un-
equal, shorter than the spikelet; the lower one keeled. Palez
two; the lower one lanceolate, compressed, keeled, five-veined,
the dorsal vein ciliated or fringed, and extending just below the
apex as a short awn; upper one membranaceous, equalling the
lower one in size, minutely fringed or ciliated on the margins.

Named from the Greek dactylos, a finger, in allusion to the dense
round-topped bunches of spikelets of Dactylis glomerata, which bear
a fanciful resemblance to the end of a finger.

A genus of uncertain limits, so nearly approaching Festuca, and
perhaps Poa, in floral structure, as to be scarcely separable, unless by
peculiarity of habit. :

Dactyiis cromeratra. Clustered or Rough Cock’s-foot Grass.
Prats LXXIX.

Panicle distantly branched. Spikelets forming ovate clusters di-
rected to one side. Leaves linear, flat, rough on the margins. Stem
erect. Root tufted.

Dactylis glomerata, Linneus. EE. B. 835; ed. 2.188. Generally
adopted.

A very common species, growing in almost all soils and situations,
in meadows, woods, and by road-sides. A coarse grass, forming com-

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pact tufts, and sending up many flowering stems from one to two feet
high. Stem erect, round, striated. Leaves linear, flat, terminating
acutely, rough, especially at the edges, which are almost toothed with
minute siliceous points, broad, rather flaccid notwithstanding their
harshness to the touch. Panicle erect, the lower branches distant and
spreading, the upper ones often tufted, all turned in one direction ,
rachis and branches rough. Spikelets numerous, closely clustered,
forming ovate masses at the extremities of the branches, on short
rough footstalks, usually three- or four-flowered. Glumes membrana-
ceous, lanceolate acuminate, the keel rough or hairy. Lower palea
almost cartilagenous; its fringed dorsal vein not quite reaching to the
summit, but extending a little below it as a short awn.

The general aspect of the inflorescence varies much in different
situations ; the branches of the panicle being sometimes, in poor and
exposed pastures, so short and so close together as to give it the
appearance of a single cluster ; while in woods the secondary branches
even become so much elongated and spreading, that a person familiar
only with the ordinary form might readily mistake it for a different
species.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

Though apparently a coarse rough grass, and apt'to form tussocks or
tufts that occasionally much disfigure the pasture, the Rough Cock’s-
foot is a valuable species ; being generally liked by cattle, unless when
by understocking or neglect it has been allowed to become rank and
disagreeable to their palates. It is one of the earliest and most pro-
ductive, and, rooting deeply, is less liable to suffer from excess of
drought than most others on dry sandy soils; hence in situations so
circumstanced, its superiority as a pasture grass is undeniable. As,
however, moist, retentive land, is more favourable to its luxuriance, and
induces an overgrowth destructive to those of weaker habit, but equally
produtive, it may be advisable, as a general rule in laying down grass
land, to exclude the Dactylis where other species of a finer quality are
found to flourish. Mr. Sinclair, in noticing its agricultural capabilities,
observes that the herbage, when suffered to grow rank or old, for want
of sufficient stocking, contains nearly one half less nourishment than
that which is of recent growth. Hence this grass is more valuable for
pasture than for hay; and to reap the full benefit of it in the former
case it should be kept closely cropped either with cattle or the scythe.
Even for hay he considered it far more valuable than Lolium perenne
and many other grasses, and for an alternate crop by far the best that
can be employed alone. The same writer further recommends an
admixture of three parts of Dactylis glomerata with one part of Festuca
duriuscula, Poa trivialis, Arrhenatherum avenaceum, Phleum pratense,
Lolium perenne, and white clover, to ‘secure the most productive and
nutritive pastures in alternation with grain crops on soils of the best
quality : and even on soils of an inferior nature, under the cireum-
stances of unfavourable seasons, this mixture will afford nutritive
herbage, when the land would have been comparatively devoid of it, if
one species of grass only had been employed.” In addition to this
we are informed, that Cock’s-foot constitutes “a part of the herbage of

N

98

pastures most celebrated for fattening and keeping the largest quantity
of stock in Devonshire, Lincolnshire, and the Vale of Aylesbury.”

Few, if any, of our native grasses flourish so well as this under the
drippings and shade of trees, hence it is often called in the country
Orchard Grass.

It is distributed naturally over the whole of Europe, and the ad-
joining parts of Asia, except in the extreme northern and colder
regions, and is met with in northern Africa, and in the United States
of America ; in the latter country, however, Mr. Pursh regarded it as
an introduction from Europe.

Dr. Parnell seems to have been unaccountably misled, when, m his
valuable work on British Grasses, before quoted, he recorded the
Cock’s-foot, a grass so eminently European, and described as indi-
genous by our earliest herbalists, as “(said to have been originally
introduced” to England, it must be presumed, “from Virginia by the
Society of Arts.”

Genus 834. CYNOSURUS. Dog’s-tail Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence spike-like, unilateral. Spikelets nearly
sessile, distichaus, one- to five-flowered, with a pectinated bract at
the base of each. Glumes two, nearly equal, membranaceous,
much shorter than the spikelet, one-veined, strongly keeled,
pointed. Paleze two, membranaceous, linear-lanceolate; the lower
one rounded on the back, five-veined, with a short rough awn

below the apex; upper one pellucid, with the margins minutely
ciliated.

The name, associated with the form of the inflorescence in Cyno-
surus cristatus, is from the Greek cyon, a dog, and oura, a tail.

The genus, always one of small extent, has been much curtailed by
modern botanists, by some among whom even the two British species
are disjoined. The inflorescence is peculiar among grasses, or appears
go on the first view, on account of the so-called bract at the base of the
spikelets : this curious appendage is, however, itself an abortive spike-
let, consisting of a series of lanceolate or linear outer pales placed
alternately upon a rachis above each other, in accordance with the
arrangement of the flowers in the fertile spikelet which it accompanies.
The spikelets then, strictly speaking, must be regarded as growing in
pairs, one of each pair being constantly barren while the other is fertile.
The regular pectinate or comb-like form of these appendages renders
the mass of inflorescence very beautiful, and deserving of a close in-
spection, which, at the same time, quickly renders their true character
unequivocal.

Cynosurus cristatus. Crested Dog’s-tail Grass. Puare LXXX.

Panicle interruptedly spicate, or raceme-like, elongated linear.
Spikelets nearly sessile, more or less distant, directed in two rows
to one side of the rachis. Flowers with a very short awn.

99

Cynosurus cristatus, Linneus. E. B. 316; ed. 2.139. Generally
adopted.

Usually abundant on gravelly, chalky, and rocky pastures and
meadows, but chiefly in a dry soil, growing in tufts. Stems from a
foot to eighteen inches high, smooth, slender. Leaves narrow, acu-
minated, roughish on the upper side. Ligule short, obtuse. Inflo-
rescence from one to three inches long, erect, linear, interrupted or
compact, usually of a light green colour; the lateral branches so
short that the spikelets appear sessile. Spikelets generally from three-
to five-flowered, arranged in two series, both inclining to one side of
the rachis: each accompanied by a beautiful doubly pectinated appen-
dage at the base, which, though denominated by some botanical writers
a bract, and by others, with even less propriety, an involucrum, is
generally admitted to be an abortive spikelet, as described under the
above notice of the genus. The divisions, comb-like teeth, or abortive
pales of the appendage in question are in this species linear, acute, but
not long-pointed, and a little curved inward at the apex. Glumes
narrow-lanceolate, acute, rough at the keel. Outer palea linear-lan-
ceolate, very obscurely five-veined, rounded behind, the middle vein
roughish, and terminating in a rather short rough awn: inner palea
bifid at the apex, thin and pellucid.

Perennial. Flowers in July and August.

In the situations natural to this grass, high and dry pastures or
sheep-downs, no species is more valuable, not only on account of the
compactness of its fine short foliage, which is highly agreeable to the
close-cropping animals that feed upon,them, but, because, owing to the
depth to which its roots penetrate, it remains green through the driest
part of the summer, or at least long after most other species have
withered. Deer, as well as sheep, are exceedingly fond of it, hence it
is recommended for parks. Mr. Sinclair accords with some of the
older agricultural authors as to its fitness for permanent pastures,
more especially owing to its being less liable to injury by drought
than grasses of a superior quality; but it is not at all adapted for
general cultivation, the stems being too harsh and wiry, and the herb-
age unproductive where a crop of hay is required. In the latter case,
where it constitutes any considerable proportion of the turf of the
meadow, the mowing should take place at the time of flowering, the
stems being then more succulent and nutritious, and the yield more
abundant than either before or afterwards.

Although frequently forming the principal part of the sward, in the
situations above mentioned, the Crested Dog’s-tail Grass is a common
member of the promiscuous vegetation of most grass-lands that have
been long undisturbed, unless in such as are marshy.

The slender stems, collected in the green state and carefully bleached,
are said to be superior to the Leghorn straw for the manufacture of
straw hats and bonnets, a purpose to which, without doubt, those of
many other British grasses would be equally applicable.

Found throughout Europe, except in its extreme northern and colder

regions, and extending into western Asia.. ;
N

100

Crnosurus ecuinatus. Rough Dog’s-tail Grass, Hedge-hog Grass.
Prats LXXXI.

Panicle contracted, forming a more or less dense sub-ovate, uni-
lateral spike. Spikelets nearly sessile. Awn equalling in length the
outer palea.

Cynosurus echinatus, Linneus. E. B. 1333; ed. 2.140. Generally
adopted.

Rare. Found on the sandy sea-coasts and dry pastures in their
vicinity in the extreme south of England; occasionally inland about
towns, and in other parts of the kingdom, probably owing to the chance
distribution of seed from gardens in the neighbourhood. Common in
Jersey and Guernsey. Grows in tufts, sending up several erect wiry
stems, one to two feet in height. Leaves flat, usually broader and
shorter than those of C. cristatus, sharply acuminated, rough on both
sides, flaccid. Ligule long, pointed. Inflorescense variable in general
form, compact, rounded or semi-ovate, half an inch to an inch and
a half in length, always one-sided. Spikelets mostly two- or three-
flowered. Teeth of the accompanying bract (barren-spikelet) linear,
long pointed, straight, acute, distant. Glumes, rough on the keel,
much longer than the lowermost flower. Lower palea ovate-lanceolate,
obscurely five-veined; the middle vein very rough, and terminating in
a long, slender, rough awn, equalling in length or longer than the
palea.

Annual. Flowers in July.

A sand colonist, indigenous apparently to the basins of the Mediter-
ranean and Black Seas, from which it has been gradually disseminated
over southern and western Europe ; reaching in the latter our Channel
Islands, but scarcely yet established as an English plant, requiring
possibly a higher temperature for ripening its seeds abundantly than
that usually experienced in this climate ; though upon one occasion it
is said to have been found on a barren moor in the Shetland Islands.
In the garden it grows freely, and sown in tufts is very ornamental,
but an ungenial summer has, on more than one occasion in metropolitan
Surrey, rendered its renewal by seed from a warmer district necessary ;
a circumstance that would account for its uncertain recurrence in
recorded habitats.

As a mere pioneer to vegetation of a higher grade, it cannot be sup-
posed to possess any immediate agricultural value.

Genus 35. FESTUCA. Fescue Grass

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence paniculate, spreading or compact, rarely
spikelike. Spikelets stalked, many-flowered, rarely three-flowered,
more or less laterally compressed. Glumes two, unequal, mem-
branaceous, pointed, much shorter than the spikelet. Palese two,

101

lanceolate ; the lower one rounded on the back, very acute, or
with the dorsal vein excurrent as an awn a little below the apex ;
lateral veins slightly converging and disappearing below the apex :
upper palea minutely ciliated on the veins. Styles terminal.

An extensive genus, very widely distributed over the north tem-
perate zone, throughout which some of its species constitute no incon-
siderable portion of the pasture vegetation, and occupy a high grade
among the grasses most remarkable for nutritive qualities; others,
however, are mere colonizers, and worthless in an agricultural point
of view.

The name is Latin, but of doubtful origin and application, though it
seems to have been bestowed, in this instance, in allusion to the
supposed foodful attributes. of several well-known species or varieties.
Fest is the Celtic word for food, probably from the same root with
the Latin festwm ; but the discussion of an etymological problem must
be dismissed to other pages.

As a genus, Festuca is not very strikingly distinguishable from
either Poa or Bromus, and close comparison between the generic
characters of all the three will be found valuable by those whose
previous acquaintance with the species of each is limited.

Our figures of the forms of Festuca are far more numerous than
are the species, simply because European botanists are not agreed as
to the limits of the latter, and that the variable aspects of some among
them are liable to mislead the uninitiated. Hence, we have availed
ourselves of the numerous specimens contained in the herbarium of the
elder Mr. Sowerby, for the identification of the plants of this genus,
published as species in the first edition of the ‘English Botany,’ for
the republication of the whole series; not studying them alone as
originals of the figures in that admirable work, but as aids to the
determination of examples collected for the present.

The characters of the four sections, denoted by asterisks, indicate
the limits of as many genera into which Festuca is occasionally
divided, but which are not adopted as such by English writers.

* Root-leaves very narrow. Ligule with round auricles. Awl terminal,
longer than the palea. Flowers usually monandrous.

Festuca untetumis. Single-glumed Fescue Grass. Prats LX XXII.

Panicle nearly erect, one-sided, contracted, raceme-like. Spikelets
in two rows. Lower glume very minute, or absent.

Festuca uniglumis, Solander. E. B. 1430; ed. 2.145. Hooker and
Arnott. Babington. Parnell. Bentham. Vulpia uniglumis,
Lindley. Mygalurus uniglumis, Link. Loudon, Eneycl. 64;
Hort. Brit. 30.

Very local in its distribution in these islands, where it is almost exclu-
sively limited to the sandy sea-shores of the southern and south-eastern

102

counties of England, and the south of Ireland; the island of Anglesea
appears to be its most northern British habitat. On the continent of
southern Europe it occurs in inland situations; but the Mediterranean
basin is the chief seat of the species, whence, gradually advancing along
the western coasts of the peninsula and France, it has reached our own.
It is an annual, or, according to some, biennial; the latter term, how-
ever, conveys, especially in regard to grasses, an erroneous notion of
duration, as it applies to species whose seeds ripen sufficiently early in
the summer to vegetate in autumn, the approach of winter alone pre-
venting the production of their flowers until the following year. The
slender, angular, smooth stems grow in tufts, varying from three or
four inches to a foot in height. Leaves few, narrow, usually so much
rolled inward as to appear thread-like. Inflorescence a simple, race-
mose panicle, two or three inches long; the spikelets of which, though
disposed in two rows, are unilateral, and often so closely set as to form
an apparent spike. Glumes five- or six-flowered, more unequal than
in any other species of this genus ; the outer one, indeed, would appear
at first sight to be altogether absent, being an almost microscopic
scale, a circumstance that at once distinguishes it from F’. sciwroides,
and its varieties, which nearly resemble the plant before us in general
outline. Inner glume long, narrow, much attenuated, pointed. Outer
palea terminating in a rough awn more than twice its own length, five-
veined: inner one very narrow, thin, two-viened.

Flowers in June, and sometimes late in the autumn in mild dry
weather.

A grass of no immediate value, ‘being rigid, dry, and innutritious.
Its natural office is that of a colonizer.

Festuca scrororwes. Squirrel-tail Fescue Grass. Puare LX XXIII.

Panicle erect, somewhat racemose, one-sided. Spikelets erect, about
five-flowered. Lower glume much smaller than the upper. Upper half
of the stem leafless.

Festuca sciuroides, Koch. Babington, Manual. F. bromoides, Lin-
neus. HB. 1411; ed. 2. 144. Hooker. Parnell. F. myurus.
Bentham. Vulpia bromoides, Lindley. Mygalurus bromoides,
Link, Loudon, Encycl. 64; Hort. Brit. 30.

The grass thus designated is not of very frequent occurrence, though
occasionally found on dry sandy ground, waste places, and road-sides,
in various parts of the kingdom. Regarded as a separate species, its
continential distribution seems doubtful. With a habit similar to the
preceding, the slender stems are not at all angular; and, though vari-
able in height, seldom exceed six or seven inches, the upper part being
leafless. The leaves, few in number, narrow, and more or less inyolute,
as in all the plants of this section, afford no distinctive character.
Inflorescence erect ; the branches rather spreading when in full flower,
but contracted before, and afterwards, except the lowermost, which is

103

often compound, much longer, and stands out from the others. Outer

glume always conspicuous, though differing greatly in its comparative

length. Awn-like termination of the outer palea rather longer than
. the palea itself.

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

Festuca myurvs, Wall Fescue Grass. Pirate LXXXIV.

Panicle elongated, drooping, raceme-like, contracted, one-sided.
Spikelets erect, five- or six-flowered. Lower glumé much smaller than
the upper. Stem leafy to the summit.

Festuca myurus, Linneus? Smith. EB. B. 1412; ed. 2.144*: My-
galurus caudatus, Link. Loudon, Encycl. 64; Hort. Brit. 30.

Common, in the southern and midland counties of England at least, on
walls and barren ground, and occasionally even on arable land in dry
situations. Stems slender, tufted, sometimes more than a foot in height.
It so closely resembles J’. sctwroides in all general features, as almost to
defy description as a separate species. The greater length of the more
compact, drooping panicle, which not unfrequently extends to that of
five or six inches; the shortness of its lower branches, and the usually
broader and brighter green leaves, are the most striking characters of
the Wall Fescue. In its taller and more luxuriant form there are
few grasses more beautiful, especially when in exposed situations its
tufts of graceful plume-like masses of flowers wave with every breath
of wind. —

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

In describing and figuring the above three grasses, the author has no
intention of insisting on their claim to specific distinction, being himself
fully persuaded that they are forms of one. With regard to the latter
two, this opinion is entertained by most botanists who have studied the
structural modifications to which the plants of this important division of
the vegetable kingdom are liable; and though the first, F. wniglumis,
is retained, in our most recent descriptive catalogues, as a separate
species, the only character upon which such separation depends, is the
imperfect development of an organ of comparatively small value. The
abortion of the outer glume, were it constant, might, it is true, be
admitted as constituting a distinctive feature, equivalent to the absence
of the inner palea in the flowers of Alopecurus ; but it is not so, the
glume in question being often sufficiently conspicuous to arrest the eye
of even a casual observer—while in F’. sciwroides and F. myurus the
corresponding organ is occasionally so little developed in some of the
spikelets as to be a mere scale.

** Root leaves narrow or setaceous. Awn terminal, shorter than the
palea. Flowers triandrous.

104

Fusruca ovina, Sheep’s Fescue Grass. Puare LXXXV.

Panicle erect, one-sided. Spikelets ovate, spreading in two rows,
four- to six-flowered. Awn less than half the length of the palea.
Culm square. Leaves bristle-shaped.

Festuca ovina, Linneus. E. B. 585; ed.2.141. Generally adopted.

Very common throughout the kingdom in dry soils, especially on
elevated natural pasture land and mountain slopes, on which latter it
often constitutes the principal vegetation. It varies considerably in
aspect according to situation and exposure, being sometimes not more
than two or three inches high, while in other places the flowering stems
attain nearly a foot. The slender foliage forms dense tufts of a dark
green, but more or less glaucous hue; the radical leaves being indi-
vidually almost hair-like ; those of the stem, usually not more than two
or three, very short and more expanded. Ligule bilobate, one lobe
longer than the other. Panicle loose and spreading when in flower,
afterwards compact, one or two inches or more in length. Outer palea
extending into a short awn rarely equalling half its own length.

Perennial. Flowers in June.

The square stem, considered as a marked feature of distinction
between this species and F. duriuscula, is not to be depended upon,
the angles being frequently obsolete, or only traceable immediately
below the inflorescence.

Hither Festuca ovina, or some species so nearly allied as to be gene-
rally regarded as the same, is distributed over the whole of the north
teniperate and Arctic regions, and is said to be likewise indigenous to
New Zealand. The normal form, here figured, is so different in appear-
ance from certain others which follow it in the present work, that the
rank of distinct species formerly, and, indeed, in some instances sitill,
assigned to the latter, is not altogether unfounded.

As the name bestowed upon it indicates, the Sheep’s Fescue is a
favourite food of sheep, and cattle generally seem fond of its wiry-
looking, but still succulent and nourishing herbage, which in some
places, as among the Highlands of Scotland, constitutes almost the
entire pasture. In the practice of agriculture it is next to useless, on
account of the shortness and thinness of the foliage rendering it entirely
unproductive as hay; while for grazing purposes, on temporary pasture,
grasses of larger growth are proportionately far more profitable; yield-
ing, as they do, a greater quantity of food upon the same extent of
surface. Nature, in her distribution of it on poor sandy and rocky
soils, where other species would dwindle and die, points out the only
situations to which it is properly adapted. The superiority of the
flesh and the fineness of the wool of sheep fed on the upland pastures
where it grows have been long known, and are still subjects of com-
ment in this country. Chemical analysis does not assign #’. ovina a very
high position on the list of nutritive indigenous grasses, but it should
be remembered, that the most wholesome and health-inspiring food is

105

not always that which contains the largest amount of readily assimi-
lative matter, and that sugar, starch, and gluten are not the sole con-
stituents of the animal fabric.

; Rooting deeply, and forming a dense short turf, the Sheep’s Fescue
is admirably adapted for lawns, bowling-greens, and pleasure-grounds ;
as it requires little mowing, resists the intrusion of most weeds, and in
open situations retains its verdure throughout the summer, even in
seasons when long-continued drought destroys most other vegetation.
The preference manifested by gardeners, in forming grass-plots and
edgings, for turf cut from the heaths and commons, is due to the pre-
Aen of this grass in such places, and the fineness and shortness of its
oliage.

The four following plants of the section are possibly only varieties of
F’. ovina, and are indeed regarded as such by most practical botanists
who have bestowed much attention on their differential characters; these
are so slight, as in most instances to leave little room for doubt upon
the subject, but, being permanent under cultivation, their presentation
in the work before us is almost a matter of necessity.

Festuca vivipara. Viviparous Fescue Grass. Prare LXXXVI.

Festuca ovina, var. vivipara of botanists generally. Festuca vivipara,
Smith. EH. B. 1355.

An evident variety of F. ovina or F. duriuscula, common in moun-
tainous districts, especially those which present the loftiest peaks and
summits. Its peculiarity consists in the substitution of small plants
for flowers; the palez of the latter, and not unfrequently the stamens
and ovary, being extended and forming leaves. The absence of seed,
under these circumstances, is compensated by the distribution of the
little plants thus produced, which eventually dropping off are wafted
away by the wind and root where they fall.

Many of the earlier botanists seem to have entertained doubts con-
cerning the identity of this grass with the common Sheep's Fescue, on
account of the permanence of its viviparous character. This is re-
tained in all situations, and under every mode of cultivation to which
it may be subjected. Twenty years of garden growth and varied
treatment, have not elicited any change in the aspect of plants origin-
ally raised from a panicle sent by post from the Highlands of Scotland.
Wherever I have met with it in the wild state, it has been of taller
growth than its supposed progenitor, and with leaves considerably
longer and less rigid; but in the absence of fully developed flowers no
distinction of species can be admitted between them.

Frsruca cmsra. Glaucous Fescue Grass. Prats LXXXVII.

Panicle ovate, one-sided, rather lax. Whole plant glaucous.. Leaves
all filiform.

106

Festuca caosig, Smith. EH. B. 1917. Festuca ovina, var., HE. B.
ed. 2. Authors generally.

Comparatively rare. From the very marked glaucous hue that
generally characterises this grass, most ordinary observers would
regard it as very distinct from the true Sheep’s Fescue; but, apart
from this hue and the lighter colour, and, usually, greater breadth of
the panicle, there is really no feature by which they can be separated.

It is a very ornamental grass in gardens, especially among rock-
work, as it forms dense tufts, and the blueish glaucous foliage contrasts
brightly with the light lively green of most alpine plants.

Festuca purruscuta. Hard Fesoue Grass. Tall Sheep’s Fescue
Grass. Pirate LXXXVIII.

Panicle pyramidal, one-sided, branches spreading. Radical leaves
filiform, channelled, stem leaves flat, acute. Root fibrous.

Festuca duriuscula, Linnceus. Smith. E. B. 470; ed. 2. 142.

Parnell. Festuca ovina, var. duriuscula, Babington. Hooker
and Arnott. Bentham.

Common; and often abundant in moist pastures and old meadows,
where it attains a foot or more in height. Stems round, except at the
upper part, stouter than those of most forms of F. ovina. Radical
leaves tufted, in moist rich soil frequently equalling the flower-stems in
length, slender, but not bristle-like; those of the stem usually ex-
panded. Inflorescence from two to four inches long; the lower
branches of the panicle longer, so as to give it a pyramidal, rather
than an ovate outline. Spikelets five- to seven-flowered.

Perennial. Flowers in June.

This is generally regarded as one of our most valuable grasses, being
very productive, considering the slender character of its foliage, and
thriving in most soils and situations, from an elevation of two or, three
thousand feet to lands little above the sea-level. Mr. Sinclair remarks
that ‘it withstands the effects of severe dry weather better than many
other grasses ;”” and hence he recommends its use, in limited propor-
tion, in laying down new pastures, adding that “it attains the greatest
perfection when combined with Festuca pratensis and Poa trivialis.”
Few grasses retain their verdure during the severest winter weather
to an extent so remarkable, a circumstance associated with its later
and earlier growth compared with most of its associates. The spring
produce, however, is but trifling, the foliage not attaining much length
until the approach of the flowering season. Meadows in which it
abounds should be mown when it is in flower, as not only is the bulk
of the produce greater at that time, but likewise the proportion of
nutritive matter.

Cattle generally are partial to the Tall Fescue Grass; and hares are
remarkably fond of it, a circumstance deserving attention in forming

107

new game preserves, though it is usually abundant about woods and
thickets in places where the ground has lain long undisturbed.
Growing under the shade of trees or shrubs, it assumes a somewhat
different habit, the panicle being smaller and more compact, and the
spikelets downy; in this state it is probably Festuca dumetorum of
Linnzus, a grass regarded by English agricultural writers as of inferior
quality, though sheep, hares, and rabbits, do not appear to make any
distinction.

Festuca rupra. Purple Fescue Grass. Creeping Fescue Grass.
Prats LXXXIX.

Panicle oblong, one-sided, more or less spreading. Leaves downy
on the upper side; those of the stem sometimes involute. Root send-
ing out scions.

-Festuca rubra, Linneus. Smith. E. B. 2056; ed. 2.148. Babing-
ton, Manual. Festuca duriuscula, var. rubra, Parnell. Festuca
ovina, var. rubra, Hooker and Arnott, Festuca ovina, var. sabu-
licola, Sand Fescue Grass, Bentham.

Not unfrequent in dry sandy ground, especially near the sea;’ more
rarely in inland and moist pastures. I believe that the alpine and
submountainous habitats mentioned by the earlier English writers refer
to purplish-hued states of Festuca duriuscula, or even of F. ovina, as
an exception is sometimes made in their descriptions to the creeping
habit, the most constant, and perhaps only important, character of
distinction between this plant and the preceding. The true Purple
Fescue is not a variable grass, unless in size, and attains its greatest
development in the loose sand that accumulates on the sea-shore, which
it contributes to bind and fix. The scions, or creeping stems, often
extend to a considerable length, terminating in erect shoots with dis-
tichous leaves. The flowering stems occasionally rise to the height of
twa feet, being more or less unequally angular, and bearing four or
five flat, or, rarely, partly involute leaves, which are downy on their
upper side. The panicle has almost universally a reddish-purple hue,
and the spikelets are larger than those of J’. duriuscula. In other
respects it so nearly approaches the latter, that, under existing views
concerning specific distinction, their separation is based upon very
equivocal grounds.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

As all stoloniferous grasses are considered to be impoverishing to
the soil, the Creeping Fescue may be left by the farmer where Nature
requires it for her own purposes. In regard to nutritive properties, it
is said to be very inferior to all the grasses of this section.

The subjects of the five foregoing figures being considered by some
botanists as forms of the same specific type, and all of them unques-

108

tionably nearly allied, some few remarks upon their differential cha-
racters are necessary. Adopting only those derived from the flower, a
plan which deference to long habit has rendered all but peremptory
in botanical science, the structure of the spikelets in the entire series
is so strikingly similar, that, apart from proportion, pubescence, and
other accidental circumstances, no plausible pretext could be found for
their separation. Such separation then can only be established by
reference to features usually considered beyond the pale of floral
orthodoxy; the value, however, of some of these which are intimately
associated with plant life, and distribution, cannot be disputed, even by
the most rigid disciples of the species-condensing school, of which, as
in p. 78 of the present work, I have already confessed myself a
member. It is upon some such features that my belief is founded of
an actual specific distinction existing between two at least of the grasses
now before us. Cultivated for many years, and raised occasionally
from seed, they all maintain their original characters without the
slightest deviation being produced by difference of soil and situation ;
and admitting F’. vivipara to be an understood variety of one of the
others, and the possibility that F. cesia may bear the same position with
regard to F. ovina, which I doubt, F. duriuscula and F’. rubra still
remain with a difference of habit so marked as to render their sup-
posed identity with the typical species of this section incompatible.
The stouter rounded stems and broader channelled, not bristle-like,
leaves of the Tall Fescue Grass, the pyramidal form of its larger and
looser panicle, are constant features of distinction between them. In
regard to £. rubra, its stoloniferous character affords very positive
ground for retaining it as a species, though misled by an occasional
tendency in F. duriuscula to produce, in light soils, weak root shoots,
some botanists have confounded them. Had these latter witnessed
the pertinacity with which the scions of the Purple Fescue, properly so
called, are extended in the hardest ground and beneath their garden
walks, they would possibly be of a different opinion. The general
aspect of the two plants is otherwise about as dissimilar as can well be
conceived.

All the specimens I have met with of F. vivipara appear to belong
to F. duriuscula rather than to F. ovina, and are very unlike the long-
leaved variety of that species found in the Highlands of Scotland,
F. tenuifolia, of Sibthorpe. This last grass is figured by Dr. Parnell,
plate 57 of his ‘Grasses of Scotland,’ under the name of angustzfolva ;
the absence of awn at the extremity of the palea formerly led to the
supposition that it might be a distinct species; the opportunity of
making it such is, however, allowed to pass by modern writers, and, as
apart from the non-development of a terminal hair, length of leaf is
the only characteristic, the bare notice of its existence is sufficient.

*+* Radical leaves flat, broader than those of the culm. Awn absent,
or arising from below the summit of the outer palea, never ter-
minal. Ligule of the uppermost leaf prominent, obtuse. Outer
palea three-veined.

Schedonorous—Palisot de Beauvois.

109

Festuca sytvattca. Reed Fescue Grass. Prare XC.

Panicle repeatedly branched, spreading, erect. Spikelets oblong,
of three to five awnless acute flowers. Lower palea scabrous, three-

veined, the middle vein serrulate. Leaves lanceolate-linear with scab-
rous margins.

Festuca sylvatica, Villars. Hooker and Arnott. Babington. Bentham.
Festuca Calamaria, Smith. H. B. 1005; ed. 2. 147. Sche-
donorous sylvaticus, Beauvois. Lindley. Poa sylvatica, Parnell.

Far from unfrequent in mountainous and rocky woods in the north-
west parts of England, the southern and middle counties of Scotland,
and in Ireland, growing chiefly in places retentive of moisture. It is
found in similar situations throughout central Europe. It forms coarse
reed-like tufts, having a tendency to spread by creeping. Stems erect,
round, roughish, slender, sometimes three or four feet high. Leaves
broad, flat, tapering to a point, very long, roughish on both sides.
Ligule, prominent, obtuse. The lower part of the flower-stems is
always clothed with imbricated, broad, acute scales, of a brown colour,
and more or less glossy. Panicle four to six inches long, occasionally
slightly drooping at the extremity ; its branches spread widely when in‘
flower. Spikelets distant, rarely less than three- or four-flowered.
Lower or outer palea very acute, the middle vein rarely extending
beyond its termination ; the inner palea about equal in length, folded
along the middle, minutely fringed on the margins.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

The above synonyms indicate the varied opinions of botanists con-
cerning this species, as well as the uncertainty in which the whole
genus Festuca is involved.

Cows and horses will eat the leaves of the Reed or Wood Fescue Grass,
especially in the early part of the year while they are soft and tender;
but though the produce is most abundant, in the condition of hay it is
worthless, and otherwise unworthy the attention of the agriculturist.

Festuca pecipua. Deciduous Fescue Grass. Puate XCI.

A mere variety of Festuca sylvatica, with narrower leaves and the
spikelets usually only two-flowered. ;

I am only acquainted with this grass through the figure and descrip-
tion in ‘English Botany,’ tab. 2266, and a single dried specimen,
from neither of which does it appear to differ essentially from the
preceding. The habit, however, is sufficiently varied to warrant the
republication of that figure as a guide to future observers.

*k#* Radical leaves flat, broader than those of the culm. Awn
absent, or arising from below the summit of the outer palea.
Ligule of the uppermost leaf very short, or obsolete. Outer palea

five-veined.
Bucetum—Parnell.

110

Festuca pratensis. Meadow Fescue Grass. Prare XCII.

Panicle simple, nearly erect, more or less spreading or compact.
Spikelets oval-lanceolate, compressed, many-flowered. Lower palea
five-veined, the middle vein terminating below the apex in a very short
or obsolete awn. Leaves linear-lanceolate.

Festuca pratensis, Hudson. HE. B. 1592; ed. 2. 148. Most modern
botanists. Bucetum pratense, Parnell. Schedonorus pratensis,
Beauvois. Lindley.

A very common grass in moist meadows and pastures throughout
the kingdom, and extending naturally over Europe and northern Asia,
except within the limit of perpetual frost in the latter. Stems one or
two feet high, erect, round, smooth, striated. Leaves linear-lanceolate,
acute, flat, roughish on the inner or upper face. Panicle branches
simple, sometimes bearing only a single stalked spikelet. Spikelets
ovate-lanceolate or oblong, bearing five or six, or a greater number, of
fertile flowers. Outer palea frequently bifid at the extremity, which
is membranaceous; the veins not extending into the cleft portion,
,though the central one of the five occasionally protrudes at the base of
the latter as a very short rough awn.

Perennial. Flowers towards the end of June.

The valuable properties of this grass for agricultural purposes
have been long recognised. It was one of the six (Anthoranthum
odoratum, Alopecurus pratensis, Poa pratensis, Poa trivialis, Cynosurus
cristatus, and Festuca pratensis) that were especially recommended by
Curtis, beyond all others, for laying down meadows and pastures on
moist or moderately dry soils; and though modern practice and experi-
ence might lead to a partial alteration in the list, the species before us
would still hold its place. The Woburn experiments were greatly in
its favour, and the observations of most of our best agriculturists con-
firm their results. Mr. Sinclair, after calling attention to the fact that
the Meadow Fescue Grass is one of those that contribute most abun-
dantly to the herbage of all rich natural pastures and irrigated meadows,
state that “it makes excellent hay, and, though a large plant, the
leaves are succulent and tender, and apparently much liked by cattle,
as they never form rank tufts, which is the case with most of the larger
grasses. It does not appear to arrive at its full productive powers
from seed so soon as either the Cocks-foot or Fox-tail grass; and,
though essential for permanent pasture, is not by itself very well
adapted for alternate husbandry, but should be combined with Cocks-
foot, Rye-grass, and Rough-stalked Meadow-grass. It is of greater
value at the time of flowering than when the seeds are ripe, in the pro-
portion of three to one. In the deep alluvial soils of Lincolnshire, this
grass is not so prevalent as in the clay districts. In the Vale of
Aylesbury it constitutes a considerable portion of the most valuable
and fattening pastures of that rich grazing district.” Another writer,
Mr. Salisbury, remarks that “if land intended for meadow could be

111

laid down with one bushel of Festuca pratensis, one of Alopecurus pra-
tensis, three pounds of Anthoxanthwm, a little Bromus mollis, with
White Clover, the farmer will seek no further.” No species among our
native grasses, Alopecurus pratensis excepted, produces so great a
quantity of early food as the Meadow Fescue Grass, and it appears to
be far superior to the latter in nutritive qualities.

Festuca evatiorn. ‘Tall Fescue Grass. Prats XCIII.

Panicle much branched, spreading, inclining to one side; branches
mostly in pairs, divaricated after flowering. Spikelets many-flowered,
ovate-lanceolate. Lower palea five-veined; the middle vein termi-
nating below the apex in a short awn. Leaves linear-lanceolate.

Festuca elatior, Linneus. HE. B. 1593; ed. 2. 149. Hooker and
Arnott. Bentham. Festuca arundinacea, Schreber. Babington.

Schedonorus elatior, Beauvois. Lindley. Bucetum elatior,
Parnell.

Not unfrequent in wet meadows, especially in a stiff clayey soil
liable to occasional overflowings, likewise in osier-grounds, sea-marshes,
and moist woods. It has often a reed-like aspect, growing in large
tufts, the round, erect, striated stems varying in height from three to
five feet. Leaves linear, acute, or almost linear-lanceolate, scabrous
above, especially towards the extremity. Panicle large, sometimes a
foot or more in length, spreading widely, and somewhat inclining to
one side; the principal branches much divaricated, and even bending
downwards after flowering. Spikelets ovate-lanceolate, varying in the
number of flowers from five or six upwards. Outer palea five-veined,
the middle or dorsal vein terminating in a short rough awn below the
membranaceous and frequently bifid apex.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

The habit of this grass is not at all prepossessing to the eye of the
farmer, being coarse and rank, but cattle are fond of it, cows especially;
while, almost equally productive with Festuca pratensis, it is said to
surpass it in nutritive quality. Hence it might prove a useful grass in
situations not adapted to the growth of the more manageable species.

The Tall Fescue Grass is liable to variation in the form and divari-
cation of the panicle, a circumstance that seems to have led some of our
most intelligent practical botanists to suspect there may be two species
confounded under this name, viz. F. arundinacea of Schreber, and
F. elatior of Linneeus. I have had no opportunity of ascertaining to
what extent this view may be supported by facts, but, unless such
specific difference is marked by features of greater constancy than
those above mentioned, must demur even to the highest authority in
such matters; having seen both the. sea-side and the inland plant
assuming in alternate seasons, wetter or drier, an arrangement of the
branches of the inflorescence, so dissimilar, that, in herbarium speci-

112

mens, they might easily pass as confirmed varieties if not as distinct
species.

It will be observed, on comparison of the descriptions of the Meadow
and the Tall Fescues, that they approach very closely to each other,
habit or general aspect being the chief distinction between them.
Independent, however, of the greater height of the one before us, its
leaves are twice the size of those of F’. pratensis, from which it further
differs in having a much more branched panicle, which spreads more
equally in all directions, and is less erect in the mass; the spikelets
too are less compressed, and the flowers more constant and distinctly
awned. The importance attaching to such distinctions, may, on the
broad scale, be somewhat equivocal, and this is evidently the view of
Mr. Bentham, who considers J’. pratensis a variety of £. elatior. I
am almost inclined to agree with him.

Festuca gigantea. ‘Tall Bearded Fescue Grass. Puate XCIV.

Panicle branched, drooping. Spikelets lanceolate, compressed,
about five- or six-flowered. Lower palea five-veined; the middle
vein terminating below the apex in a scabrous awn much longer than
the palea. Leaves linear-lanceolate, ribbed.

Festuca gigantea, Villars. HE. B. 1820; ed. 2. 146. Hooker and
Arnott. Babington. Bucetum giganteum, Parnell. Bromus gi-
ganteus, Linneus. Hooker. Bentham.

Not unfrequent in moist woods and thickets, especially where the
ground is well shaded, and not much affected by the summer drought.
It is somewhat inclined to creep at the root. The round, striated
stems grow to the height of three or four feet. The leaves are very
long, broad, and more or less strongly ribbed; rough on both sides,
except near the base on the outer surface. Ligule unequal, auricled.
Inflorescence often very much branched, loose, and drooping towards
one side, the lower branches growing generally in pairs upon the
rough rachis. Spikelets lanceolate, or inclining to ovate, pointed,
compressed; usually consisting of five or six flowers. The outer
palea is more or less distinctly five-veined, the four lateral veins all
terminating below the apex, which is membranaceous and usually
bifid; the middle vein extends below the cleft into a strong, rough
awn, considerably longer than the palea, a character by which this
grass is at once distinguishable from others belonging to this seetion
of the genus Festuca.

Perennial. Flowers towards the end of July.

Tt is a coarse grass and of no agricultural value, as it dwindles in
size and becomes more rigid when cultivated in open ground, and,
though eaten by cattle in default of more grateful and palatable herb-
age, is deficient in the elements of nutrition. Horses and cows will
often reject hay in which it is mingled. The seeds afford food to many
of the smaller birds.

113

_ The Giant, or Tall Bearded Fescue Grass, has very much of the
habit of the grasses belonging to the genus Bromus, to which it was
formerly, and is still by some botanists assigned. The shortness of the
ligule, and the attachment of the styles or stigmas to the summit of the
ovary, are the leading features of distinction.

Festuca triLora. Three-flowered Bearded Fescue Grass.
Pruate XCV.

An occasional form of the preceding, of smaller size, with a less
luxuriant and nearly erect panicle, and the spikelets seldom more than
two- or three-flowered.

Festuca triflora, Smith. E. B. 1918. Festuca gigantea, var. EZ. B.
ed. 2. 146*, and of most English botanists. Bromus triflorus,
Linneus.

Occasionally met with in comparatively dry and barren ground, and
about sandy sea-shores. The habit is so different from that of F.
gigantea, that at first sight it might be regarded as a distinct species,
even by one accustomed to botanical pursuits.

Fesrvca toutacza. Spiked Fescue Grass. Pxiare XCVI.

Panicle spike-like. Spikelets solitary, distichous, nearly sessile,
linear-oval or oblong, six- to ten-flowered.

Festuca loliacea, Hudson. E. B. 1821; ed. 2. 150. Festuca pra-
tensis var. loliacea, Hooker and Arnott. Babington. Bentham,
Bucetum loliaceum, Parnell.

Frequent in moist meadows and pastures, especially in a rich soil.
Stems one or two feet high. Leaves linear, acute, roughish on the
upper surface, smooth beneath. Panicle three to six or eight inches
in length; the rachis more or less flexuose, owing to the alternate dis-
position of the somewhat distant spikelets. Spikelets forming two
opposite rows, or distichous, generally nearly sessile, though the lower-
most are often supported by short stalks; linear-oval, acute; seldom less
than about six-flowered. Glumes very unequal, the inner or upper one
being sometimes all but obsolete. The length of the spikelets is liable
to great variation, and with it the number of flowers, which occasion-
ally extends to twelve or fourteen. The outer palea is membranaceous
‘at the apex and obtuse; it is five-veined, the veins termimating as In
Festuca pratensis below the summit, but the middle vein never extends
as a dorsal awn.

Perennial. Flowers in July. .

This grass is very liable to be overlooked, from its near resemblance
in habit to the more frequent and abundant Lolium perenne, Ray
Grass, or Darnel, but that may be at once distinguished by the spike-
lets having only a single large glume externally, while the Spiked

i)

114

Fescue is never altogether destitute of a smaller inner one likewise.
There is much differenee of opinion respecting the claim of this latter
to rank as a distinct species, most modern botanists being inclined to
regard it a mere variety of Festuca pratensis with sessile or but slightly
stalked spikelets, the structural resemblance to that species having
been long acknowledged, and specimens of an intermediate character
being far from unfrequent. It is placed here, at the conclusion of
the series, instead of occupying the position it ought to have were this
view correct; because my own opinion accords with that of the Rev.
G. Swayne, as quoted by Withering in his ‘Arrangement of British
Plants,’ who thus writes :—‘‘ Admiring the appearance of this grass
when it first occurred to me, I transplanted some roots into my garden.
The same season I fenced round with hurdles a considerable patch of
it, which I found growing in a close in my own occupation, with a view
to save the seed. But when I came to gather it, I was much disap-
pointed, not finding a single seed in any of the spikes. Supposing this
might have been owing to accident, I increased what I had in my
garden till it occupied a plat of six feet square. It grew well, and pro-
duced a full crop of flowering spikes. The stamens were apparently
perfect, and shed a large quantity of pollen, and the pistils were pro-
truded and expanded, as if in a state fit to receive impregnation, but
not a single seed was formed. This has been its annual process for a
number of years.” All who have made the Spiked Fescue Grass the
subject of experiment since Swayne wrote, concur in recording its
tendency to infertility, and although a few seeds are occasionally pro-
duced, in meadow specimens, which have the appearance of being per-
fect, they are seldom, if ever, found to vegetate. The author of the
above remarks, considering such constant barrenness a certain criterion
of hybridity, proposed to call it Festuca hybrida, and imputed its origin
to intercourse between F’. pratensis and Loliwm perenne, a conclusion
which I believe to be correct, though unable at present to certify.

From the Woburn experiments it appears to be far superior to Ray
Grass for the purposes either of hay or permanent pasture, as the crop
is not only larger in proportion but the produce durable, instead of
diminishing, as where the latter grass is concerned, year after year.
To the practical farmer it cannot, however, as a seedless grass, be
deserving of notice.

Genus 86. BROMUS. Brome Grass.

Gan. Cuar. Inflorescence paniculate, generally loose and spreading.
Spikelets many-flowered, more or less laterally compressed.-
Glumes two, unequal, more or less carinate, not longer than the
lowermost flowers. Paleze two, herbaceous; the external one
awned below the bifid apex; the inner one ciliated on the veins.
Styles inserted below the apex of the ovary.

The genus is a large one, comprising sixty or seventy species,
distributed principally over the northern hemisphere, and almost

115

exclusively in Europe and Asia. They are, for the most part, grasses
of a rough quality, disliked by cattle generally, and containing little
nutriment; hence, in an agricultural point of view, they may be
regarded as mere weeds, and, in the still too frequent promiscuous
collection of grass seed by the farmer, that from meadows in which any
of the species of Brome Grass are abundant should be systematically
avoided. Most of the plants, and especially those occupying fields and
open situations, are annuals; and though, cut early in the season,
Bromus mollis and a few others yield a quantity of coarse hay, there is
no after math.

The name is from the Greek bromos, a kind of oat; from broma,
food, and is certainly misapplied to the genus before us, many of the
species of which are decidedly unwholesome.

The ripe seed (fruit) is hairy at the apex, and coheres, in most
instances, with the upper or inner palea.

The genus Bromus of Linnzeus is divided by some modern botanists,
but as the differential characters appear insufficient for the establish-
ment of a new genus, it is here retained entire, so far as the name is
concerned. The two sections under which the British species are
arranged below, still correspond to the Bromus and Serrafalcus of
Mr. Babington’s Manual.

* Lower glume single-veined, upper one three- to five-veined. Flowers
lanceolate, compressed.
Bromus.

Bromus exrgorus. Upright Brome Grass. Pare XCVII.

Panicle erect; its branches nearly simple. Spikelets linear-lanceo-
late, erect. Flowers remote, sub-cylindrical, longer than the straight
awn. Lower palea obscurely seven-veined. Radical leaves convolute,
ciliated, with white scattered hairs pointing upward.

Bromus erectus, Hudson. E.B.471; ed.2.157. Generally adopted.

This may be regarded as a very local species, being almost exclu-
sively confined to dry sandy soil, overlying chalk, hence not unfre-
quent in the southern and eastern counties of England, while it is of
rare occurrence in other parts of the kingdom. It is met with in
similar localities in central and southern Europe, extending into the
lower parts of Norway and Sweden. A strong growing plant, slightly
creeping at the root, and sending up erect, smooth, and sometimes
almost polished stems, two or three feet high. The root leaves are
narrower than in most other species of this genus, and appear more
slender than they really are from being rolled in on the margins; they
are rough to the touch, especially towards the apex, and always more
or less copiously sprinkled with white scattered hairs that point upwards.
The stem leaves are broader and flat, and have a short, obtuse ligule,
torn or broken at the upper part. Inflorescence usually simply panicled,

three to six inches long, nearly erect, and rather compact. Fld
0

116

comparatively few, varying from half-an-inch to more than an inch in
length, and bearing on the average seven to nine flowers. Flowers
rather distant, diverging as they expand, so as to give a lax character
to the spikelet, in lieu of the compact form which distinguishes it
before and afterwards. Glumes often nearly equal, the upper one the
larger, and distinctly three-veined. Outer palea seven-veined, four of
the veins indistinct; the middle or dorsal one terminating below the
membranaceous bifid extremity of the palea, in a straight rough awn
about half the length of the latter. Inner palea with two green mar-
ginal fringed veins. The flowers have frequently a tinge of purple.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

Jt seems to be universally rejected by cattle, but pheasants are said
to be fond of the seeds.

Two varieties are noticed by botanical collectors, one having the
culm or flowering stem smooth, as above described, the other both that
and the spikelets hairy.

In habit this grass differs from most of the other Bromes, and the
authors of the ‘ British Flora’ compare it to Brachypodium sylvaticum ;
the resemblance is not, however, at all striking.

Bromus asper. Hairy Wood Brome Grass. Puare XCVIII.

Panicle drooping; branches long, more or less divided. Spikelets
linear-lanceolate, drooping. Flowers remote, sub-cylindrical, longer
than the straight awn. Lower palea hairy, five- or seven-veined.
Leaf-sheaths hairy, the hairs pointing downwards. Leaves uniform.

Bromus asper, Linneus. HE. B. 1172; ed. 2. 158. Generally
adopted.

Not unfrequent in moist woods and thickets, but rarely intruding
upon more open ground. A large, coarse grass, with strong roughish
stems that often attain a height of five or six feet, far overtopping the
ferns and brambles among which they grow. Unlike those of the pre-
ceding species, the radical leaves are broad and flat, resembling those
of the stem, and, indeed, proportionally larger ; they are less copiously
hairy, and the hairs, especially on the sheaths, have a different direc-
tion, pointing downwards instead of upwards. The panicle is widely
spreading and drooping to one side; the weight of the large spikelets,
and the length and slenderness of their supporting branches, causing
them to become pendulous after flowering. Spikelets comparatively
few, about an inch long, eight- or ten-flowered, much resembling those
of the last, and like them spreading with the expansion of the rather
distant flowers, but contracted both before and afterwards. Glumes
very unequal, the upper one longest, distinctly three-veined. Outer
palea hairy, five-vemmed, membranaceous and bifid at the apex, below
which the middle vein separates from it, and extends, in the form of a
straight rough awn, about half the length of the palea. Marginal veins
of the inner palea ciliated.

Annual or biennial. Flowers in July.

117

_ The only indigenous species of Brome Grass, with which this species
is likely to be confounded by an ordinary observer, is Bromus sterilis,
the next described, and that only where dwarf specimens of the former,
and exaggerated ones of the latter, growing in similar localities, are
concerned; in such cases, the hairy character of the outer palea, and
the short awn of B. asper, form a strong contrast to the smooth flowers
and lengthened awn of the Barren Brome Grass.

Dr. Parnell remarks that “horses and cows eat it in common with
other grasses of the wood, but they give the preference to pasture grass,
except in cases of necessity, when quantity is of greater consideration
than quality.” When growing on the edges of woods bordering pasture
land, the early foliage, being succulent and sweet, is generally cropped
pretty closely in spring—but this is one of the least palatable of its kind.

XC IN
Bromus srerivis. Barren Brome Grass. Pirate @X¥EX.

Panicle drooping; branches elongated, more or less divided or simple.
Spikelets linear-lanceolate, drooping. Flowers remote, sub-cylindrical,
much shorter than the straight awn. , Lower palea smooth, with seven
distinct equi-distant veins. Leaves pubescent.

Bromus sterilis, Linneus. H. B. 1080; ed. 2. 159. Generally
adopted.

Common throughout the kingdom, and widely distributed over
Hurope and Russian Asia, except in the colder regions of the extreme
north, and in mountainous districts. Its favourite habitats in this
country are dry and rather sheltered waste places, road-sides, and
hedge-banks; and it rarely intrudes into the open meadows and
pastures, unless in very dry and barren, gravelly, or sandy soil, of
which its presence in any quantity may, indeed, generally be considered
indicative, while the specific name stertlis seems to have originated
from the same circumstance. Although the root is only annual, the
stems being procumbent at the lower part, and rooting where the lower
joints rest against the ground, this grass may be said to have a creep-
ing habit. At the flowering season the stems attain the height of from
one to two feet, or, in woods, and shady and rather moist situations,
sometimes more; they are roughish and striated. The leaves are
broad and flat, usually of a dark green colour, and more or less rough
and pubescent. Panicle distantly branched, drooping and spreading;
with long, slender, rough, and mostly simple branches. Spikelets long,
lanceolate, or linear-lanceolate ; including the awns frequently more
than two inches in length; about eight-flowered. Glumes very un-
equal, the upper one three-veined. Outer palea seven-veined, not
hairy ; the veins equi-distant. Awn more than twice the length of
the palea. Inner palea about one-third shorter than the outer; its

two green marginal veins ciliated.
Annual. Flowers in June and July. ;
An elegant grass, seldom eaten by cattle, but valuable in nature as a,

colonizer.

118

Bromus pianprvus. Upright Annual Brome Grass. Pate C.

Panicle erect; branches short, generally simple, rather spreading.
Spikelets lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, erect. Flowers remote, sub-
cylindrical, about the length of the awn. Lower palea seven-veined ;
the two outer veins on each side close together, and the intermediate
ones indistinct. Often diandrous.

Bromus diandrus, Curtis. H. B. 1006; ed. 2.160. Generally
adopted by modern British botanists. Bromus madritensis, Linneus.
Bentham. B. muralis, Hudson.

A grass of occasional occurrence only in this country, and chiefly in
the southern counties of England. It seems to prefer dry sandy places,
and rocks and walls near the sea, especially about the borders of the
English Channel, though said to have been found northward in Durham,
about Edinburgh, and on the coast of Fifeshire. Although noticed by
Hudson, Withering, and other earlier English botanists, it cannot be
regarded as strictly indigenous, but rather as a natural introduction
from the south of Europe or the Atlantic Islands. It varies much in
size, according to situation, the smooth, erect stems rising from a few
inches to a foot or more in height. The leaves are linear, acute, and
more or less hairy or downy, and the hairs on the leaf-sheaths are
reflexed or pointing downwards. Panicle with simple branches or
raceme-like ; the branches erect and close, or but very slightly spread-
ing, and rarely as long as the spikelets they support. Glumes very
unequal, the upper and larger one three-veined. Spikelets eight- or
ten-flowered, spreading by the expansion of the flowers, so as to lose
their original lanceolate outline. Flowers rather distant on the rachis.
Outer palea scarcely shorter than its straight rough awn ; seven-veined,
the two outer veins on each side near to each other, the intermediate
one on either side the middle vein usually very faint and indistinct.
Inner palea scarcely shorter than the outer, its two green marginal
veins ciliated. The flowers have often a purplish tint.

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

The erect, close, shortly-branched panicle, comparitively short awn,
only equalling the palea in length, and the peculiar arrangement of the
veins of the outer palea, render the species very distinct from those
to which it is most nearly allied, especially B. sterilis.

It has no claim to consideration as a pasture grass.

Bromus rigidus, Roth; found in the Channel Islands, and, on at
least one occasion, near the Land’s-end, Cornwall, resembles this in the
general character of the panicle, but has the upper part of the stem,
the pedicels, rachis, and glumes pubescent.

Bromus tectorem, another continental Brome Grass, met with a few
years past growing near the new mill at Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, is
referred to. by the authors of the ‘British Flora,’ as “ principally
distinguished from this by the unilateral drooping panicle, and by
having the outer palea much longer than the inner one.” I have not

119

seen English specimens, but consider its claim to rank as a separate
species equal to that of B. diandrus itself. As a merely accidental
introduction it is not entitled to a place among British grasses. It is
a weed of no economical value.

Bromus maximus. Great Brome Grass. Prate CI.

Panicle erect, lax, at length nodding. Spikelets lanceolate, downy ;
their stalks elongated after flowering. Flowers remote, sub-cylin-
drical, about half the length of the awn. Lower palea seven-veined.
Leaves downy on both sides.

Bromus maximus, Desfontaines. Babington. E. B, Supp. 2820.
Generally adopted.

A native of sandy places near the sea, around the basin of the
Mediterranean, from which it seems to have originally extended north-
ward along the Atlantic shores of Spain and France to the Channel
Islands, where Mr. Babington first directed to it the attention of
British botanists, as growing on the sands of St. Aubin’s Bay, the
Gréve d’Azette, the Quenvais, and other places in Jersey. It is an
elegant grass, sending up erect stems, in tufts, to the height only of one
or two feet, notwithstanding the name maximus, which, as bestowed by
the author of the ‘Flora Atlantica,’ probably refers rather to the
African than to the European stature and habit of the plant. The
stems are downy at the upper part above the leaf-sheaths, which are
striated, and more or less hairy. The leaves, downy on both sides, are
flat, linear-acute. The panicle is usually simple, but occasionally one
or two of the lower branches are divided; it is at first erect, but, as
the flowering season advances, becomes slightly curved forward at the
upper part, nodding rather than drooping. The rachis and peduncles
are downy, but not rough. Spikelets expanding, lanceolate, including
the awns often between three and four inches long. Glumes so much
attenuated as almost to appear awned, the upper one larger, five-
veined. Outer palea with seven prominent, rough, equi-distant veins,
membranaceous, and glossy on the margins; its awn very variable in
length, but usually exceeding it two or three times. Inner palea much
shorter than the outer. Stamens frequently only two.

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

Should this grass be considered to approach Bromus diandrus, the
distinction between them may be said to consist in the more lax form
of inflorescence in the present, the greater proportionate length of the
awns, the inequality of the palez, and the equi-distant arrangement
and prominence of the seven veins of the outer one. The resemblance
between it and B. sterddis is much less easily overcome, and I fear that
the difference between roughness and downiness of the rachis and
peduncles, and the proportionate lengths of the lowermost flower of a
spikelet and the larger glume, will not much assist our decision in the
matter. Dr. Parnell has endeavoured to obviate the difficulty by.

120

drawing attention to the fact, that a “ peculiar, sharp, conical point at
the base of the flowers will readily distinguish Bromus maximus from
all the other species of British Brom¢.” As this remark has been
quoted by other authors it is here appended, although the value of the
feature indicated is questionable; the “conical pomt” being only a
rudimentary pedicel, not an unfrequent adjunct to the bases of grass
flowers, and, though possibly constant in its presence in this instance,
too frequently the result of accidental development to have much
importance in deciding specific separation.

** Outer glume three- to five-veined; inner one seven- to nine-
veined. Flowers oblong, turgid.

Serrafaleus, Parlaiore. Babington.
+ Outer palea seven-veined.

Bromus sgcatinus. Smooth Rye Brome Grass. Puate CII.

Panicle loose, drooping when in fruit; lower peduncles more or less
branched. Spikelets ovate-oblong, compressed, smooth. Flowers at
first imbricated, afterwards distinct, cylindrical, about the length of
their awns.

Bromus secalinus, Linneus. EH. B. 1171; ed. 2. 151. Smith.
Hooker and Taylor. Parnell. B. arvensis, var., Bentham.
Serrafaleus secalinus, Babington.

Not unfrequent in corn-fields, where its smooth, round, striated
stems usually rise to about the height of the crop. Leaves flat, rather
broad, roughish at the edges and underneath, but downy and soft
above, sharply pointed. Inflorescence at first erect, but more or less
drooping, after flowering, with the increasing weight of the seeds.
Panicle often simple, but more frequently having one or two of the
lowermost peduncles branched. Spikelets, ovate, glossy, eight- to ten-
flowered, Glumes broad, nearly equal; the outer smaller, three-
veined; the inner seven-veined. Flowers spreading and separating as
the fruit begins to enlarge. Outer palea about the length of its
straight or slightly wavy awn.

Annual. Flowers from July to September.

A troublesome weed in arable land, especially among wheat and rye,
and one that ought to be carefully eradicated before the approach of
the flowering season. This might be easily done, the foliage of the
grass being so dissimilar in aspect to that of the legitimate crop as to
be distinguished at a glance, and the labour would be well repaid.
Not only does the abundant production of the large seeds of the Rye
Brome Grass tend greatly to exhaust the soil, but, where present in
any quantity, they much deteriorate the value of the grain, by ripening
about the same time, and thus becoming mingled with it when threshed.
The occasional bitterness of both wheat and rye flour is generally due
to such admixture; and the bread made from it is not only unpalatable

121

but unwholesome, as the seeds of this and other brome grasses of the
section have a narcotic quality approaching that of the Darnel, see
Lolium temulentwm. This effect has been long known in Sweden, in
the southern provinces of which it is so common among the rye, that it
was supposed to be a degenerate form of that grain, an idea that still
prevails among the uneducated country people in some parts of

England. The panicles are employed in the south of Sweden for
dyeing green.

Bromus vetutinus. Downy Rye Brome Grass. Prats CII.

Panicle spreading, nearly simple. Spikelets ovate, lanceolate,
downy ; ten- to fifteen flowered. Flowers compactly imbricated, ellip-
tical, about the length of their awns.

Bromus velatinus, Smith. HE. B. ed. 2.152. B. multiflorus, #. B.
1884. Bromus secalinus var. velutinus, Parnell. Hooker and
Arnott. Serrafalcus secalinus var., Babington

First noticed in Britain, by Sir J. HE. Smith, between Edinburgh
and Newhaven; and since by other botanists, growing occasionally
among corn in Surrey and elsewhere. Though generally now regarded
as an accidental variety of the last species, its habit is so different as
to render the contrast between them very striking. The spikelets are
much more compact, broadly lanceolate, and consisting of a greater
number of flowers; which latter are conspicuously downy, and do not
separate eventually so as to show the rachis when in fruit, as do those
of the normal B. secalinus. The value of such features is unimportant
in distinguishing species, but the claim to be so considered, is about
equal between it and its alleged type.

Annual. In flower in a wheat field, between Brixton and Tulse-hill,
Surrey, about the end of June.

Bromus commutatus. Tumid Field Brome Grass. Prare CIV.

Panicle loose, slightly drooping, more or less branched. Spikelets
linear, or oblong-lanceolate, smooth. Flowers loosely imbricated,
about as long as the straight awn. Leaves and sheaths hairy.

Bromus commutatus. Schrader. Parnell. Hooker and Arnott. B.
pratensis, EZ. B. 920. B. racemosus, E. B. ed. 2. 154*. Serra-
falcus commutatus, Babington.

Frequent in corn-fields and waste places by road-sides, varying
much in the height of its stems according to situation and the vege-
tation among which it grows. Stems smooth, finely striated. Leaves
sharply pointed, soft and downy above, rough at the edges. Inflo-
rescence more or less drooping; the panicle branches frequently much
divided in large specimens, and spreading loosely, but in smaller

122

often quite simple, and ‘almost erect Spikelets linear-lanceolate, or
approaching to oblong, eight- or ten-flowered, smooth, or even glossy.
Glumes usually nearly equal, but variable. Awn of the outer palea
equal to it in length, straight or slightly waved.

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

Some modern botanical writers have bestowed much pains in attempt-
ing to prove this a distinct species; if it be such, it is a perfect vege-
table proteus. However different may be my own views, I am un-
willing to avoid acknowledgment of the industry and careful research
by which others have arrived at a contrary conclusion; and hence
transcribe a quotation from Mr. H. Watson’s remarks on this subject,
according to whom “this species is known by its glossy, grey-green
spikelets acquiring a brownish tinge in sunny spots, its longer and
harsher peduncles than those of B. mollis, and racemosus, and its
glumellas (paleze) larger and more inflated than in B. secalinus and
arvensis.” How far the value of such characters may be enhanced by
‘the recorded fact that, in Bromus commutatus the apex of the upper
glume reaches half-way to the top of the fourth flower of the spikelet,
while in Bromus mollis and B. racemosus it extends half-way to the top
of the sixth flower, is a question yet to be decided.

Dr. Parnell, noticing this grass, in the earlier part of his admirable
work, under the name of Bromus arvensis, observes upon its attach-
ment to richer soils than B. mollis, B. racemosus, or B. secalinus ; and
considers it of more value, as affording a considerable weight of
nutritive hay, especially if cut at the time of flowering ; but adds, that.
if left unmown until the seed is ripe, the crop becomes comparatively
of no value. Its herbage in spring affording an early bite to sheep and
lambs, constitutes its principal merit.

Bromus racemosus. Smooth Brome Grass. Prate CV.

Panicle rather compact, erect, usually simple. Spikelets ovate,
more or less compressed, glossy. Flowers closely imbricated, about as
long as the straight awn. Leaves and sheaths slightly hairy.

Bromus racemosus, Linnews. HEH. B. 1079; ed. 2. 154. Parnell.
Hooker and Arnott, Serrafaleus racemosus, Babington.

Perhaps not unfrequent in meadows and pastures, especially on a
poor, sandy, or gravelly soil, though liable to be confounded with both
the preceding and following, Stems slightly pubescent, from one to
two feet in height. Leaves soft to the touch, except towards the point,
rather downy than hairy. Inflorescence erect, even when in fruit;
the rough and generally simple stalks of the panicle being rigid and
directed upward. ‘Spikelets ovate or ovate-oblong, light-green, glossy,
six- to eight-flowered. Glumes broad, roughish. Awn about the
length of the palea, or rather exceeding it.

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

Seareely distinguishable froma B. commutatus even as a variety, the

‘123

very slight differences in habit and minor features being utterly lost in
intervening forms. In regard to value as a pasture grass, itis about
equal to most others of its genus. The early foliage may be cropped
by sheep and cattle, but it is of no account later in the season.

Bromus Morus. Soft Brome Grass. Pate CVI.

Panicle erect, rather compact, more or less branched. Spikelets
ovate, rather compressed, pubescent. Flowers closely imbricated,
downy, about as long as the straight awn. Leaves and sheaths hairy
or downy.

Bromus mollis, Linneus. E. B. 1078; ed. 2. 158. Parnell.
Hooker and Arnott. Serrafalcus mollis, Babington.

Common throughout the kingdom in almost all soils and situations,
growing alike in meadows and pastures, and on banks and road-sides,
and not unfrequently in corn-fields, to the impoverishment of both soil
and crop. The whole plant is pubescent, and very soft to the touch,
hence the specific name. It varies greatly in stature, according to
situation and exposure, being often under a foot, while among corn it
rises to two or three feet. Leaves soft, downy on both surfaces, but
the edges are rough when drawn downward across the fingers. Inflo-
rescence, unless in very small specimens, more or less compound, the
branches of the panicle in either case being comparatively rough and
hairy. Spikelets ovate or oblong, darkish green, variegated with the
lighter-hued, or whitish margins of the pales, eight- or ten-flowered.

Annual. Flowers from the end of May to July.

Many variations are presented by this most common of the British
Brome Grasses, but with one exception they do not seem to be perma-
nent. This latter, B. mollis, B. velutinus, is found on the sandy shores
of Cornwall and South Devonshire, and is chiefly remarkable for its
densely pubescent character throughout; the panicle is always simple,
and the peduncles very short, or even sometimes obsolete, the spikelets
being sessile.

The Soft Brome Grass, where abundant, may generally be regarded
as indicative either of natural barrenness, or exhaustion of the soil, and
its value consists rather in its office of colonizer and renovator than in
any addition made to the crop by its scanty foliage. In fields intended
for mowing it is an unwelcome intruder, as the hay with which it is
much intermingled is always ungrateful to cattle. With a view of
extirpating a grass that must on this account be regarded as a mere
useless weed, Mr. Sinclair recommends frequent mowing to prevent
the seeds arriving at maturity; a valuable piece of advice, as it is
very prolific, and not at all prone to abandon ground of which it has
once obtained possession.

I believe the five grasses of this section above figured and described,
to be forms of the same type, and that type to be Bromus mollis, to

124

which Dr. Withering, and other botanists of the last century, applied
the specific name of polymorphus, in allusion to the diversity of cha-
racter presented by it in different localities. Indeed, whether the
whole genus, or sub-genus, Serrafalcus may not be similarly implicated
is, perhaps, an equivocal point; it affords admirable opportunities for
the extension of a local flora.

Bromus arvensis. Taper Field Brome Grass. Puate CVII.

Panicle loosely spreading, drooping in fruit; the longer lower
peduncles compound. Spikelets linear-lanceolate, acute, compressed.
Flowers imbricated in fruit, elliptical, smooth. Paleze shorter than the
awn, with two very prominent veins on each side near the margin.
Leaves hairy.

Bromus arvensis, Linneus. H. B. 1984; ed. 2. 156. Parnell.
Hooker and Arnott. Serrafalchus arvensis, Babington.

Very locally distributed, and scarcely to be considered as a British
grass. It was first noticed by Sherard, who gathered it near South-
ampton; other habitats recorded are the coast of Durham, near
Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, and Box Hill, Surrey. Dr. Parnell
mentions it as being common in France, Germany, and Italy, growing
plentifully in corn-fields and by road-sides. The smooth stems vary
from a foot and a half to three feet in height. Leaves rather narrow,
roughish, especially on the margins, hairy. Inflorescence spreading,
drooping when in fruit; the longer peduncles in luxuriant specimens
often much branched: the branches and rachis rough. Spikelets
linear-lanceolate, six- or seven-flowered, roughish to the touch, but not
hairy, frequently tinged reddish-brown. The prominence of the lateral
veins of the palez is a marked feature, and so is the comparative length
of the anthers, which are four times as long as broad, in distinguishing
between this and B commutatus.

Annual. Flowers in July and August.

There are many points of resemblance between this grass and the
foregoing knot of species so called. Mr. Bentham evidently regards
the whole series as nearly related, including them all under the present
name.

++ Outer palea nine-veined.

Bromus parutus. Spreading Brome Grass.

Panicle spreading loosely, drooping in fruit; the lower longer
peduncles compound. Spikelets elongated, linear-lanceolate, acute,
compressed. Flowers imbricated in fruit, not hairy. Pale shorter
than the nearly straight awn, with three prominent veins on each side.

Bromus patulus, Koch. Parnell, plate 127. Hooker and Arnott. A
form of B. arvensis, Bentham. Serrafalcus patulus, Parlatore.
Babington.

125

Found by Mr. Gibson near Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, and, if the
aspirings of later collectors may be trusted, oceasionally occurring
among corn as an accidental intruder elsewhere. No figure of this
grass is given, because I do not believe in its being other than a very
slightly varied form of Bromus arvensis, although placed in a separate
sub-section. An impartial observer could scarcely arrive at any other
conclusion, unless prepared to admit that the development of ten or
twelve flowers in a spikelet, instead of only six or eight, is a distinction
too important to be slighted; yet on this circumstance the difference of
habit between the two seems alone dependent. It is true we have, in
addition to this feature of B. patulus, comparatively short anthers and
nine veins visible in the outer palea, instead of seven only; that is,
there is a vein on each side in the one where the space only for a vein
exists in the other. If the anthers of B. arvensis are not always four
times as long as broad, and the outer palea of the lowermost flower of
one of its spikelets is occasionally nine-veined, while those of the others
are seven-veined, it is to be feared that the value of such important
distinguishing characters is somewhat weakened.

Bromus squarrosus. Corn Brome Grass. Prare CVIIL

Panicle drooping, simple. Spikelets few, ovate-oblong or lanceolate,
compressed. Flowers nearly smooth, imbricated, compressed. Paleze
about the length of the ultimately divaricated awns; with three promi-
nent veins on each side towards the margin. Leaves hairy or downy.

Bromus squarrosus, Linneus. .#. B. 1885; ed. 2,155: Parnell.
Hooker and Arnott. Serrafalcus squarrosus, Babington.

Occasionally met with in corn-fields, and in the southern counties of
England, perhaps, not very unfrequently. Like many other plants grow-
ing in similar situations, it cannot be regarded indigenous, but as an
introduction among seed-corn from southern Europe, in many parts of
which it is common in arable and waste land. Stems smooth, a foot to
a foot and a half in height. Leaves rather narrow, varying in cha-
racter of their pubescence from harsh hairiness to soft down. Inflo-
rescence raceme-like and one-sided; the peduncles being almost
universally solitary in British specimens. Spikelets more or less
erect before flowering, but drooping afterwards; usually very few,
oblong-lanceolate, or approaching to ovate, and sub-compressed, ten-
or twelve-flowered, nearly smooth. Outer palea more or less distinctly
nine-veined, the three veins on each side next the margin usually very
prominent. Awn rough, about the length of the palea, straight at first,
but afterwards bending outwards, and becoming curved and wavy.

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

At first sight this has much the aspect of being a distinct species,
but my opportunities for examination have been few, and I have never
had it under cultivation; circumstances unfavourable to forming any
decided opinion, especially when associated with the uncertain cha-
racters of others, belonging to this ill-assorted genus.

126

Genus 37. AVENA. Oat Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence paniculate, loose and spreading. Spike-
lets stalked, laterally compressed, two- or more-flowered, the
upper flowers (when more than two are present) often barren or
rudimentary. Glumes two, membranaceous, equal to or exceed-
ing the flowers in length. Pales two, lanceolate, often hairy at
the base, eventually hardening and inclosing the fruit; the lower
one two-pointed at the apex, with a long, kneed, and twisted
dorsal awn.

The genus may include between thirty and forty species, several of
them, however, being doubtfully distinct. Their distribution, chiefly
in the northern hemisphere, is almost exclusively confined to its tem-
perate and colder regions, those which are found within the tropics
occurring only at considerable elevation. With the exception of the
cultivated oats, the annual species are usually considered as useless
weeds; the perennial ones are generally liked by cattle, and some are
valuable pasture grasses.

The name is Latin, but its derivation cannot be traced.

The genus 7'risetum, separated from this by Persoon, is not adopted
here, as botanists differ in regard to their allotment of the species, but
the following sections are worthy of attention by the student.

* Outer glume five- to seven-veined, inner one five- to eleven-veined.
Outer palea six- to eight-veined. Spikelets ultimately drooping.
Plants annual.

Avena Fatua. Wild Oat. Hover. Puare CIX.

Panicle erect. Spikelets drooping, usually three-flowered. Flowers
scabrous, hairy at the base, shorter than the glumes. Outer palea
bifid at the apex. Awn very long.

Avena fatua, Lenneus. FE. B. 2221; ed. 2.161. Generally adopted.

A frequent weed in corn-fields, especially among barley, and found
occasionally by road-sides and on waste ground, but certainly not
indigenous. Stems two or three feet high, smooth. Leaves linear,
pointed, rough to the touch. Ligule obtuse. Inflorescence usually a
simple panicle, the peduncles being very rarely branched, widely
spreading and sometimes more than a foot in length. Spikelets droop-
ing, pendulous when in fruit, usually three-flowered. Glumes nearly
equal, smooth, acute, membranaceous; the outer smaller, seven-veined,
the inner eleven-veined; both carinate and strongly ribbed. Flowers
much shorter than the glumes. Outer palea bifid at the point, eight-
veined, with long fulvous hairs at the base; inner palea shorter, with
two green, marginal, minutely ciliated veins. Awn very long, (more
than twice the length of the flower), knee-bent and twisted.

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Annual. Flowers from June to the end of August.

Cattle are fond of the foliage of this grass, but the quantity pro-
duced is too trifling to be of any value, independent of its short
duration as a summer annual. In corn-fields it is sometimes very
troublesome, especially in poor, light soils, where, once introduced, it
is very difficult of extirpation, without laying down the land in grass.
In such situations it usually towers over the short straw of the barley
and wheat, and, if abundant, completely overshadows the crop; not
only starving the latter, by abstracting nourishment from the ground,
but preventing the ears from ripening. Its habit is the same, wherever
met with, from within the Arctic Circle in Lapland to the banks of the
Nile, being alike known in all parts as a weed of cultivation, while its
wild origin is no more traceable than that of the corn it accompanies.
It has been asserted to be the progenitor of the cultivated oat, which is
further said to readily degenerate into this assumed wild form; the
result of many years of experiment and observation renders me doubtful
of such being the case—certainly some five and twenty summers growth
of Avena fatua in rich soil, and with diversified periods of sowing, have
left it as it was from the commencement.

The twisted awns are occasionally employed as hygrometers, on
account of their ready extension and contraction under different con-
ditions of the atmosphere as to humidity or dryness. The same pro-
perty, associated with the bundle of rigid hairs or bristles pointing
forwards at the base of the fruit, assists in its dispersion while lying on
the ground, as well as in eventually burying it in the soil; every
alternate extension and contraction of the awn tending to move it in
a backward or downward direction, as the bristles effectually prevent
its return. Hence it is often termed the Walking Oat or Animal Oat,
a name likewise applied to A. sterdlis, an exotic species, a native of
Barbary, and nearly allied to this, if not, indeed, a southern form of
the same.

The resemblance of the flowers, or rather of the awned fruits, to
some of the artificial flies used by anglers, is so striking, that they are
occasionally employed as substitutes; and that the fish recognise the
likeness seems evident, from the fact of more than one fine trout
having been trapped by this device in my own presence.

Avena sativa. Common Cultivated Oat. Prats OX.

Panicle erect, spreading equally. Spikelets drooping, two-flowered.
Flowers shorter than the glumes, not hairy at the base. Awn seldom
much longer than the flower, sometimes absent.

Avena sativa, Linneus. Willdenow. Generally adopted.

The common oat, cultivated over the northern parts of the eastern
hemisphere, by both Mongul and Caucasian races, from a period too
remote to admit of its history being now traced, is nowhere met with
in the wild state; hence, like other species of corn similarly circum-
stanced, though not indigenous, it has a claim to be noticed as belonging

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to every country in which the probable time of its introduction lies
beyond the reach of even traditional research; such has been the case
with the oat on British soil. The effect of long cultivation under
different climates and modes of treatment, and in every kind of soil, ,
has greatly modified the aspect of this and other cereal grasses, and
led to the production of numerous varieties, the peculiar or individual
features of which are, in some instances, so striking as to have led to
the supposition of their being distinct species. Leaving these for after
consideration, we will refer to the general characteristics of Avena
sativa ag a separate species. Variable in height, from a foot and a
half to more than three feet, the equally spreading or diffuse form of
its panicle distinguishes it at a distance from A. orientalis, in which
the more contracted inflorescence is one-sided; the spikelets’ of both
contain only two fertile flowers, contrasting them equally with A. nuda
and A. fatua, which are both three-flowered. To these characters it
may be added that the flowers are never equal to the glumes in length,
nor have they ever any long fulvous hairs at the base; while only one of
the two in each spikelet is awned, the awn being comparatively short,
indeed, in most instances, little more than the length of the palea, to
which it belongs, instead of being more than double, as in the common
Wild Oat, Hover, or Havers.

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

Though grown by the Romans in Italy, and by other southern
people, the oat is strictly considered a cereal, naturally adapted to cold
and wet climates, its open spreading: inflorescence and few-flowered
spikelets being alike favourable to the more ready ripening of the
grain, and adverse to the retention of moisture, which in rainy seasons
is so prejudicial to wheat and other close-flowering corn plants.
Hence the more extensive cultivation of this grain in northern than in
southern lands, and its use in the former as a staple human food,
while in the latter it is almost exclusively grown for feeding horses.
In very warm countries the grain is so small as to be scarcely worth
the expense of raising for the latter purpose, and the horses of Achilles
at the siege of Troy, as Homer informs us, were regaled with barley.

The English name Oat and the Scotch Azt, are from the Saxon
Ate, and evidently associated with the verb aten or etan, to eat; a cir-
cumstance sufficiently indicative of the early use of the grain as bread-
corn among the peoples of the north.

The principal varieties of this useful plant, or those which are so
strongly marked as to be regarded by certain botanists as distinct
species, are Avena nuda, the naked oat; A. chinensis, the Chinese oat;
and A. orientalis, the Tartarian oat. Of the last of which we give a
figure, though without adopting the opinion that it has any positive
claim to being so considered, any more than have its two associates.
The strictly agricultural kinds in use among our farmers are much
more numerous, but we have no space here for the discussion of their
relative values, and the soils to which they are individually best suited,
however important such topics may be to the cultivator.

Oats and barley mark the utmost limit of European agriculture,

129

crops of both being raised by the Swedes and Norwegians as far as
68 deg. N., or within the Arctic Circle; and, of the two, the grain
before us has many advantages over its compeer, not only in this high
latitude, but in more favoured lands, especially in its facility of growth
in almost every kind of soil, from the lightest and poorest of the sandy
class to the heaviest and most retentive clays and loams. Under the
old system of working the ground until it would yield no more paying
crops, and then leaving its restoration to the management of nature,
oats were usually the last resort of the farmer before fallowing; and
they are still among the most generally profitable of his investments,
requiring less manure than either wheat or barley, and being pro-
ductive upon land that is either too poor or too retentive of moisture
to yield well under either of the latter. Oats, indeed, are, under most
circumstances, a sure and safe speculation to the. grower, though
higher-priced grains may often prove conditionally far more remu-
nerative in the market. It must be remembered by the amateur
farmer, amidst this laudation, that the oat, like all other kinds of
grain, dislikes intruders on its own domain, and that, to derive
the full advantage from a crop, cleanly farming is most essential.
It will draw for its own support every atom of nourishment con-
tained in the poorest soil, but is liable to be overpowered in this
respect by its weed competitors. The oat-growers of Scotland and
the Netherlands are well aware of this, and their oat-fields are, in
keeping, gardens.

As human food oats are, bulk for bulk, inferior to the other kinds of
European grain, containing, on the average, a smaller proportion of
the proximate elements of nutrition than even rye: the amount, how-
ever, is still large, being about 743 in the 1000 parts. Of these, 641
are starch, 15 saccharine matter, and 87 gluten, albumen, or other
nitrogenous compounds. The grain, freed from the husks, is well
known under the name of groats, and, as well as the flour, or oat-meal,
is regarded by physicians as one of the most easily digestible articles of
diet for the invalid, taken either in the form of gruel or porridge. In
Scotland and Ireland, and in the North of England, coarse oat-meal
stirred into boiling water, and flavoured with a little salt and treacle,
either with or without milk, constitutes a considerable portion of the
food of the labouring population, nor is it at all uncommon at the tables
of those of higher rank. Perhaps no kind of corn is adapted in
a greater variety of ways to the purposes of nutrition. Oatmeal,
added to the water in which meat or cabbage of any sort has been
boiled, forms a valuable and palatable accompaniment to the daily
meal of our northern countrymen, under the denominations of beef-brose
and kail-brose ; while, made into dough and baked in thin cakes on a
hot-iron plate, it is the favourite bread of those unaccustomed to the
flavour of that made from wheat; and, from its former all but universal
use as such in Scotland, our sister kingdom acquired its title of the Land
of Cakes. In many of the colder districts of continental Europe, the
oat is of no less importance than it is in the British Islands. The
haber-meel of Germany, largely used, both. there and in Switzerland,
for thickening and rendering nutritive their otherwise thin aud poor

130

broths, and soups, and likewise, as a kind of hasty-pudding or porridge,
is coarse oatmeal previously baked to brownness.

The care bestowed upon the cultivation of the oat in those countries
in which it may be regarded as a principal staple of human subsistence,
has led to the production of some valuable agricultural varieties, among
which the Friesland oat holds the foremost rank ; the grain of which is
much larger than that of those commonly grown in England, and the
superiority of the groats imported from Embden, Hamburgh, and other
ports of Northern Germany, is due to the excellent quality of the Fries-
land oat from which they are prepared.

A powder separated from the grain in the process of husking, pre-
paratory to grinding, or the preparation of groats, forms, with water, a
kind of jelly much prized, both in Scotland and Ireland, known in
the former as sowens, and in the latter called furmety.

Considered as a bread-corn, the oat in these islands is being rapidly
superseded by the more nutritious, and, therefore, more economical
wheat. Successive generations have witnessed the steady progress of

this change, and the oat-cake, even at the breakfast-table of the sub-
" stantial Scottish-lowland farmer, is no longer paramount, either having
yielded its place to the wheaten loaf, or retaining it only as an occa-
sional luxury, like the muffin and crumpet among the Londoners. For
feeding horses, especially where hard work is required from them, no
better nourishment has hitherto stood the test of experiment; nor is
the cultivation of this grain for such purpose likely to be neglected,
unless under some unforeseen revolution in the present system of agri-
culture throughout Western Europe. Though barley contains a larger
quantity of nutriment, it does not appear upon the whole to be so well
adapted, in these climates at least, to the digestive powers of the horse;
and its higher price in the market, consequent upon the greater expense
of cultivation, is another circumstance against its rivalry of the oat.
We have no space for notice or discussion of the varied views of writers,
practical or theoretical, concerning the manner of administering the
grain before us as food, bruised or entire, alone or in combination with
other fodder, all of which may have their advantages under different
conditions and modes of employment; but a practice that has of late
years been apparently gaining ground in France and some other conti-
nental countries deserves mention. Itis that of making coarsely-ground
oats and rye into loaves of baked bread, for feeding horses, a form in
which more perfect digestion renders a smaller quantity of food neces-
sary, while the health of the animal is improved by the substitution.

Avena nuda, the naked oat, hill oat, or peel-corn, has its first and
last names from the circumstance of the grain when ripe dropping out
of the husks, or peeling itself. It is a weed of cultivation in many
parts of Central Europe, where it is occasionally grown too as corn,
but the grain is much smaller than that of A. sativa, even under the
most favourable conditions. By terming it “a weed of cultivation,” it
must not be considered an actually wild or indigenous plant, but as one
of fortuitous introduction among those which it accompanies. As such
it is sometimes met with, among corn and other crops, on arable land
in this country; in the northern and mountainous parts of which it

131

seems to have been formerly grown in preference to the common oat,
whence probably the name of hill oat. The preference in question,
referred to the ease of separation from the husk by the simple act of
threshing, instead of incurring the labour and expense of carriage to
the mill for converting the seed into grist or meal, which in early
times, in the wild districts of the North of England, Wales, and Scot-
land, would be in most cases very considerable. The hill-corn, already
free from chaff, was dried on the cottage hearth, had only to be bruised
in a rough stone mortar, and was at once ready for family use, as oats
and other grain are still prepared in many half-civilized countries. In
Scotland the quern-mills are even now occasionally seen, no longer,
perhaps, in use, but broken and overgrown with moss, about many of
the farm tenements and labourers’ cottages.

The naked oat is generally regarded by botanists as a probable, if
not, indeed, a positive variety of Avena sativa, resulting from degene-
ration, but its triple-flowered spikelets and some other features render
the question a doubtful one. In the latter part of the seventeenth
century it appears to have been rather extensively cultivated in
England, and according to Ray, the grain sold at about the price
of wheat.

AVENA ORIENTALIS. Tartarian Oat. Prats (XT.

Panicle erect, somewhat compact, one-sided. Spikelets drooping,
two-flowered. Flowers shorter than the glumes, not hairy at the base.
One flower awned.

Avena orientalis, Walldenow.

This is as frequently seen in cultivation as A. sativa, and includes,
like the last, many agricultural varieties. Whether really a distinct
species is very doubtful. The only feature of any importance on which
such distinction could be founded, is the unilateral panicle, which cer-
tainly gives the present plant a very dissimilar habit to its congener.
Some botanists have remarked upon both the flowers being awned,
admitting at the same time that the awn is often very short in one. My
own experience tends to establish the opinion that the presence of an
awn to the second flower is rather an exceptional than a characteristic
development : it is certainly so in some of the leading varieties.

Avena Chinensis I have never seen in cultivation. It is stated to
have been obtained by the Russians from the north of China, and to be
the most productive of: all the known kinds of oat. Dried specimens
have much the aspect of A. nuda, being three-flowered, and the grain,
as in the latter plant, loose in the husk, favours the opinion that they
are either the same species varied by difference of cultivation, or
otherwise, that they are both partially correspondimg varieties of Avena
sativa. :

The spikelets of the Chinese oat are sometimes five-flowered.

132

Avena striaosa. Bristle-pointed Oat. Puate CXII.

Panicle unilateral, erect. Spikelets usually two-flowered. Flowers
awned, nearly equalling the glumes in length, not hairy at the base.
Outer palea terminating in two straight bristles. Awns twice as long
as the flowers.

Avena strigosa, Schreber. E. B. 1266; ed. 2. 162. Generally
adopted.

A weed of cultivation only, in this country and elsewhere through-
out central Europe, and hitherto unknown in a wild state. It is far
from being uncommon in corn-fields, especially among oats and barley,
rising generally to the same height, and not very readily distinguishable
from the former by the eye in passing. The leaves are rather broad,
rough, and often glaucous. Inflorescence erect in the mass, usually
a simple panicle, the long, slender, roughish branches of which incline
to one side. Spikelets nearly as large as those of the common
cultivated oat, seldom more than two-flowered. Glumes smooth, more
or less glossy, about equal in length to the flowers. Outer palea ter-
minated by two straight bristles, which, though variable in length, are
usually equal to the palea, if not longer. Both flowers are awned, and
the great comparative length of the awns, as opposed to those of
Avena sativa, will serve to direct the attention of a botanical observer,
when it grows in a field of the latter.

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

The resemblance between this and the cultivated species is very
striking, and has induced many to believe it a mere variety. That
it is either such or a hybrid production between that and some other
grass, seems indicated by the circumstance of its not having been
found truly wild, or elsewhere than in arable land; and, further,
by the inconstancy of its re-appearance, year after year, in the same
locality. In both these respects it resembles Avena fatua, the origin
of which is equally problematical.

Its principal distinguishing feature from the other plants of this
series consists in the bristles terminating the outer palea.

** Quter glumes one- to three-veined, inner one three-veined. Outer
palea five-veined. Spikelets erect. Plants perennial. Ligule acute.

Avena pratensis. Narrow-leaved Oat Grass. Meadow Oat.
Prate CXITI.

Panicle erect, simple; branches short, scarcely spreading. Spike-
lets erect, oval, compressed, three- to six-flowered. Flowers scarcely
exceeding the glumes, hairy at the base. Leaves more or less ipvolute,
their sheaths smooth. Ligule long, acute.

Avena pratensis, Linneus. E. B. 1204; ed. 2. 164. Hooker and
Arnott. Babington. Trisetum pratense, Parnell.

133

_ Rather local in its distribution, and chiefly, though far from exclu-
sively, confined to dry upland heaths and pastures, especially over
chalk or limestone. Although occurring occasionally in moist meadows,
it is only where the soil contains a considerable portion of calcareous
matter. Stems smooth, from eighteen inches to two feet high. Leaves
usually involute, unless in moist ground, linear, roughish to the touch ;
the sheaths smooth. Ligule long, pointed. Inflorescence, mostly a
simple and rather compact panicle, with erect rigid branches. Spike-
lets comparatively large, ovate, or oblong, usually four- or five-flowered.
Glumes unequal, acute, often coloured atthe lower part. Palezevery

unequal, the awn of the outer one usually about twice the length of
the flower.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

This grass is found in most parts of Kurope, but is of no agricultural
value, as its foliage is too short and thin to add much to the gencral
crop; and though cattle and sheep eat it in the early part of the year,’
it soon becomes too rigid to be palatable to them.

A longer-leaved variety is described and figured by Dr. Parnell in
his ‘Grasses of Scotland,’ plate 52, under the title of Trisetum pra-
tense, longifolium, as found in moist shady woods near the sea in the
neighbourhood of Edinburgh. The only differences being referable to
the effect of moisture and shelter, which favour the growth and expan-
sion of the foliage, as well as the exaggeration of some features of
minor importance and consequent alteration of the general aspect; its
claim to be considered a permanent form is at present very doubtful.
Similar equivoeality attaches to the two following, of which, however,
we give figures and descriptions as of distinct species. It may be
farther questioned, indeed, whether Avena pubescens, plate CXVI, is
not another form of the protean A. pratensis, an admission that would
tend far towards rendering the differential features on which our three
sections of the genus Avena are founded, definitive characters of so
many solitary species, instead of marking the limits of a series of
groups.

Avena aupina. Alpine Oat Grass. Prats OXIV.

Panicle erect, more or less simple and compact. Spikelets erect,
oblong, compressed, four- or five-flowered. Flowers about the length
of the glumes, hairy at the base. Leaves flat; sheaths rough. Ligule
acute.

Avena alpina, Smith. E. B. ed. 2.165. Lindley, synopsis. Hooker,
Brit. Flora. A. planiculmis, 2. B. 2141. A. pratensis, var.,
modern botanists generally.

The English Botany figure was drawn from specimens of this grass,
gathered by the late Mr. G. Don, who found it growing about the
summits of the Highland mountains of Scotland. It was at first con-
sidered to be the Avena planiculmis of Schrader, but the error was

134

afterwards rectified by Sir J. E. Smith, who named it A. alpina. It
is a much taller and stouter plant than A. pratensis in its ordinary
form, with longer and broader leaves, and larger spikelets. Stems
two or three feet high. Leaves flat, broadly linear, acuminate. Inflo-
rescence more compact than that of the preceding, with shorter and
thicker peduncles, which are usually simple. Spikelets erect, variable
in the number of their flowers, but seldom having fewer than four
perfect ones, which are all awned.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

There is really no structural distinction between this and Avena
pratensis, but, owing to the more exaggerated development of the
present, the habit or general aspect differs so greatly as to render the
resemblance between them difficult of recognition by the more general
observer, to whom our figure may therefore prove valuable.

AVENA PLANIcULMIS. Flat-stemmed Oat Grass. Prate CXV.

Panicle erect, compound, interruptedly verticillate ; branches short.
Spikelets much longer than the glumes, clustered, erect, sub-cylindrical,
linear-oblong, five- to seven-flowered. Leaves scabrous, broadly linear,
suddenly acute, minutely serrated. Sheaths flattened, sharply cari-
nated, scabrous. Lower part of the culm slightly compressed, two-
edged.

Avena planiculmis. Schrader, Fl. germ. Hooker, Brit. Flora, (not
of English Botany, see A. alpina). #. B. Supp., 2684. EL. B. ed.
2. 165.* Hooker and Arnott. Avena latifolia, Host, Gram.
Austr. Trisetum pratense, var., latifolium, Parnell, A. pratense
var., Babington.

First published as a British plant in the Supplement to the English
Botany, 2684, on the authority of Sir W. J. Hooker; having been
then recently discovered by Mr. Stuart Murray, at Glen Sannox, on
the ascent of Goat-fell, from Loch Rannock, in the Isle of Arran,
Scotland. Our figure and description are both taken from the work
above named. It grows in tufts, with stems from one to two feet high
in the wild state, but attaining in a garden the height of three feet.
The stems are slightly compressed at the lower part, being there
covered with the long, roughly pubescent, remarkably compressed,
and ancipitate sheaths of the leaves. The lower leaves are almost a
foot in length, those of the culm very short; but all of them broad,
linear, acute, deep-green, rough on both sides, and especially so on the
margins. Ligule oblong, smooth. Panicle with many short, sub-
verticillate branches. Spikelets nearly an inch long, broadly linear.
Outer palea purplish-green, diaphanous at the extremity, having a
twisted awn inserted above the middle of the back. At the base of
each flower is a short tuft of hairs.

It appears, that, cultivated m the Glasgow Botanic Garden, from
roots brought there by Mr. Murray in 1826, it preserves all its

135

characters, and agrees in every respect with wild German and other
continental specimens. In reference to these characters it is further
observed in the ‘ British Flora,’ that “none are so striking as the flat,
sharply carinated sheaths, and the great breadth of the leaves, which
in cultivated specimens equals half an inch. Their width too is nearly
the same throughout, at the extremity coming suddenly to a sharp
point.” In addition to these features, the apparently verticillate ar-
rangement of the spikelets in successional and rather distant tiers is no
less remarkable. Viewed apart, indeed, or in contrast only with the
normal form of Avena pratensis, no two species could be more distinct ;
but with A. alpina, and its varied gradations intervening, the limit
between them is no longer traceable, and the three become as one.
Such is the view entertained by many of our best practical men, and
careful comparison of the figures and remarks upon them in the present
work will tend to its confirmation.
Perennial. Flowers in July.

Avena pupescens. Downy Oat Grass. Prats CXVI.

Panicle erect, nearly simple, compact, almost spicate. Spikelets
erect, oval, two- or three-flowered, scarcely longer than the glumes.
Flowers hairy at the base. Leaves flat, downy. \Ligule long, acute.

Avena pubescens, Linneus. #. B. 1640; ed. 2. 163. Babington.
Hooker and Arnott, Trisetum pubescens, Lindley. Parnell.

A native of dry, chalky, and limestone hills and pastures. Stems
smooth, one or two feet in height. Leaves flat, rather broad, never
involute, flaccid, downy on both sides, and soft to the touch. Inflo-
rescence erect, more or less compact, often so much so as to appear
spicate. Panicle generally simple, the branches very short. Spikelets
smaller than those of A. pratensis, usually only two-flowered, but in
luxuriant specimens often four-flowered. Flowers hairy at the base,
frequently tinged with reddish-brown, or purple, variegated with the
silvery white margins of the paleze. All the flowers awned.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July. :

Independent of its marked pubescent character, this grass has little
to distinguish it from the others of its section, and when growing in
moist ground it is much less conspicuously downy ; while cultivated in
a rich soil, it becomes nearly smooth. Where forming a portion of the
promiscuous crop, it is eaten down by cattle with the rest, but they
dislike hay with which there is much of it mingled; and, like A.
pratensis, it has no claim to the attention of the agriculturist, being
equally deficient in quantity of herbage and foodful quality.

* * * Outer glume one-veined ; inner one three-veined. Outer palea
five-veined, terminating in two bristles. Spikelets erect. Plants
perennial. Ligule short, obtuse.

136

AvENA FLAvEScCENS. Yellow Oat Grass. Prare CXVII.

Panicle erect, much branched, spreading. Spikelets erect, about
three-flowered. Glumes very unequal, the longer about equalling the
length of the spikelet. Flowers hairy at the base. Leaves flat, a little
downy. ligule very short, obtuse.

Avena flavescens, Linneus. E. B. 952; ed. 2. 166. Hooker and
Arnott. Trisetum flavescens, Beauvois. Babington. Parnell.

A common grass in dry meadows and pastures, especially where the
subsoil is either chalk or limestone. In the loose sandy ground some-
times overlying the former, it occasionally constitutes almost the sole
vegetation. Slightly creeping at the root, but not stoloniferous.
Stems smooth, glossy, from about a foot to a foot and a half in height.
Leaves yellowish-green, flat, acute, roughish on both sides. Inflo-
rescence erect, bright, yellow-green, changing to glossy golden yellow.
Panicle much branched, spreading widely while in flower, Spikelets
smaller than in any other native species of Avena, numerous, erect,
short, two- or three-flowered, one flower being often imperfect. Glumes
very unequal, smooth, except on the middle vein or keel; the inner
larger one nearly the length of the spikelet. Outer palea, bifid at the
extremity, terminating in two bristle-like points, the middle vein
prominent, the lateral ones indistinct or obsolete. Awns nearly twice
as long as the flowers, seldom more than two in each spikelet, the third
imperfect flower being usually awnless, and frequently consisting only
of a single stalked scale or bristle with hairs at the base.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

This grass may generally be distinguished from all others, at a con-
siderable distance, by the peculiar bright yellow-green hue, of both
foliage and panicle, whence the specific name. It is seldom altogether
absent from the natural pasture, in either dry or moderately moist soil ;
and Swayne, Curtis, and other writers belonging to the earlier school
of agricultural improvement, toward the conclusion of the past, and the
commencement of the present century, praise it highly, regarding it as
the most valuable species of its genus for the use of the farmer, the
cultivated oat being of course excluded, as a cereal, from their com-
parison. Among modern writers and experimentalists, opinion con-
cerning its utility is perhaps less decided. Mr. Sinclair recommends
its use in laying down land for permanent pasture, but only in admix-
ture with others, and states that he has found it to thrive best when
combined with Hordeum pratense, Cynosurus cristatus, and Anthoxan-
thum odoratum. Dr. Parnell remarks that “sheep prefer it to most
grasses,” an observation seemingly corroborated by the fact of its
generally forming no inconsiderable proportion of the vegetation of the
upland pastures on which they thrive the best.

137

Genus 88. PHRAGMITES. Reed.

Gun. Cuar. Inflorescence paniculate, loose and spreading, much
branched. Spikelets stalked, laterally compressed, two- to six-
flowered; the lower flower barren, all enveloped by long silky
hairs attached to the rachis of the spikelet. Glumes two,
membranaceous, unequal, the lower one shorter than the upper,
which is itself shorter than the spikelet. Paless two, membrana-
ceous; the outer one much longer than the inner, very much
accuminated, awnless.

The genus is a very small one, containing at most only two or three
known species, and was originally included in Arundo, from which it
is especially distinguished by the long silky hairs clothing the rachis of
the spikelets, and by the lowermost flower of the latter being always
imperfect. Arundo Phragmites of Linnzeus, the common reed of this
country, is the type, and the only well authenticated species. The
name is Greek, and denotes the purpose to which it has been applied
from a very early period, namely, for forming inclosures, roofing and
wattling sheds and other rustic erections, being derivable from phragma,
a wall or partition.

Puraguires communis. Common Reed. Prare CXVIII.

Panicle slightly drooping, loose, spreading. Spikelets three- to five-
flowered, longer than the glumes. Leaves broad, acuminate; the
uppermost almost Janceelate.

Phragmites communis, T'rinius. Koch. Babington. Hooker and
Arnott. Arundo Phragmites, Linnaeus. E. B. 401; ed. 2. 167.
Parnell. Bentham.

Common throughout the kingdom on the margins of rivers, lakes,
and ponds; the latter, when shallow, being rapidly overrun by its

owth. It is, however, only found in situations which are covered
with water throughout the summer, soon dying away under the influ-
ence of drainage. The strong, cord-like stolones creep widely in all
directions through the mud; the stems rising erect to the height, in
most instances, of five or six feet, though in swampy woods and ditches
they occasionally attain ten or twelve feet. In a prostrate or hori-
zontal position, which they are said sometimes, though rarely, to assume,
the length of from twenty to forty feet is recorded as the extent of
growth, in the ‘British Flora;’ the circumstances under which this
extraordinary development takes place are not mentioned. The
leaves, of which there are fifteen or more on each stem, are smooth,
often an inch in breadth, and sometimes a foot long; they are gene-

138

rally so disposed as to project from one side of the culm only, are so
strongly veined as to appear almost ribbed, and toward the flowering
season are usually split at the summit into numerous capillary segments.
Sheaths roughish, strongly striated. ligule obsolete. Inflorescence
an exceedingly compound panicle, varying from a few inches to a foot
in length, the branches spreading, and more or less drooping to one
side. Spikelets very numerous, purplish-brown, containing three,
four, or five flowers, rarely six-flowered, the lowermost flower being
always barren or imperfectly stameniferous only. Glumes very un-
equal, narrow, acuminate, the upper and larger one a little elevated on
a short pedicel. Flowers longer than the glumes. Paleze unequal,
membranaceous; the outer much the larger, terminating in a sharp
point, but not awned. Rachis of the fertile flowers bearing numerous
silky hairs, which gradually lengthen after the expansion of the spike-
lets, so as to give a beautiful silvery appearance to the panicle as the
seed ripens about the commencement of autumn.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

This is one of Nature’s most valuable colonists, and is largely con-
cerned in the gradual conversion of swamps and fens, stagnant pools,
and other unwholesome spots in which water accumulates, into dry
land. In some of the low districts of the eastern counties of England,
it may be seen entirely overgrowing tracts of considerable extent,
called by the inhabitants reed-ronds. Such tracts, under the improving
hand of modern agriculture, are in a country like ours, yearly dis-
appearing as drainage progresses, and rich pasture or corn-fields re-
place them; but in lands yet unsubjected to cultivation, or those in
which the population is less advanced in the art of farming, the reed
itself more slowly fulfils the important change. De Luc, the celebrated
geologist of that name in the last century, has well described the process
of land formation, as it may be termed, in which the grass before us is
the pioneer. In Brandenburg, Brunswick, and other parts of northern
Germany, he found at the bottom of every dale, a meadow on a sub-
soil of peat. Many of these meadows had, within the recollection of
old people in the vicinity, a pool of water in the middle of them; while
in others such pools or lakes existed at the time of his visit, the ulti-
mate filling up of which seemed to be insured by the causes in action.
The sandy sediment carried into the lake by streams, or during rain,
gradually raises its bottom near the shore; thus enabling the common
reed, already vegetating on its border, to push forward its creeping
stolones farther and farther into the shallow water,—it is the leader of
the van of progress. Tracing backward from this band of reeds
growing in the clear water, another band or border extends, consisting
of aquatic plants which vegetate nearer the surface, and rise less above
it; on the outer part of this band, Confervas (the green thread-like
plants that grow in stagnant water) surround the plants in question,
like green clouds, almost concealing the fluid in which they grow.
These latter form a bed in which Sphagnum, Bog-Moss, vegetates and
renders the surface more compact. Beyond, still nearer to the firm
land, the Sphagnum becomes mingled with various marsh flowering
plants, and even with some of the meadow grasses that delight in

139

moisture—thus commences a zone on which cattle may occasionally
pasture during the droughts of summer. A little beyond this the
ground becomes more and more solid, hay may be made upon it at the
proper season; it is the last. stage of progress between the swamp and
the meadow, and destined soon to become indistinguishable from the
latter. Independent of its value in forming land from water, the reed
growing along the borders of rivers serves to prevent the wearing away
of their banks by the action of the current, and thus guards the low
lands on either side against the liability to inundation. The banks of
the Thames, and other English rivers, are fortified in this manner, and
much of the fine arable and pasture land now found in the valleys
along which they flow, has been formed by the gradual contraction of
their channels through the growth of this grass barrier.

Perhaps no grass is so widely distributed as Phragmutes communis,
as it is not only met with over the northern hemisphere in both conti-
nents, and in our own from Lapland to northern Africa, but is said to
be indigenous in South Australia. It is, in an agricultural point of
view, useless; as, apart from the necessary conditions of growth, the
foliage is too coarse to be palatable to cattle in general, though both
horses and cows are said to occasionally browse on it, in the young
state, when within their reach, and probably under deficiency of more
succulent herbage, while the stolones, like those of T'riticum repens,
Glyceria fluitans, and grasses of a similar habit, are sweet and nutri-
tious. Its mechanical applications in the vicinity of its natural habitats
are numerous, and especially for the rough purposes noticed above
under our description of the genus. The culms form the most durable
kind of thatch ever yet employed, and, interlaced in a slight frame-
work of wood or sticks, are used by gardeners as screens for wall fruit-
trees and hot-beds, &c. They serve likewise as a good foundation for
plaster floors to cottages, barns, and other buildings of the kind.
Prior to the introduction of quill pens for writing, which took place
about the seventh century in this country, the only pens in use were
made of the dried stems of the common reed. Linnzeus, in his ‘ Flora
Lapponica,’ informs us that the people of East Bothnia regard this
plant, so useful to them for the purposes of shelter, as one of the
choicest gifts of nature; he states further that the country women in
Sweden use the panicles for dyeing their woollen cloths green. —

The nests of the sedge and reed warblers Curruca phragmitis and
C. arundinacea, and of the bearded titmouse, Parus biarmicus, are
generally built between the stems of the Phragmites. The first is the
most common, and the bird usually selects three stems nearly equi-
distant from each other, around which the vegetable fibres composing
the walls of the nest are firmly interlaced, the base of the nest being
securely suspended between them a few inches above the water. The
bearded titmouse is a comparatively rare bird in England. |

The great length mentioned above, occasionally attained by the
prostrate stems of Phragmites, applies to stolones projected along the
muddy surface of the ground, and not to the culms or flowering

stems.

140

Genns 39. ELYMUS. Lyme Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence more or less compact or spicate. Spike-
lets sessile, arranged in pairs upon a toothed rachis, each contain-
ing from two to four perfect flowers. Glumes two, both on the
same side of the spikelet, awnless. Paleze two, usually coherent
with the ripening fruit.

A genus of equivocal extent, distributed over the whole northern
hemisphere, especially in the more temperate and colder regions,
though two or three alleged species are found within the tropic. In
several structural poirits these grasses are nearly allied to those of the
next genus, Hordeum, differing from them, almost exclusively, in the
spikelets containing two or more perfect flowers, while those of Hordeum
have only one: indeed, from the circumstance of one of the two
flowers in the Elymus Huropeus of Linnzus being usually barren,
most modern English botanists place it in the latter genus.

The derivation of the name is not very evident, but bestowed by the
Greeks upon some species of grass, probably one of the Panic-grasses,
growing, it has been suggested, about Elyma: it was transferred to
this genus by Linnzus.

The true Lyme Grasses are plants of rigid texture, apparently not
at all adapted for affording nourishment to cattle, and only useful as
colonizers, as exemplified in the British species, Elymus arenarius,
which, like the sea-reed, Ammophila arundinacea, and other sand-
binders, is refused by all herbivorous animals.

Exymvs arenarius. Upright Sea Lyme Grass. Prare CXIX.

Spicate panicle compact, very erect. Rachis flat, not winged.
Glumes lanceolate, downy, about the length of the spikelets.

Elymus arenarius, Linnous. E. B. 1672; ed. 2. 171. Generally
adopted by modern botanists.

Very frequent on sandy sea-shores, where it sometimes accompanies
the sea-reed, (see Ammophila arundinacea, p. 14, Plate XIT.), or other-
wise supplies its place in fixing the loose sand. Stolones widely creep-
ing and rooting, like those of the last-mentioned grass, which, in some
situations, they overpower and obliterate. Flowering stems three to
five feet high. Leaves very glaucous, rough on the upper side, broader
than those of Ammophila, but, like them, usually involute and sharply
pointed. Ligule very short and obtuse. Inflorescence densely spicate,
four to nine inches long, erect, glaucous, spikelets arranged in pairs on
each tooth of the rachis, seldom fewer than three- or more than four-
flowered. Glumes two, nearly equal, linear-lanceolate, very acute,
collateral, or placed together on the outer side of the oppressed spikelet,

141

instead of being opposite to each other as in grasses generally, downy
or hairy, about equal in length to the contained flowers. Outer palea
nearly resembling the glumes, but broader, hairy, acute.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

In habit and general aspect this grass is so similar to the one with
which it is compared above, that an uninitiated observer would be very
likely to confound them, though widely differing in structure. When
in flower, this may be readily distinguished by its sessile, three- or four-
flowered spikelets, those of the other being stalked and only single-
flowered; but, as the flowers of Elymus are not of very common
occurrence, like those of many other plants that rapidly extend them-
selves by off-sets from the root, attention should be directed to the
ligule, which in Ammophila arundinacea is very long and pointed,
while in the grass before us it is short and obtuse.

Although too rigid in texture, or otherwise unpalatable, to be eaten
by cattle, or, indeed, by the wild herbivorous animals, as hares and
rabbits, Sir H. Davy found it to contain a large proportion of saccha-
rine matter, obtaining from its juices and soluble compounds more
than one-third of their weight of sugar, a larger quantity than that
yielded by any of the more succulent pasture grasses of this country.
From this circumstance Mr. Sinclair considers it might rank as the
sugar-cane of Britain, and that “cut into chaff and mixed with
corn or common hay,” it would prove very nutritious. Chemical
analysis, however, though it may determine favourably, as in this
instance, in regard to the quantity of foodful substance, does not
always indicate the fitness of the material examined for the purposes
of nourishment; and animal instinct is generally a surer guide, as it is
unquestionably here. The quantity of crystalline silicious matter con-
tained in the stems and foliage of all the more rigid grasses, and
especially of those that vegetate in sea-sand, must always render them
unwholesome, on account of the mechanical injury it is liable to pro-
duce upon the lining membranes of the alimentary canal. As a
colonist and fixer of loose sand it is unsurpassed by any; but as the
importance of its action as such is shared with others of corresponding
habit, to avoid repetition, the reader is referred to the remarks con-
cerning the value of its before-mentioned competitor, p, 15.

Etymus Gznicu.atus. Pendulous Sea Lyme Grass. Puarr CXX.

Spicate panicle bent perpendicularly downwards, lax. Spikelets
in pairs, rather distant. Rachis winged, glumes awl-shaped, glabrous,
longer than the spikelets.

Elymus geniculatus, Curtis. E. B. 1586; ed. 2. 172. Generally
adopted.

Found by the late Mr. Dickson, one of the most ardent and expe-
rienced botanists of his time, in a saltmarsh near Gravesend, Kent.
The habit and mode of growth are so exactly correspondent with those

142

of the preceding, that, excepting the remarkable peculiarity of the
fructification, it must be considered the same; but the difference of
the latter is so striking as to render the circumstance doubtful. The
spike-like panicle is at first erect, but eventually becomes more or less
sharply bent downwards at the first, second, or third spikelet, or pair
of spikelets, so as to hang perpendicularly. The lowermost spikelet is
usually solitary, but those above it are all but universally in pairs, like
those of FE. arenarius : the teeth of the rachis are, however, so widely
apart, in its lower portion especially, being sometimes at the distance
of two or three inches from each other, as to extend greatly the general
mass of inflorescence, which, in garden specimens, occasionally attains
more than double the length of that of the erect species, measuring
nearly two feet. The edges of the rachis are winged or bordered, but
this and the other differential features mentioned in the specific
character are of very trifling importance.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

Thave seen the original specimen of this curious grass growing in
the garden of Mr. Dickson, near Croydon, many years past, and other
garden specimens since in the living state and preserved in herbariums ;'
and, while ready to admit that it is one of the most remarkable among
grass productions, am satisfied that it has no claim to consideration as
a species, though it is a permanent and most singular variety. Sir W.
J. Hooker, in the ‘ British Flora,’ refers to his possession of ‘‘ some-
thing very like it in a diseased state of EH. arenarius, gathered in
Scotland by Mr. McNab ;” and it is said by Mr. Bentham to be found
“ occasionally on the coasts of Holland and Scandinavia;” but Iam not
aware of its having been met with by any person near Gravesend, or
elsewhere, in England, since Mr. Dickson's time; and the locality that
produced his specimens has long been rendered unavailable to the
researches of the botanist.

Genus 40. HORDEUM. BARLEY. Barley Grass.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence compact, spicate. Spikelets subsessile,
three together on alternate notches, or teeth of a jointed rachis;
the two lateral ones of each cluster usually barren; the central
one with one perfect flower, and a second rudimentary only.
Glumes two, both on the same side of the spikelet or collateral,
ending in long bristles. Outer palea awned, both coherent with
the ripening fruit.

A small genus, distributed over the northern hemisphere, chiefly in
the temperate regions, of which the kinds cultivated as corn, probably
not more than two distinct species, are alone valuable in human
economy. The other species, chiefly annual, grow in meadows, pas-
tures, and woods, and occasionally covering poor sandy ground, but
are disliked by cattle, and regarded generally as worthless weeds.

The name Hordeum, first applied to the cereal species, is of doubtful
origin; but, according to some writers, may be derived from hordus,

143

heavy, in allusion to the character of bread made from the corn; such
bread was much used among the ancient Romans as food for their
soldiery, and others requiring great strength and muscular endurance;
hence, indeed, their prize-fighters, or gladiators, were sometimes
termed Hordearii, or barley-eaters.

The inflorescence of Hordewm is rather peculiar, inasmuch as the
greater number of the flowers composing it are only rudimentary, and,
in many instances, the glumes of the three clustered spikelets are
developed in the form of bristles, as so many appendages to the solitary
fertile flower.

An exception to the above generic character exists in one division of
the cultivated barleys, in which the central flower of each spikelet is
almost constantly perfect or fertile; when, as the clusters grow alter-
nately on opposite sides of the rachis, there are six rows of grain
along each ear, which has therefore a more or less cylindrical out-
line, while, if the central spikelet of the clusters’ is alone fertile, the
grains form two opposite rows rendering the ear flat. Our figures
of the cereal barleys furnish examples of the two forms, as Hordeum
distichum, two-rowed barley, and Hordeum hexastichwm, six-rowed
barley. In confining our illustrations to these two, it is not intended to
insist upon the fact of only two such species existing; but that such
is the belief of the writer, though others recognise six, or even a
greater number, among the many varieties of this useful corn under
cultivation in different parts of the world. Plants that have, from
time immemorial, been under the constant care of man, and which are
only known to him as dependents upon his skill and reiterated super-
intendence, are less amenable to the assumed rules of arrangement
than those that, under the government of nature, retain through count-
less ages the characters first impressed upon them. The constant
tendency of human art, even in its rudest efforts, is to change that
which it operates upon, and this is the source of all the uncertainty
attending the history of almost every cultivated plant. There is even
much reason for concluding that our two assumed or admitted species
of barley are merely altered forms of the same grass.

Horpeum pisticuum. Common cultivated Barley. Summer Barley.
Pirate CXXI. Fig. 1.

Spike linear, flat. Lateral flowers sterile, not awned ; fertile flowers

forming two opposite rows, awned. Awns nearly parallel with the
spike. Paleze adhering to the fruit.

Hordeum distichum, Linneus. Walldenow. Generally adopted.

The native country of the common barley is unknown, though
several travellers have testified to finding it wild in different parts of
northern and western Asia, as in Tartary, and, more recently, Colonel
Chesney in Mesopotamia, upon the banks of the Euphrates; it should
be remembered that in these lands it has been under cultivation from

144

the most distant periods on record, and is still an annually raised crop.
The latter circumstance alone renders the distribution of its seeds by
birds, even at considerable distances from the place of growth, so
probable as to preclude the necessary assumption of wild propagation
in either case. The varieties of this, the favourite barley of English
agriculturists, are too many to admit of very close description of it as
a species. The height of the straw or culm, the breadth and other
characters of the foliage, and the length of the spike or ear, differ
greatly in different soils and seasons, leaving little to be added to the
above distinctive features. Of these, the flattened form of the spike,
occasioned by the constant sterility of the lateral spikelets, will at the
first glance separate it from the following, H. heaastichum and all its
varieties and supposed allied species; but there are two which, holding
near relations to itself in this respect, render attention necessary to
the succeeding characters of the awns and fruit: these are H. Zeocriton
of Linnzeus, which has a shorter spike, with the awns spreading out-
wards from it like the sticks of a fan; and H. gymnodistichum, dis-
tinguished by the ripe grain dropping out of the husk, or in other
words, in which the paleze do not cohere around the fruit. By many
persons who have written on the subject, the two plants in question
are regarded as true species, and this may be the case with the first,
but it is doubtful.

Annual. Flowers in July.

This is the species chiefly cultivated in England, and the varieties
of it resulting from difference of soil and treatment are almost innu-
merable. Some of the latter appear to retain the characters thus
acquired through periods of indefinite extent; but the far greater
proportion manifest a tendency to change, which renders their relative
agricultural value precarious, and frequently leads to disappointment.
The fact in question obviates the necessity of noticing them in a work
like the present, and it is even doubtful whether in any instance, the
permanence of varieties among the cultivated species of grain admits
of positive demonstration. The varieties of Hordeum distichum are
usually sown in this country about the middle of March, the growing
barley being very liable to suffer from the alternation of frost and
wet weather during the winter, when the seed is deposited before the
setting in of the latter season; hence has originated among farmers
the distinction into winter and spring barleys; and although the terms
merely referred originally to the time of sowing, as certain hardy
varieties are better calculated for winter sowing than others, the
denominations are not without utility in practice. The spring barley
of Norfolk has long held a high estimation in most parts of the king-
dom ; as, though the ear is usually comparatively short, consisting only
of from ten to fifteen grains on each side, the straw is strong and of
moderate length, rendering it less liable to be laid or beaten down by °
rain, than those of taller growth, and with larger and more productive
spikes. The name of Norfolk barley is, however, at present one of
very indefinite signification. Another variety of H. destichum, intro-
duced about thirty years ago, by a gentleman of the name of Chevalier,
and called after him Chevalier barley, still holds a high rank among

145

those now in cultivation here, being, under proper management, more
productive than most others; the grain is considerably heavier than
that of the common sort, in the proportion of 57 lbs. to 52 Ibs. per
bushel, and at the same time the ears are usually much longer, (in a
specimen now before me, there are twenty perfect seeds on one side of
the spike, and twenty-two on the opposite). These advantages are,
however, counter-balanced by the general thinness of the straw, and
its harsh and rigid texture, the first rendering it liable to be borne
down by the weight of the ear during high winds or heavy rain, while
the second interferes with its adaptation as food for cattle.

The use of barley was formerly far more general among European
nations than it is at present, and will probably farther decline as the
improvement of agriculture extends, in those countries at least which
admit of the cultivation of wheat. In Britain its most important use
has been for a long period in the manufacture of malt, a purpose for
which it is better fitted than any other kind of European grain, on
account of the large proportion of sugar contained in the seed. In
foodful quality barley is far superior to oats; the better kinds of this
grain yielding according to chemists 920 parts in the 1000 of nutritive
matter, 70 of which are sugar. It would not appear, however, that the
presence of this quantity of sugar is the only recommendation of barley
for the use of the maltster, though the value of his manufacture to the
brewer and distiller is mainly dependent upon the proportion of that
product. In addition to its sugar, the average quantity of starch in
this grain is nearly equivalent to that of wheat; and in the process of
malting a considerable portion of the latter becomes converted into the
former.

Barley is more used in this country in the form of pot and pearl-
barleys than in the state of meal or flour, the labouring classes of the
North of England and Scotland generally evincing a preference for the
oat as bread. Pot-barley or Scotch-barley, used in broths and soups,
is the grain simply freed from the husk, in mills constructed for the
purpose; in pearl-barley the grinding process is carried a little farther,
so as to remove the extremities of the seed, and render it nearly round.
The object in pearling barley is the removal, not only of the skin but
of the embryo or young plant at the base of the seed, in both of which
there is a peculiar flavour, dependent on the presence of an essential
oil, disagreeable to most persons accustomed to the use of other grain.
The prepared or patent-barley, employed for making barley-water and
other beverages for the sick, consists of this pearl-barley ground to
powder in a common mill; it is a more useful form for this purpose as
being more quickly converted into the necessary drink. A decoction
of the entire grain is somewhat acrid and bitter in taste, and liable to
disagree with the stomach. .

The English name of this corn seems to have been derived from the
Celtic bara, bread, and that of the barley itself in the same language,
bere, pronounced broadly bare, among some existing peoples of that
race, indicates the early cultivation of it in Europe. Our word beer is
only a slight alteration from the latter, as being the source of the
beverage so denominated.

Q

146

Hordeum Zeocriton, so called from the Greek zea, a kind of wheat
supposed to be that now known as spelt, and krite, barley, was formerly
much cultivated in England, but is seldom seen at the present. The
comparative shortness of the ear seems to indicate the probability of
its being less productive than the more favoured varieties of the
common barley; but it is more hardy, and better adapted to stiff
clayey soils than the preceding. The name of Putney barley is some-
times given to it by our seedsmen, in consequence of public attention
having been first attracted to it by some grower in the vicinity of the
village so called ; but it is better known by that of Battledore or sprat
(spread) barley, in allusion to the form of the spike with its widely
spreading awns. In some parts of Germany it is largely cultivated,
the grain being greatly esteemed as a substitute for rice, hence it is
occasionally met with in England as an imported article under the
name of rice barley, or German rice, being used like the pot barley,
as an ingredient for puddings, broths, &c. Whether really a distinct
species, or only a permanent variety, is as before remarked, p. 144,
equivocal. : ; ;

Hordeum gymnodistichum bears a corresponding relation to the
common spring or summer barley, to that which Avena nuda, the
hill-oat, does to A. sativa, and its claim to rank as a species is equally
problematical. It is not an object of cultivation in these islands.

Horpeum weExasticaum. Winter Barley. Bere. Bigg. Puare
CXXT. Fig. 2.

Spike sub-cylindrical. Spikelets all fertile; fertile flowers in six
rows, all awned. Awns somewhat spreading. Palez coherent to the
fruit.

Hordeum hexastichum, Linneus. Wildenow. Generally adopted.

The history of this species, if such it really be, is quite as obscure
as that of our other kinds of grain. It ig pre-eminently the barley of
cold climates, as H. distichum may be said to be that of temperate and
warmer, and is the one the cultivation of which accompanies that of
the oat in Swedish and Norwegian Lapland, even within the polar
circle. Ripening much more readily than the preceding, and being
hardier, so as to stand through the winter, unless under very un-
favourable circumstances, it is more commonly grown on the Continent
than with us; but the grain is lighter and otherwise inferior to that of
our ordinary spring-sown barley. Cultivation in different climates has
led to the production of many varieties, some of which have been more
highly praised, perhaps, than after experience has justified when tested
by our English agriculturists. Its chief value seems to consist in its
adaptation to more exposed situations and poorer soils than those
required by the spring or summer barley; the latter indeed is a grain
suited to a higher system of cultivation than is yet extant in most of

147

the continental lands of Europe, where its comparatively greater pro-
ductive character is not understood. Hence the exaggerated accounts
given by French and German agricultural writers concerning certain
kinds of the species before us, one of which, supposed to have been
introduced into Western Europe from Russia, was named by the
former orge céleste, on account of its vast superiority over the old
winter-sown barley previously in use among French farmers. This, an
evidently near ally to the old Siberian, is by some botanists regarded
as a probably distinct species, though only separable from the ordinary
winter barley, by the grain being loose in the husk, whence they style
it Hordeum gymno-hexastichum.

The rows of grain in this species are sometimes, owing to partial
abortion, only four, hence Linnzeus and Wildenow were led into an
error and have recorded another species so distinguished, under the
title of H. vulgare.

Annual. Flowers in July, or earlier, according to the season or time
of sowing.

Certain varieties of this grain are known by the name of black
barleys, in consequence of the dark hue of the husk; the same is the
case with the varieties of the oat, and such are regarded generally as

more hardy than the paler kinds, though without any apparent founda-
tion for the belief.

Horprum pratense. Meadow Barley Grass. Prats CXXII.

Glumes all setaceous, rough, (never ciliated). Lateral spikelets im-
perfect. Outer palea of the fertile middle flower with an. awn equal to
it in length.

Hordeum pratense, Hudson. HE. B. 409: ed. 2. 175. Generally
adopted by British botanists. H. murinum, 8. Linneus. H.
nodosum, Koch.

Not an uncommon grass in moist meadows and pastures, in most
parts of England, except in the extreme western counties of Cornwall
and Devonshire. In Scotland and Ireland it occurs but rarely, as
though its introduction had been accidental. In situations favourable
to its growth, it is among the taller grasses of the meadow, the flower-
ing-stems attaining the height of eighteen inches to two feet, or more.
Leaves narrow, linear, flat, hairy on both sides, roughish to the touch ;
ligule very short. Spike dense, compact, an inch and a half to two
inches long, nearly cylindrical. Fertile flower of the central spikelets
with an awn about equal to it in length; lateral spikelets barren, their
flowers being either abortive or stameniferous only ; glumes of all three
bristle-shaped, rough. Lateral barren spikelets pedunculate, central
fertile one sessile.

Perennial. Flowers in June and July.

The meadow barley grass is in rich moist soil, highly productive
yielding an early crop of very nutritive foliage, apparently well-relished

148

by cattle and sheep; indeed, it was observed by Mr. Sinclair to con-
stitute the principal herbage of certain pastures in Norfolk that were
regarded as excellent for feeding the latter. As an agricultural grass,
however, it cannot be recommended, as the numerous stiff and sharp
awns of the inflorescence render it deleterious to the animals that
consume it in the form of hay, so much so that they often instinctively
refuse that of which barley grass forms any considerable proportion.

Hordeum pratense seems almost exclusively confined to temperate
climates, being distributed all over central Kurope, and the milder
regions of Russian Asia; but not extending into the northern parts
of even Norway and Sweden, nor southward to the basin of thé Medi-
terranean.

When growing on lands that suffer from drought during the summer,
but are Hable either to occasional overflowing, or to have water lying
on them through the winter, nodes or bulbs often form about the root
or base, hence it is mentioned by some continental botanists under the
name of H. nodosum.

Horpeum murinum. Wall Barley Grass. Way Bennet. Mouse
Barley. Puare CXXIII.

Glumes of the middle spikelet linear-lanceolate, ciliated ; those of
the: lateral ones, setaceous, rough. Lateral spikelets imperfect. Awn
of the fertile middle flower much longer than its palea.

Hordeum murinum, Linneus. E. B. 1971; ed. 2. 174. Generally
adopted.

One of the most common of British grasses, throughout England
especially, where it grows on every road-side and field-path, along the
bases of walls and fences, on heaps of rubbish and dry waste ground,
which latter it sometimes covers to the exclusion of all other vegetation.
In the meadow and pasture it seldom intrudes, preferring hard and dry
ground unoccupied by other plants, and indeed appearing to flourish most
where it is liable to be frequently trodden down. Stems tufted, decumbent
at the base, a foot or more in height when not stinted by being trodden,
but more frequently five or six inches only. Leaves more or less rough
and hairy, linear, acute; their sheaths inflated. Spike dense, about
two inches long, not including the length of the awns. Fertile flower
of the central spikelets terminating with an awn considerably longer
than itself; lateral spikelets barren, their flowers being usually imper-
fectly stameniferous. Glumes of the fertile flower narrow-lanceolate,
ciliated, terminating in a long, straight, rough awn ; those of the lateral,
stalked, barren ones bristle-shaped, rough.

Annual. Flowers in May and to the end of autumn.

A weed, but one that seems to know its place, and never troubles
the cultivator. Like most other colonizing grasses, it is almost devoid
of nutritive properties, and grazing animals rarely crop even the early
spring foliage.

149

Mr. Babington mentions a variety growing on the sands of the sea-
shore, Hordeum murinum B. arenarium, having “the lower part of the
stems buried, lengthened, and rooting, thus appearing to creep.” The
wall barley grass not unfrequently grows in such localities, but I have
not observed any very striking alteration of habit thus induced. A
Specimen, however, was brought to me last summer, either from Cromer
or Scarborough, according with Mr. Babington’s description above, or
possibly exceeding his plant in its tendency to the creeping habit ; as it
had the aspect of a perennial, it is worthy of farther inquiry by those
who may have the opportunity of so doing.

Horprum maririmum. Sea-side Barley. Squirrel-tail Grass. Pare
CXXIV.

_ Inner glume of the lateral spikelets dilated, semi-ovate, terminating
in a long rough awn; the other glumes all setaceous, rough, (none of
them ciliated). Lateral spikelets imperfect.

Hordeum maritimum, Withering. E.B.1205; ed. 2. 124. Generally
adopted.

Common in sandy pastures near the sea, round the English coast,
and that of Ireland, but scarcely extending to Scotland. It is the
smallest species of its genus, its stems rarely reaching the height of a
span; they are smooth, glaucous, and procumbent at the base. Spike
one or two inches in length, somewhat four-sided, very compact.
Fertile flower of the central spikelets with an awn rather longer than
itself; its glumes setaceous or bristle-like, very brittle, and rough, as
are likewise the outer ones of the lateral barren spikelets, never ciliated.
Inner glumes of the latter dilated on one side below, so as to be of a
half oval form, and terminating in a long sub-unilateral awn. Lateral
spikelets pedunculated, central one sessile.

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

A useless grass, agriculturally considered, being equally destitute as
HZ. murinum of nutritive qualities ; while, unlike the latter, it is a most
troublesome and dangerous weed in maritime, meadow, and pasture
land, as, when mixed with hay, its brittle and strongly-barbed awns
pierce and irritate the gums of horses so as to induce severe inflam-
mation; and in the days of equestrian travelling, one of the greatest
recommendations of an inn in the Isle of Thanet, where this grass
is very common, was that of having hay without any mixture of squirrel-
tail.

This species does not seem to have attracted the attention of the
older botanists, having been probably confounded by them with the
wall barley grass. It appears to have a very local distribution, being
confined to the shores of the Mediterranean basin and the western
coast of Europe, along which latter it has not extended itself beyond
Jutland, and Forfarshire in Scotland.

150

Horpeum syztvaricum. Wood Barley Grass. Wood Lyme Grass,
Puate CXXV.

Glumes all subulate, rough, (not ciliated). Lateral spikelets fertile ;
central one (usually) imperfect. Outer palea with an awn twice its
own length.

Hordeum sylvaticum, Hudson. Most modern botanists. Elymus
europeus, Linneus. #. B.1317; ed. 2.178.

A native of woods and thickets in many parts of England, though
chiefly, pérhaps, over a subsoil of chalk or limestone. Stems erect,
about two feet high. Leaves comparatively broad, linear-lanceolate,
attenuated, pointed, rough, especially on the edges. Ligule short,
blunt. Inflorescence compact, or more or less interruptedly spicate,
about three inches long, linear. Spikelets one- or two-flowered ; the
two outer ones bearing one fertile flower, and occasionally the rudi-
ment of a second; the middle one frequently barren, when its glumes
are short and involute at the edges so as to appear setaceous. Glumes
of the fertile spikelets of equal length, dilated, three-veined, terminating
in an awn, rough, but not ciliated. Spikelets sessile, or nearly so.

Perennial. Flowers in July and August.

It is not a grass of any value to the farmer, being deficient in
nutritive quality, and disliked by cattle. Like other species belonging
naturally to shady situations, it dwindles under exposure.

Genus 41. SECALE. Rye.

Grn. Cuar. Inflorescence compact, spicate. Spikelets solitary in
the notches, or teeth of the rachis, two- or three-flowered; the
two lower flowers fertile, sessile, opposite; the upper one barren
or rudimentary only. Glumes subulate, opposite, shorter than
the flowers. Outer palea entire, awned; inner one bifid.

This genus, founded on the common cultivated Rye, Secale cereale,
and strictly considered, perhaps, consisting of that original species only,
is said to have derived its name from the Latin seco, to cut. The Rye
is mentioned under this name by Pliny, but does not appear to have
been an object of cultivation by the Romans, though probably the chief
bread-corn in use among the Gauls at the time of their conquest by
the former: the Celtic name for a sickle, sega, a word from the same
root, affords an equally plausible origin for the title of the earliest
kind of grain grown by the people of that race.

While the genera Avena, Hordewm, and Triticum include, besides
the cultivated Oats, Barleys, and Wheats, several of our indigenous
grasses, Secale has no further claim to a place in our catalogue than as
representing a cereal associated with the practice of agriculture in
these islands from the most distant period of their history.

151

Seca cergate. Common Rye. Prare CXXVI.

Stem erect. Glumes and awn rough. Pales smooth.

Secale cereale, Willdenow. Generally adopted.

Only known in the cultivated state, though said by some travellers
to have been found wild in the north-western parts of Asia, in the
Crimea, and the Island of Candia, in all of which it was probably
cultivated from time immemorial. Varies in height according to soil
and situation, but seldom attains more than three feet. The culm or
straw differs from that of most other grasses in being solid, or filled
with pith, instead of fistula or hollow between the joints. Spike com-
pact, four or five inches long. Spikelets with two perfect flowers,
which are sessile and distichous, with the rudiment of a third terminal
one. Glumes two, nearly opposite, keeled. Lower palea unequal-
sided, terminating in a longer or shorter rough awn; upper one
shorter, usually bifid at the summit. Caryopsis hairy at the point.

Annual. Flowers in June and July.

Cultivated extensively throughout England in former times, Rye is at
present seldom grown by our farmers for the sake of the grain, though,
next to wheat, unquestionably the most nutritious of the European bread-
corns. Inferior to barley in the quantity of starch and sugar contained in
the seed, it is far richer in nitrogenous matter, the proportion of gluten
and albumen being nearly double that found in the latter grain, or 109
parts in the 1000 instead of 60; that in wheat varying from 200 to
250, a circumstance that renders it superior to every other cereal as
human food, and which has necessarily led to that increased cultivation
that has nearly banished rye from our soil, unless sown as a green
crop for cattle and sheep, the seed required for such purpose being
mostly imported. In many parts of the continent rye is grown in
large quantities as food for the labouring classes especially, and is
sometimes sown mixed with wheat; a custom that once prevailed in
this country, previous to the introduction of those improvements in the
system of agriculture which have elevated it from an imperfectly prac-
tised art to the rank of a science. The two kinds of grain, reaped
and ground together, formed a bread known by the name of meslin,
from an obsolete French or Norman French word, mes/é, mixed. This
bread is highly extolled for its wholesome quality by some old writers
on medicine; and, indeed, the brown bread of the London bakers,
more than half a century back from the present time, made of a mix-
ture of wheat and rye flours, was an imitation of it. The sowing of the
two kinds of corn in the manner above-mentioned, seems to have origi-
nated in an unfounded supposition that if one of them failed the other
might yield a crop, and thus ensure some return to the farmer in place
of disappointing his hopes altogether: rye, however, generally ripens
much earlier than wheat, there being at least ten days or a fortnight
difference between them in that respect when sown at the same period,
a fact that must have been attended occasionally with considerable loss

152

on the part of the former, by the shedding of its grain from over-ripe-
ness before that of the latter was sufficiently matured.

In countries where rye is extensively cultivated the grain is often
made into malt, and is said to be more valuable for brewing beer than
barley malt; more economical it certainly must be, if, as we are
informed, a bushel of rye malt is equivalent to at least a bushel and a
quarter of that made from barley. The spirit imported under the
name of hollands is chiefly distilled from rye.

Perhaps the greatest recommendation of this valuable cereal to the
cultivator consists in its being hardier than wheat, and capable of
growing in wet, cold, and even poor soils, from which it would be
impossible to obtain a remunerative crop of the latter—or indeed of
any other grain: added to this, it occupies the ground a shorter time,
no small inducement to those carrying on a confined system of hus-
bandry, especially as small proprietors with very limited appliances, so
many of which are found among our continental neighbours. Large
farms, and the increased capital now employed to work them, associated
with the generally higher standard of food consumption that prevails
through our own population, as compared with that of France and
other countries, are the chief sources of that change under which rye
has been, for many years past, nearly excluded as a bread-corn from
the English market.

Though as plants of annual duration only, the value of the cereal
grasses is almost universally estimated by the quality of their grain,
their herbage is, collectively considered, among the most nutritious of
green vegetable productions, and superior to that of most other mem-
bers of the group before us. Allusion has already been made above to
the use of rye as a green crop; and the practice of sowing it for that
purpose only, which has been extending in England during the last
twenty or thirty years, may be regarded now as one established on the
basis of experience and remunerative result. Agricultural writers
inform us that, sown in the autumn it may be fed off by sheep early in
the spring, leaving the ground ina highly improved condition for
raising a crop of potatoes or turnips within the year; or if sown in the
latter part of the summer, immediately after the wheat harvest is
carried off the ground, or very early in the autumn, the sheep may be
turned in upon it in October or November, when other food for them
is becoming scarce, without at all injuring the succeeding spring
produce.

The varieties of Secale cereale are apparently numerous, but less
striking in character than some of those belonging to the wheat, barley,
and oat. One of them is by some botanists regarded as possibly
a separate species, the Secale orientale, hairy spiked rye of our cata-
logues ; but the distinctions between it and the common rye are pro-
bably only dependent upon its cultivation in a warmer climate. It
differs somewhat in habit, and is described as being biennial. It is
probably the kind known in France as Seigle de Saint Jean, St. John’s
day rye, which is stated to grow ‘so rapidly, that if sown about St. John’s
day (Midsummer’s-day), it will be fit to mow green by the middle of
September, and in favourable seasons may be fed off again in November,

153

without preventing its giving ample feed in Spring, and a good crop
of grain at the next harvest.” How far these qualities might be
realized in our variable climate is doubtful.

That all plants are, like animals, liable to diseases of varied cha-
racter and origin, is a well-known circumstance; and those of the
great family of the grasses, more especially of the cereals, are peculiar
and striking. The recognition of them in the latter, premonitory as
they are of disappointed hopes to the farmer, is of high antiquity ; and,
in certain instances, may date from the earliest periods of cultivation,
without having manifested any change in symptoms or destructive
influence. Such is probably the case with one to which rye is subject,
namely, that denominated ergot, from the French name for a cock’s
spur, which the diseased and altered grain somewhat resembles in form.
The disease in question, though popularly known and described in its
association with rye only, is not at all uncommon among other grasses,
especially such as grow in marshy meadows, and places liable to occa-
sional inundation; while in very wet seasons many of the ordinary
pasture species are affected by it to a considerable extent, as I noted
to be the case last summer, 1860, with Alopecurus pratensis, Phiewm
pratense, and Dactylis glomerata. The rye so affected, commonly
called spurred rye, or by naturalists Secale cornutwm, has occasionally,
in districts where this grain constitutes the principal bread-food of the
lower classes, been productive of most alarming and even fatal con-
sequences to the consumers. A diseased specimen is figured on our
plate 126, in contrast with a healthy ear or spike, as are likewise
views of the enlarged and distorted grain and of the granules, sportdia,
by means of which the disease, or at least the fungoid growth by which
it is accompanied, is propagated.

No positive evidence of the effect of ergot, as observed by the late
Dr. Pereira, is found among the writings of the ancients; but, ad-
mitting this fact, it. is still difficult to believe that a disease of so
common occurrence in cultivated grain, may not have been the cause
of certain, otherwise unaccountable, local epidemics referred to in
history. A quotation, by the author just mentioned, from an early
French writer, seems a case in point, as the circumstances detailed are
perfectly consistent with the known effects of ergot. “1089. A
pestilent year, especially in the western parts of Lorrain, where many
persons became putrid, in consequence of their inward parts being
consumed by St. Anthony’s fire. Their limbs were rotten, and became
black like coal. They either perished miserably ; or, deprived of their
putrid hands and feet, were reserved for a more miserable life. Moreover,
many cripples were afflicted with contraction of the sinews.” No notion
seems to have been entertained respecting the origin of the above dreadful
disorder from the use of diseased corn as food, although it is further
on record that “the bread which was eaten at this period was remark-
able for its deep violet colour.” Nor indeed was it until toward the
termination of the seventeenth century that the attention of the
medical and scientific world was first particularly directed to the sub-
ject hv M. Dodard. From the year 1676, in which his observations

154

its appearance on different parts of the Continent, as in France, Swit-
zerland, Prussia, Saxony, Bohemia, Denmark, and Sweden, the symp-
toms and results being in all instances more or less corresponding.
The district of Sologne, in France, situated between the rivers Loire
and Cher, where the subsoil is a cold, retentive clay, seems to have
been the most frequent scene of its disastrous recurrence. The soil
there is described as being so poor, that, although it is allowed to lie
fallow every third season, it becomes completely exhausted at the end
of ten or twelve years at farthest, so that the farmers are compelled to
let it remain a long while in the state of pasture, before it will again
bear corn; while it is at the same time so wet, that, to avoid the
rotting of the seed-corn, they are obliged to sow it on the tops of
furrows afoot high. These are the conditions most favourable to the
production of ergot, which seldom attacks the grain, unless in exces-
sively wet seasons, in countries where an advanced system of agri-
culture is in practice, and the land consequently well-drained.

Ag occurs in regard to the origin of those destructive blights which
have effected the potato and grape in our own times, considerable
diversity of opinion exists respecting the source of that now before us;
some attributing the formation of ergot to the growth of a parasitic
fungus, and others to a mere alteration of the grain itself by disease.
Both of these hypotheses are probably equally entitled to our consider-
ation ; a fungoid production is unquestionably present, while the grains
of ergot are in their early stages of development, crowned with the
feathered stigmas, evincing that they are at that time the immature
ovaries of the rye flowers. Admitting, nay, being capable of demon-
strating both these facts, we are justified in assuming that the general
circumstances requisite for fungus growth involving the presence of
diseased or decomposing organic matter, imply that the development
of the Sphaceléa segetum, or Spermoédia clavus, as the ergot fungus is
styled by botanists, is a result of previous disturbance in the healthy
functions of the ovary in which it takes place, and not the primary
cause of the disorder.

In all records concerning the deleterious action of ergot, the grain so
affected seems to have been eaten in considerable quantity, or as daily
food, for weeks and even months successively. The consequences, though
differing in different constitutions, are chiefly correspondent with those
noticed in our preceding paragraph, as characterizing the pestilence in the
year 1089; a disorder now known among medical writers and practi-
tioners as gangrena ustilaginea, or dry gangrene. It commences with
pain in the extremities of the limbs, which soon become insensible and
cold to the touch, eventually shrivelling and drying up as they assume
a black appearance; the decay gradually extends towards the body,
the parts affected separating and dropping off in succession. These
fearful results, due to the poisonous quality of the fungus, are doubtless
enhanced by deficiency of nutriment in the rest of the grain, not pro-
perly matured in the wet seasons favourable to the production of ergot.
Similar effects to the above have been produced upon pigs, fowls, and
many others of the lower animals, fed on spurred corn by different
experimentalists ; the first symptoms induced being giddiness or appa-

155

rent palsy, followed by tumours on various parts of the body, gangrene,
and ultimate dropping off of the toes. According to the observations
of M. Tessier and others who have bestowed much pains in investi-
gating this subject, it appears that the natural instinct of most animals
leads them to refuse diseased grain, either alone, or mingled in any
appreciable quantity with their accustomed food, rendering its adminis-
tration for the purpose of experiment very difficult. An exception to
this aversion, and likewise to the deleterious action of ergot, has been
noted in oxen, sheep, and other ruminants, animals which, owing to the
peculiar structure of their stomachs, are less susceptible of injury from
vegetable poisons than those belonging to other orders of mammalia.
In Pereira’s Elements of Materia Medica it is stated, on reliable
authority, that in a series of experiments on the Continent, “in 1811,
twenty sheep ate together nine pounds of it (spurred rye) daily for four
weeks without any ill effects. In another instance, twenty sheep con-
sumed thirteen pounds and a half daily for two months, without injury.
Thirty cows took together twenty-seven pounds daily, for three months,
with impunity; and two fat cows, took in addition, nine pounds of
ergot daily, with no other obvious effect than that their milk gave a bad
caseous cream, which did not yield good butter.” To the above re-
marks it may be added, that when administered for medicinal purposes,
the action of ergot, even when given apart in very large quantities,
often fails altogether in the case of ruminant animals. Such exceptions,
therefore, lend no support to the arguments of those who entertain
sceptical views respecting the deleterious nature of diseased or blighted
grain, the use of which as food cannot be too forcibly deprecated, or
too sedulously avoided, a fact that will be farther demonstrated in our
notice of the cultivated wheat.

Rye being little used in this country as grain, ergotism is not a
recognized form of disease here as it is on the Continent; but the late
Dr. Willan was of opinion that many pestilential epidemics of past
periods were due to this cause, and among them the sweating sickness
in the beginning of the sixteenth century. At this time it was re-
marked, as recorded by Schiller, in his treatise, ‘De Peste Britannica,’
that birds fell dead off the trees, with small abscesses under their
wings ; a fact mentioned by him as instancing the poisonous quality of
the air at the time, but which, as the Doctor observed, was more pro-
bably occasioned by the damaged grain taken as food.

The medicinal use of ergot is far from being inconsiderable, and it
is imported hither from France, Germany, and America. The retail
price varies, according to supply and demand, from ten to twenty
shillings per ounce ; hence it has been remarked that if a pound were
collected from a field of rye, it would be worth more than the produce
in sound grain from an acre of the best land. The conspicuous cha-
racter of the spurred grain, arising from its length standing out beyond
the ear, and blueish-black hue, would render such collection very

easy.

156

Genus 42. TRITICUM. Wheat, and Wheat Grass.

Gen. Cnr. Inflorescence compact, spicate. Spikelets solitary,
sessile on opposite sides of the channeled, more or less distinctly
jointed and toothed rachis, two- or three- to many-flowered ; com-
pressed or somewhat turgid, their sides directed towards the
rachis. Glumes two, opposite, carinate, acute or mucronate,
nearly equal. Pale two; the outer one acuminate, or awned;
the inner bifid at the apex.

The species, about twenty-five in number, are widely distributed
over the northern and central countries of the eastern continent, but
are not found in the opposite hemisphere, unless where introduced by
European cultivation. The genus includes the cultivated wheats, of
which there are numerous varieties, and perhaps some very distinct
species, valued almost exclusively on account of their grain, which
affords the most nutritive of all vegetable food; all of these are an-
nuals: others, usually denominated wheat grasses, are mostly peren-
nial, useful in the general economy of nature, some as colonizers, others
as contributing to the support of herbivorous animals collectively, but
by the farmer regarded as mere weeds, being ill adapted to agricultural
purposes.

The generic name, that of the common wheat, among Latin writers,
bears allusion to the process of threshing or beating by which the grain
is separated from the ears or spikes, or to that of grinding to reduce it
to the state of flour.

The genus is divided by some modern botanists into two sections,
Triticum, the true cereal wheats, and Agropyron, the wheat-grasses,
some of the latter only are strictly indigenous, not to these islands
alone, but to Europe collectively.

Triticum. Linneus.

Annual. Spikelets more or less ventricose and turgid. Glumes
and palez ovate or oblong.

Triticum sativum. Common cultivated Wheat. Prare CXXVIL
and CXXVIIL.

Spike imbricated, four-cornered. Spikelets usually four-flowered.
Glumes ventricose, ovate, truncate, mucronate, compressed below the
apex, convex on the back with a prominent midvein.

Triticum vulgare of some authors. Triticum xstivum, hybernum, &c.,
Wildenow.

157

The varieties of wheat met with in cultivation are more numerous
than those of any other kind of grain, and are supposed by some
botanical and agricultural authors to include at least two distinct
species, if not, indeed, a greater number. The distinctive features of
these are, however, far too indefinite to admit of our arriving at any
satisfactory conclusion respecting them from comparison; hence only
three marked forms are presented among our figures, namely, Triticum
estivum, Summer or Bearded Wheat, 7’. hybernum, Winter, Lammas,
or Beardless Wheat, and 7. compositum, Branch-eared or Hgyptian
Wheat. The English names of the first two, and especially in reference
to the bearded or beardless character, are very arbitrarily bestowed,
as some of the varieties of 7. hybernum have comparatively long awns.
It is to the latter that the kinds of this most useful of all European
grains grown in the British islands nearly exclusively belong, the
varieties of Z'. astivwm being better adapted to more southern and
drier climates. Those of both species, however, if species they
originally were, have been so crossed and multiplied that their natural
affinities to either, individually, are no longer traceable with any degree
of certainty; and so diversified are the characters they present under
difference of climate, soil, and culture, as to render particular descrip-
tion unavailable.

The origin of wheat is involved in equal obscurity with that of other
kinds of grain, and indeed of most plants the cultivation of which has
been carried on from very remote periods. Though alleged to be
found wild in various parts of Central and Western Asia, its association
with the permanent vegetation of those districts, otherwise than as an
accidental intruder, has never yet been determined. The supposed
derivation of our staple corn, by successive culture, from certain
species of western Asiatic and southern European grasses, belonging to
the genus Agilops, as noticed in page 8 of the introduction to the
present volume, however plausible it may appear from the experiments
of M. Fabre and the advocates of his hypothesis, is far from being any
approach to the elucidation of the subject; his wheat, so called, being
not true wheat, but a hybrid production of corresponding class to many
of those which the advancing ingenuity of modern horticulturists is all
but daily bringing into existence. As our acquaintance with the
metamorphic capabilities of plants is very limited, there is still, however,
a possibility that farther observation and experiment may establish as
fact that which is, under present circumstances, problematical.

The superiority of wheat, as a bread-corn, over every other kind of
cultivated grain, is indicated both by the result of chemical analysis
and the larger comparative quantity of flour which it yields. Thus
1,000 parts of barley contain 920 of nutritive substance ; of rye, 792;
of oats, 743; and of the different kinds of wheat from 940 to 960;
while fourteen pounds of wheat yield thirteen pounds of flour, fourteen
pounds of barley only twelve pounds, and an equal quantity of oats no
more than eight pounds. Added to these considerations in favour of
wheat as an economical production, may be noted the higher rank
which its flour holds among the supporters of animal life. This is
due to the large quantity of gluten it contains, amounting to more than

158

one-fifth of its composition, or varying in the 1,000 parts from 190 to
240. Separated by washing from the starch with which it is com-
bined in wheaten flour, this gluten is well known as an article of human
food in the forms of Macaroni, Vermacelli, &c., and may be classed
among the most nutritive of all vegetatable products; containing, as it
does, from fourteen to sixteen per cent. of nitrogen, the element on
the presence of which vital action in animals seems mainly dependent.
The existence of only 109 parts of gluten in the thousand of rye, of
87 in the oat, and of 60 in barley, places all these grains in an infinitely
inferior grade to that of wheat of even the lowest cast in this respect.
In the chemical process of fermentation, gluten fulfils an important
function, hence the superior lightness of fine wheaten bread compared
with that made from barley and rye, &e.

In agriculture and in commerce the varieties of wheat are often
distinguished as red and white wheats, and hard and soft wheats. Such
classification is altogether independent of value in a botanical point of
view, however important the latter division may be as regards the
economical adaptation of the particular kinds so denominated. Both
of these distictions are more or less results of soil, climate, and other
fortuitous circumstances, and are consequently liable to disturbance, or
even inversion, under a change of treatment, especially when subjected
to the same through several successive seasons. Colour, both in the
grain and chaff, is peculiarly liable to change, red wheat becoming
white, and vice versd. The alteration of the texture of the grain, as
from hard to soft, is a longer process, requirmg, in most cases, the
cultivation of several successive years ; but it will be found by experi-
ment no less certain than the change of colour—in fact, that none of
the popular distinctive characters of our cultivated wheats are absolutely
permanent, and therefore is it probable that they are, without excep-
tion, only so many forms of one original species.

The varieties grown in this country, and almost throughout Northern
Europe, belong to the soft-grained class; the hard-grained requiring a
warmer climate, or at least a higher mean summer temperature, are
almost exclusively raised in the eastern parts of the Continent and in
the countries around the basin of the Mediterranean. These latter
varieties are usually far richer in gluten than the soft wheats, containing
sometimes, it is stated, no less than thirty per cent. of that valuable
proximate, the proportion of which seems to be enhanced by the warmth
and dryness of the climate under which the grain is ripened.

The variety figured on plate CXXVIII as Triticum compositum, is
seldom grown in England, unless as a subject of curiosity. It is sup-
posed to have originated among the ancient Egyptians, and to be the
one referred to in Pharaoh’s dream as bearing seven ears on one stalk.
The number of its associated ears or branches is liable to considerable
variation ; and the ears are often simple on stalks, from the same root
that bears the compound ones, in which case they are indistinguishable
from those of 7. Turgidum, another of the many pseudo-species
adopted by agricultural writers.

Wheat is no less liable than rye, and, indeed, all kinds of corn and
other cultivated vegetables, to disorders associated with the development

159

of minute species of fungi; and though ergot is less frequent in its
attacks upon it than is the case with the last-mentioned grain, several
other equally destructive members of the class, known by the more
familiar names of smut, rust, and mildew, seem always ready to avail
themselves of every opportunity, that weakness engendered by adverse
season or circumstances presents. Straw, foliage, husk, and grain
afford in turn a subject, for their insidious depredations, which are
always more or less injurious, not to the quantity alone of the crop,
but to its nutritive and healthful quality. Instances of this deteriora-
tion are shown in the analyses of our agricultural chemists, as in that
of blighted wheat, grown in 1804, by Sir H. Davy, which presented
the average quantity of 955 parts of nutritive matter in the 1,000 re-
duced to 650, while a sample of mildewed wheat, in 1806, yielded only
210 in the 1,000. The consequence of using such wheat as food,
especially the last-mentioned, would, of course, be a step toward star-
vation, even though no greater evil resulted. It is, however, well
known to be highly prejudicial to health; and the higher standard of
living among the poorer classes of our population, compared with those
of some continental countrics, is the only cause of their exemption from
the dreadful disease mentioned above, as resulting from the use of bad
rye. That such disease might occasionally prevail among them here
from similar causes, under a more restricted form of diet, is evident
from a record in the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1762.
The case in question occurred in the village of Wallisham, about fifteen
or sixteen miles from Bury St. Edmund’s, Suffolk, and the report of it
was forwarded to the Royal Society by Dr. Wollaston, attested by the
Rey. Mr. Bone, the curate of the parish, and is, abridged, as follows :—
Some of the wheat belonging to a farmer in the neighbourhood, being
laid or beaten down by bad weather, and the grain much damaged in
eonsequence, was collected and threshed apart from the remainder.
Being unfit for the market, it was sold at a low price to any of the
farm-labourers, and other people of the village who might be inclined
to purchase. The sale of this corn commenced about Christmas, and
to one poor family, whose chief, or possibly sole, support it was for
some time, the result was most alarming and unparalleled. It appears
that the consumption of the clog-wheat or rivets, as it is termed, by the
father, mother, and five children, was about two bushels in the fort-
night; the same being eaten in the form of bread and puddings, both
of them very indifferent in quality. But to poverty, cheapness, and
sufficiency of food are always irresistible inducements, and this un-
wholesome fare was continued, without intermission, until the mother
and her children were attacked, within a very few days of each other,
with gangrenous ergotism. ‘The first indication of the disease, intense
pains in the lower limbs, occurred on the 10th of January, which were
probably mistaken for rheumatism ; and when these subsided within the
course of the week, numbness and insensibility of the parts succeeded,
terminating in mortification. The condition of the family, at the time
Dr. Wollaston made his report to the society, is here subjoined :—

“ Mary, the mother, aged forty. Right foot off at the ankle; left
leg mortified, a mere bone, but not off.

160

“ Flizabeth, aged thirteen. Both legs off below the knees.

“Sarah, aged ten. One foot off at the ankle.

“ Robert, aged eight. Both legs off below the knees.

“ Hdward, aged four. Both feet off at the ankles.

“ An infant, aged four months. Dead.

“The father was not attacked until about a fortnight after his wife
and children, and in a slighter degree. In him the pain was confined
to two fingers of his ‘right hand, which turned blackish, and withered.
Another labouring man, in the same parish, who had eaten of this bread,
suffered from numbness in both his hand for above a month. They
were constantly cold, and his finger-ends peeled; one thumb, he says,
remains without any sensation.”

In several instances, where bread made from the same corn was
eaten in the farmer’s own family, as well as by other persons, no pre-
judicial effects were noticed, probably in consequence of such bread
being only occasionally used, and as an adjunct to other wholesome
and nourishing food. The nature of the disease with which the wheat
was affected, in this lamentable case, does not appear to have been
ascertained ; but the circumstances are well authenticated, and were in
my boyhood, the early part of the present century, the subject of local
tradition in the part of the county of Suffolk in which they took place.
It is possible that the fatality attendant upon the use of the damaged
grain, in the unfortunate family above mentioned, arose quite as much
from the absolute deficiency of proper nourishment, as from the alleged
poisonous quality of the mildewed fungus; but, with such examples
before us, too great caution cannot be enforced regarding the use of
grain or flour of suspicious character.

The great superiority of wheat, as dependent on its large proportion
of gluten, will be readily understood, when it is remarked that the
chemical composition of that proximate principle is identical with that
of good ox-beef. And when we learn that the quantity of gluten found
in rice scarcely exceeds one-half that belonging to barley, or is little
more than three per cent., we may at the same time comprehend how
much a difference in their staple articles of diet, has contributed to the
exaltation of the nations of Hurope above the rice-feeding population
of India and China. Starch, the other leading constituent of all kinds of
grain, gives substance to the human frame ; but its strength and activity,
as well mental as corporeal, are only maintained by food, of which the
nitrogenous element is a compound.

Several other species or varieties of wheat, little known in England,
are cultivated in Germany, Poland, and elsewhere on the Continent.
Of these, 7’. polonicwm, the Polish wheat, is unquestionably one of the
latter class, a mere inferior variety of 7. sativum, with smaller ears,
and having three-flowered instead of four-flowered spikelets. The
others, collectively called spelts, or spelter-wheats, are probably varieties
of a distinct species.

T. spelta, common spelt wheat, is largely grown in Southern Ger-
many, where it is so much liked as, in some districts, almost to exclude
other wheat from the markets. Being all but indifferent to soil and
situation, and, from the shortness and stiffness of its culm, not readily

161

laid in tempestuous weather, are great recommendations to the farmer,
in a ony where agriculture has little advanced from the earliest
periods.

LT’. dicocewm, two-grained, or rice-wheat, and 7. monococcum, one-
grained wheat, are apparently varieties of the foregoing, and are often
cultivated on the same lands. Their produce in grain is comparatively
small; but it has, in either case, qualities that habit has rendered
agreeable. The last is a favourite corn among the Swiss, who seem to
have a similar predilection for it as our northern country people have
for oats and barley.

Agropyrum. Beauvois.

Perennial. Spikelets not ventricose, several-flowered. Glumes and
paleze lanceolate, or linear-oblong.

TRiTIcUM cRistatum. Crested Wheat Grass. Pratz OXXIX.

Spike-flattened, closely imbricated. Spikelets four- or five-flowered.
Glumes subulate, with a terminal awn. Outer pale with an awn
about its own length. Rachis slightly downy. Leaves hairy above.
Culm rough.

Triticum cristatum, Schreber. Most English botanists. 2. B. 2267.
ed. 2.180. Agropyrum cristatum, Beawvois. Lindley. Bromus
cristatus, Linneeus.

We have not any national claim to this grass, which, though dis-
covered many years ago by the late Mr. G. Don, growing on the east
coast of Scotland, ‘‘ on steep banks and rocks,” between Arbroath and
Montrose, seems not to have been found by any more recent botanists.
Its introduction in the present work is due to an oversight in making
out the list of plates from those of the ‘ English Botany,’ in which it was
figured from specimens forwarded at the time of its discovery. On the
game authority it retains a place in most of our descriptive catalogues
and manuals of the British Flora, probably on the plea that having been
once met with in this island, accidentally introduced, it may again
occur as a natural visitant.

Cultivated in the botanic garden, the stems average a foot or more
in height, being hairy and rough to the touch. Leaves linear-accumi-
nate, hairy on the upper surface, with a very short obtuse ligule.
Spike compressed, linear, or tending to ovate, seldom more than an
inch in length; spikelets closely imbricated on each side of the rachis,
sessile, four- to six-flowered. Glumes more or less lanceolate or subu-
late, terminating in a long point or awn, which is an extension of their
middle vein. Outer palea awned like the glumes from the apex;
inner fringed on the margins.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

162

The general aspect of this grass is at first sight not very unlike that
of Hordeum maritimum, but the generic characters will readily distin-
guish them, especially the association of the spikelets of the latter,
which are never more than single-flowered, in clusters of three, while
in Triticum the spikelets are solitary and several-flowered.

The Crested Wheat Grass is strictly indigenous to the north-eastern
portion of our continent, and according to Gmelin is common through-
out Siberia.

Triticum Junceum. Rushey Sea Wheat Grass. Pirate CXXX.

Spike interrupted. Spikelets distant, rather spreading, four- to six-
flowered. Glumes obtuse, many-ribbed. Outer palea obtuse, smooth,
five-veined. Rachis smooth, brittle when in fruit. Leaves involute,
pungent, downy above. Root creeping.

Triticum junceum, Linneus. E. B. 814; ed. 2. 177. Generally
adopted.

Very common, growing among the loose sand on our sea-shores,
which its creeping roots and stolones assist in fixing. Flowering stems
a foot and a half to three feet high. Whole plant glaucous, and usually
smooth, except on the inrolled upper faces of the leaves, which is more
or less downy, especially on those of the stem. The leaves are of a
rigid texture, and from their involute character, so acute as to be
almost spine-like at the apex. Spike very long, and, owing to the dis-
tance of the spikelets from each other, interrupted. Rachis smooth, often
almost polished, becoming brittle or disarticulating at the joints as the
fruit ripens. Spikelets oval-oblong, generally about five-flowered.
Glumes obtuse, but often apiculate from the extension of the middle
vein beyond the apex; the veins so elevated as to assume the appear-
ance of ribs. Outer palea obtuse, smooth, five-veined, the middle
vein frequently extending into a mucro, as in the case of the glumes,
but never forming a positive awn.

Perennial. Flowers in July and August.

This is a very variable species, being apparently much influenced by
difference of locality and other circumstances. The varieties, so called,
are undeserving of notice, as not any of them are permanent, and this is
the case with Z’riticum laxum, Fries, of Mr. Babington’s Manual. It
is even doubtful whether the plant before us is itself a species distinct
from the following 7’. repens, Mr. Bentham regards them as belonging
to the same type, and taking into consideration the glaucous maritime
variety of the latter, 7. littorale, Host, the transition between the two
extreme forms of both is all but imperceptible ; the differential characters,
are founded upon features too unimportant and inconstant to be placed
in competition with the striking uniformity of habit and general struc-
ture appertaining to the entire series.

163

Triticum REPENS. Creeping Wheat Grass. Couch Grass. Squitch.
Spear Grass. Prare CXXXL

Spike elongated, compressed. Spikelets more or less imbricated and
erect, four- to cight-flowered. Glumes acuminate, many-ribbed. Outer
palea acuminate, five-veined. Rachis rough at the angles. Leaves
plane, or tending to involute, roughish, with a single row of hairs or
points on the veins on the upper side. Root creeping.

Triticum repens, Linnwus. E. B. 909; ed. 2.178. Most English
botanists. Agropyrum repens, Beauvois. Lindley.

Common in all parts of the kingdom, especially in arable land, where
owing to its creeping habit, it is among the most troublesome of weeds.
Its long, underground stems penetrate the loose soil in every direction,
and when once they have possession, are very difficult to eradicate, as,
broken up by the plough or spade, every fragment vegetates apart,
thus renewing or extending the crop. Jew plants exhaust the ground
so rapidly of nutritive matter, and it can only be got rid of by repeated
fallowing or laying down to pasture. In gardens frequent disturbance
of the soil by digging or forking, and removal by the hand or rake of
the upturned runners, afford the only means of destruction. The
fibres of the roots are downy; the erect, flowering stems rise to the
height of two or three feet, being comparatively slender, smooth, and
striated, the leaves on which are frequently all directed to one side.
Leaves dark green; in the more common form of the plant marked
above, with more or less conspicuous parallel lines of hairs or points
along the principal veins. ligule short, obtuse. Spike compressed,
six to eight inches in length. Spikelets oval or oblong, varying from
four- or five- to seven- or eight-flowered. Glumes very acute, the apex
in some instances extending into a short awn, many-ribbed, or veined.
Outer palea very acute, and even slightly awned, though never so pro-
minently as in Z'riticum caninum, the awn scarcely exceeding half its
own length.

Perennial. Flowers from June to September.

The creeping stems of this grass, so pernicious and troublesome in
cultivation, are succulent, sweet, and very nutritive. They are greedily
devoured by horses and cows, although these animals never eat the
leaves unless at their first appearance in the spring. In the south of
Europe, the peasants collect them from the road sides and waste
grounds in large quantities, for the purpose of carrying them into the
town-markets as horse-food. Considerable profit is made by the poor
about Naples in this way. The flavour is somewhat similar to that of
liquorice-root, and Sir H. Davy found that they contained about three
times the amount of nourishment that exists in the leaves and stems.
Withering informs us that “ when dried, and ground to meal, they have
been made into bread in years of scarcity ;” adding that “the juice of

164

them drank liberally is recommended by Boerhaave in obstructions of
the viscera, particularly in cases of schirrous liver and jaundice.”
Dogs and cats eat the leaves both of this and the following species to
excite vomiting, whence they are both of them known in many parts of
the country by the common name of Dog-grass; the effect produced,
however, seems to be rather mechanical than medicinal.

Triticum repens is widely distributed over Europe and Northern
Asia; in the former, especially, extending throughout the continent
from Lapland to the shores of the Mediterranean, on the opposite side
of the basin of which it grows in the north of Africa. The maritime
variety referred to above, under 7’. junceum, is chiefly distinguished
from the common form by its glaucous hue and more or less awned
flowers.

Triticum caninum. Bearded Wheat Grass. Dog-wheat. Pars
CXXXII.

Spike elongated, more or less compact. Spikelets imbricated, erect,
three- to five-flowered. Glumes acuminate, usually three-ribbed, with
a short terminal, rough awn. Outer palea acuminate, five-veined,
terminating in a long, slender, rough awn, longer than itself. Rachis
rough at the angles. Leaves plane, rough on both sides. Root
fibrous, clustered.

Triticum caninum, Hudson. FE. B. 1872; ed. 2.179. Most English
botanists. Agropyrum caninum, Beauvois. Lindley.

Frequent in woods and on hedge-banks, but far less common than
Triticum repens. The stems grow more or less tufted, not at com-
paratively long distances like those of the latter, varying in height,
according to circumstances, from two to three or four feet. Leaves
glossy, dark green, acute, roughish on both surfaces. Ligule short,
obtuse. Spike long and slender, often compact and somewhat sub-
cylindrical. Spikelets usually four- or five-flowered, occasionally only
two-flowered. Glumes distinctly three-ribbed, with a terminal awn
yariable in its proportional length. Outer palea, acuminate, five-veined,
more or less hairy, terminating in a slender rough awn, generally much
longer than itself.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

The geographical distribution of this grass accords with that of
T. repens, but it is less predominating in its habit. It yields, in
favourable localities, a tolerable crop of early herbage, which is ap-
parently relished by cattle in general; hence it is recommended by
some agricultural writers for sowing on soils of inferior quality instead
of Ray-grass, Loliwm perenne, but its value for such purpose does not
appear to be established by the result of experiment. <A grass, growing
naturally in sheltered situations, moist woods and thickets, is ill adapted
for culture in meadow and pasture land.

165

_ Independent of difference in habit, 7’. caninum has so many features
i common with 7’. repens, or rather is separated from it by characters
80 questionable, and so liable to modification, that the specific identity
of the two is far from being undeniable. At present they are regarded
as distinct, and this assumption is warranted by their varied form of
growth; but, whether we are justified in associating such variation
with the rudimental dissimilarity of structure upon which the separation
of species should depend, requires further insight regarding vegetable
physiology than we at present possess.

Genus 48. BRACHYPODIUM. False Brome Grass.

Gen. Car. Inflorescence racemose as to the disposition of the
spikelets. Spikelets solitary, linear, subcylindrical, many-flowered,
diverging from the rachis, toward: which their sides are directed.
Glumes two, opposite, unequal, Paleze two, rounded on the back ;
the outer one pointed or awned at the extremity; the inner one
retuse, coarsely fringed on the upper part of its ribs or veins.

The genus is one of comparatively small extent, founded by Beauvois
for the reception of certain previously anomalous species of Triticum,
Bromus, or Festuca. The unequal glumes, long subcylindrical spikelets,
and coarsely-fringed ribs of the inner palea distinguish it from
Triticum ; the sessile spikelets and terminal awn or point of the outer
palea from Bromus, and the first of these latter characters from Festuca,
the equivocal F. loliacea excepted, with which, however, it is not at all
liable to be confounded.

The species are collectively destitute of agricultural value, being
disliked by sheep and cattle, and, indeed, rarely eaten by any herbi-
yorous animals.

The name is not well chosen, being compounded from the Greek
brachys, short, and pous, a foot, in allusion to the short stalks of the
spikelets; the latter being so nearly sessile as to render the presence
of pedicels often very doubtful.

Bracuypoprum sytvaticum. Slender False Brome Grass. Puats
CXXXTIT.

Inflorescence slightly drooping. Spikelets solitary, alternate, some-
what secund, nearly cylindrical. Awns of the upper flowers longer
than their palew. Leaves flat, linear-lanceolate, flaccid. Root fibrous,

tufted.

Brachypodium sylvaticum, Beauvois. HE. B. ed. 2. 182. Most

7 rele hotaniate: Festuca sylvatica, Hudson. Withering. Smith..
Bromus sylvaticus, Pollich. E. B. 729. Triticum sylvaticum,
Mench. Parnell.

166

Not unfrequent in rather moist woods and damp shady places under
hedges, throughout the kingdom. . Stems one or two feet high, seldom
more than two or three from the same root, often solitary, erect, slender.
Leaves flaccid, more or less hairy above, flat, rather broad, so as to be
linear-lanceolate. Ligule obtuse. Inflorescence rather nodding than
drooping ; the rachis smooth, zig-zag, but not toothed nor indented.
Spikelets alternate, distantly inserted, an inch or more in length, ac-
cording to the flowers varying in number from eight to fifteen or sixteen,
rather inclining to one side, cylindrical at first, but eventually becoming
more or less compressed. Glumes acutely lanceolate, seven-veined,
more or less hairy. Outer palea, linear-lanceolate, usually hairy,
seven-veined, with a long straight rough awn extending from the
summit; inner palea rather shorter than the outer, very obtuse, with
two green nearly marginal veins strongly fringed or ciliated above the
middle.

Perennial. Flowers in July.

BracuypopIuM PINNATUM. Heath False Brome Grass. Piate
CXXXIV.

Inflorescence erect. Spikelets solitary, alternate, distichous, nearly
cylindrical. Awns of the upper flowers shorter than their pales.
Leaves flat, linear-lanceolate, rigid. Root creeping.

Brachypodium pinnatum, Beawvors, EH. B. ed. 2.183. Most modern
botanists. Festuca pinnate, Hudson. Withering. Smith. Bromus
pinnatus, Linneus. H. B. 730. Triticum pinnatum, Moench.
Parnell.

Occassionally met with throughout England, and not uncommon on
open fields and heaths, especially over chalk and limestone. The root
is somewhat creeping, but scarcely to be regarded as even approaching
to stoloniferous. Stems more or less decumbent at the base, rather
slender, erect, and rigid. Leaves linear-acuminate, more or less hairy,
rigid. Ligule short, obtuse. Inflorescence erect, rigid; the rachis
‘ rough. Spikelets long, linear, cylindrical, usually erect or less

divergent than those of B. sylvaticum, ten- to fifteen- or twenty-flowered.
Glumes smooth, seven-veined, the middle vein occasionally prolonged
into a short awn. Outer palea rough, seven-veined, the middle vein
extending as a terminal rough awn seldom more than half the length of
the palea, and often very short; inner palea very obtuse, with a green
intromarginal vein on each side, fringed or ciliated with white bristles
above the middle.
Perennial. Flowers in June and July.
The distinguishing features of this and the preceding are far from
being decided, though botanists generally seem inclined to regard them
as separate species. Cultivated in the same soil, and equally exposed,
they appear to closely approximate each other in the course of a few

167

years, nor can the differences above detailed be considered in any other
light than as results of diversified natural habitat. The varieties of the

so-called B. pinnatum described by some authors are certainly not
permanent.

Genus 44. LOLIUM. Darnel Grass.

Gey. Cuan. Inflorescence interruptedly spicate. Spikelets solitary,
three- or more-flowered, arranged edgewise alternately on opposite
sides of the rachis, quite sessile. Glumes solitary, or if two the
one next the channeled face of the rachis small, or rudimentary.

A small genus distributed over the more temperate regions of the
northern hemisphere. Some of the species are valuable as pasture
grasses, but one, Lolium temulentwm, presents a marked exception to
the generally wholesome qualities of this valuable tribe of plants.

The name is of very doubtful origin, but was applied by the Romans
to the species above mentioned; the injurious properties of which seem
to have been known to the inhabitants of Europe and Asia from time
immemorial.

Loum perenne. Perennial Darnel. Ray Grass. Prare CXXXV.

Spikelets six- to twelve-flowered, much longer than the solitary
external glume. Lower palea usually awnless. Root producing leafy
barren shoots.

Lolium perenne, Linneus. E. B. 315; ed. 2. 184. Generally
adopted.

One of the most common and abundant of British grasses, growing
almost everywhere, and without limitation to soil, throughout the king-
dom, not only in meadows and pastures, but on waste places and road-
sides, varying much in size and general appearance according to
circumstances. As a meadow-grass, the flowering-stems, more or less
decumbent at the base, attain the height of one or two feet; but in hard
ground, especially where liable to frequent treading, reach only a few
inches. Leaves dark-green, rather broad, those of the stem approach-
ing to lanceolate, flat, rough on the upper face, smooth below. Spike
usually flattened, but occasionally almost cylindrical ; differing in the
breadth and divarication of the spikelets, sometimes branched, six
inches to a foot in length. Spikelets sessile, in starved specimens three-
or four-flowered ; in luxuriant ones, ten- or twelve- to sixteen- or even
twenty-flowered. Glume oblong-lanceolate, rigid, awnless, strongly
five-ribbed, smooth, shorter than the spikelets; where the latter are

168

divaricated or spreading outward from the main rachis, a second small
inner one is sometimes, indeed not unfrequently, present. Paleze two,
equal, usually awnless; the outer one smooth, five-veined, membrana-
ceous; the inner one linear, with two green marginal fringed veins.

Usually considered to be perennial, but doubtfully so. Flowers
from June to September.

The varieties, natural and cultivated, seem all but unlimited; amon
the former may rank Lolium limicola, Sonder. E. B. Supp. 2955.
L. multiflorum of the British Flora, and DL. tenwe ; among the latter,
L. Italicwm, Braun, the Italian Ray Grass, or rye grass of agricul-
turists. The last is strikingly distinguished from the other forms of
LL. perenne by the long slender awns of the flowers; but does not appear
to have any claim to be considered as a species, though its origin is
unknown.

No species of grass has ever attracted so much interest amongst our
agriculturists as that now before us, and, especially in the more recent
times, when it has become one of the most important agents of the
“convertible system of husbandry.” Its fame, however, is of long
standing. The earliest mention of its cultivation in England is by
Dr. Plot, the learned author of ‘The Natural History of Oxfordshire,’
published in 1677, and that of ‘ Staffordshire’ at a later period. In
the former work he observes: ‘They have lately sown ray grass,
gramen loliacewm, to improve cold, sour, clayey, weeping ground, unfit
for saint-foin.”” It was first sown in the Chiltern district of the county
in question, and afterwards at Islip, by a person of the name of Eustace.

Being the first pasture grass, apparently, artificially grown or culti-
vated by Europeans, its value for the purpose was probably previously
enhanced beyond its due estimation, whence doubts are frequently
entertained by practical farmers respecting the high encomiums that
are lavished upon it by some agricultural writers. I believe that a
careful investigation of the subject would tend to invalidate much of
the abuse occasionally bestowed upon this grass, and to remove the
doubt as to its relative value in farming; both of which are due to its
mistaken application; and are, farther, the result of absence of method
in adapting practice to circumstance. So much is expected of and
required from it, that it does not always answer the demand. To
determine whether we are justified in this assumption, let us examine
a little into the character and capabilities of the species, and summon
to our aid a few witnesses to both, selecting the latter from different
periods in the history of its cultivation. In the first place let it be well
understood that there is not any grass more liable to variation in dura-
bility, produce, or nutritious properties than this; which is, in some soils
and situations, perennial, in others biennial, or even annual—here it is
redundant in the development of herbage, there thin and deficient.
In one form it is succulent and foodful, in another wiry, harsh, and
meagre.

Stillingfleet, writing about a century ago, informs his readers that
“this grass is well known and cultivated throughout all England; and
it is to be hoped the success we have had with it will in time encourage
our farmers to take the same pains about some others that are no less

169

valuable, and are full as easy to be separated. It makes a most excel-
lent turf on sound rich land, where it will remain,”—but on the follow-
ing page he adds: “many are tempted by the facility of procuring the
seeds of this grass to lay down grounds near their houses, where they
want to have a fine turf with it; for which purpose, unless the soil
be very rich, a worse grass cannot be sown, as it will certainly die off
in a very few years entirely.”

_ Swayne, the author of the ‘Gramina Pascua,’ as quoted by Wither-
ing, observed, “there was reason to think that the common cultivated
Ray-grass had by constant sowing degenerated from its natural qualities,
that it was inferior in many respects to the Ray-grass growing naturally
in our best meadows and pastures. Mr. Pacey, an enlightened agri-
culturist, in the upper part of this county (Staffordshire), has lately
raised a variety of Ray-grass from seed selected from old pastures, and
has now multiplied it to that extent as to sell annually a considerable
quantity at the price of 10s. 6d. per bushel. It has been proved by the
most competent judges to be infinitely superior to the cultivated Ray-
grass, and he has a demand for all he raises. What,” he adds, “ can
be the cause of the degeneracy of the cultivated sort?”

The foregoing remarks, from writers of the past century, are sufficient
to show that similar disappointments to those now in store for the care-
less cultivators of this grass prevailed among the experimental farmers
of that period, and induced the more scientific to enquire into their
causes and endeavour to remedy them. The introduction of the Pacey
grass, as it is still called, was a grand move in the earlier career of
agricultural improvement; and the sale of the seed in large quantities
at the recorded price probably well remunerated its spirited producer. '
A strong proof of its value is, that among the numerous other varieties
to which the attention of the farmer has since been directed, Pacey’s
grass still maintains a high position. The varieties in question, in-
cluding those of natural growth, are not much under seventy.

The liability to degenerate, at first mysterious, or incapable of being
accounted for, is now no longer so; systematic enquiry and observation
have solved the question. No grass so rapidly impoverishes the soil,
or rather takes from it that which is necessary to its own support to an
extent equally prejudicial to its future growth ; and when the nutriment
in question is exhausted, it dwindles and dies off. Why one variety
should endure only a single year, while another flourishes five or six,
cannot be positively determined; though enquiry would probably
explain the phenomenon as dependent upon certain constitutional differ-
ences, which, at first induced by peculiar circumstances, are retained
from generation to generation, like the varied habits, forms of disease,
and other idiosyneracies appertaining to families and races in the
animal kingdom. : : be

Analyses are wanting to show the relative proportions of nutritive
proximate elements, as starch, sugar, mucilage, &c., in the different
varieties of Lolium perenne ; but it is certain that those proportions are
greater in the semi-annual, or short-lived and quickly-assimilating
kinds, than in those of slower growth and longer duration. In adopt-
ing any general comparisons between the productive and nutritive

T

170

capabilities of the Ray-grass and other agricultural species, this fact
must not be lost sight of any more than the character of the soil in
which the samples have been grown. Such estimates, indeed, how-
ever worthy of credit may be the authority under which they are put
forth, should always be received with caution; not so much as being
liable to error in the experiments on which they are founded, as from
the conditions of those experiments being different to the circum-
stances under which we are depending for corresponding results.
Admitting the possibility of the latter to a limited extent, it may be
stated that, as a permanent pasture grass, Lolium perenne is of a much
lower rank than several other very common species; and, that esti-
mating the value of Dactylis glomerata, the Rough Cock’s-foot, at
eighteen ; that of Festuca pratensis, the Meadow Fescue, at seventeen ;
and that of Alopecarus pratensis, the Meadow Fox-tail, at twelve, the
common Ray-grass would stand only in the relative proportion of
five. Dr. Parnell, quoting these comparisons, observes :—‘‘ The Rye-
grass is but a short-lived plant, seldom remaining more than six years
in possession of the soil; but is continued by its property of ripening an
abundance of seed, which is but little molested by birds, and suffered
to fall and vegetate among the root-leaves of the permanent pasture-
grasses.”

It is exclusively in the successional system of cultivation, and in a
few isolated instances apart from it, and dependent upon peculiarity of
soil and situation, that the importance of the grass before us is chiefly
manifested. It readily vegetates, from seed easily collected, on almost
every kind of soil, quickly arrives at maturity, and produces a plen-
tiful supply of early herbage, before the young plants come into flower.
In the spring it is, therefore, highly valuable, being greatly relished by
cattle, by which, however, the rigid flower-stems are always left un-
touched ; and, unless these latter are removed by timely mowing, the
after-crop is nearly worthless, the foliage dying away as the seed
approaches maturity.

A variety of Ray-grass, introduced from the Continent, came into
use among our farmers generally about five-and-twenty years past,
and appears to be one of the most valuable of its kind. Although long
cultivated in southern Germany, the south of France, and Switzerland,
it originated on the plains of Lombardy, and hence has received the
name of Italian Ray-grass, or Loliwm Italicum. It differs from the
more common varieties in having the spikelets very conspicuously
bearded, the flowers being all terminated by long slender awns, a
feature so striking as to have induced some botanists to regard it as a
distinct species. The great value of this grass consists in its being of
more rapid growth from seed than any of the other kinds, and in the
quantity of fine close herbage it produces under favourable circum-
stances ; but a, moist, rich soil, and means of copious irrigation, are
requisite to elicit these properties to the full extent. The peculiar
situation and condition of its birth-place in Northern Italy, broad,
level, pasture lands, open to periodical inundation from the mountain-
fed streams and rivers by which they are intersected, have conferred
upon it this character; and, though a corresponding one is maintained

Bail

in our colder climate under an imitative treatment, or similar flood-
ing of the land, in poor, dry soils, it either failg altogether, or resumes
an aspect approaching the wild uncultured state from which it has
originally become modified.

Under the “convertible system of husbandry,” or that of alternate
cropping, the Italian Ray-grass is often sown with clover, especially
with the beautiful and highly productive species of southern Europe,
Trifolium incarnatum, or with other kinds of grasses; either to, be
consumed as pasture, or for cutting and carrying off the ground as
green food, or otherwise to remain for mowing as hay; in all cases,
with a view of improving the land for corn crops. In most instances it
has been found to add greatly at first to the quantity of herbage, but
the effect soon diminishes. The water-meadow seems to afford the
widest scope for its capabilities, as being the nearest approach to its
natural habitat, and most accordant with the circumstances under
which it originated. So active is its vegetative power, when stimu-
lated by abundant moisture and the other consequences resulting from
river inundation, that, in Switzerland, hay is said to have been made
in July on a newly-made water-meadow sown with Italian Ray-grass
in the March previous. But its value is only temporary, as when this
highly-productive grass ‘“‘is sown by itself, and allowed to go to seed, it
becomes thin after the first year, from many of the plants dying off; it
may, therefore, be prudent to mix other kinds of grasses with it, which
will supply its place when it is worn out. It is a most excellent
practice to sow Italian Ray-grass on old meadows and pastures at the
time when they are recruited with compost or fresh earth. If they are
well harrowed and scarified, and the Ray-grass be sown before the
roller goes over them, the succeeding crop of hay will be much in-
creased in quantity and improved in quality.” The effect in the first
year after sowing is exceedingly striking to a person observing it for
the first time: the only question to be considered is the additional
expense and the accompanying possibility of the return not being
equivalent, which in some situations would be the case, especially
where the soil is naturally dry, and capability for irrigation is not
at hand. :

Those who would depreciate the value of Ray-grass, and decry its
use in farming on the existing system, quarrel especially with the
absence in it of a strictly perennial character. But, considered in its
proper place, or merely as an artificial grass adapted only to peculiar
circumstances, its worth cannot be reasonably disputed. — Other species
of grass may be more extensively applicable ; but this is one, that, of
small account in its original state, culture has modified—has, indeed, it
may be said, forced into unnatural productiveness. Ought we to be
surprised, that a plant so conditioned should fail, when the stimulus
that first wrought the change is exhausted or withheld? The cause of
the failure of which some practical agriculturists complain is, that they
have required and expected nature to maintain that which nature does
not acknowledge, a property that we have znduced, but which she has
not bestowed.

As an uncultured pasture grass, the Lolium perenne holds, perhaps,

172

a very subordinate rank; but admitting this to be the case is not deny-
ing its utility in other respects. \

lt is a circumstance worthy of remark, as associated with the natural
history of this grass, that, although producing abundance of seed, the
latter should rarely, from my own observation: I should say never, be
consumed by granivorous birds. Is it not indicative of the presence of
some deleterious property prevailing in them, approaching that which
distinguishes those of the following species? The fact that cattle
generally, if not always, leave the mature flowering stems untouched on
the pasture, though they greedily crop the young foliage, seems no less
significant.

Lotium temutentum. Annual Darnel. Bearded Darnel. True Ray-
grass. Pirate OXXXVI.

‘Spikelets five- or six-flowered, shorter than the solitary external
glume. Lower palea awned. Root fibrous.

Lolium temulentum, Linneus. HE. B.1124; ed. 2.185. Generally
adopted.

Common in corn-fields, especially throughout England, and chiefly
among wheat and barley, with the seeds of which it has been introduced
from the Continent. Stems erect, about two or three feet in height,
but varying according to that of the corn among which they grow;
usually many from the same root, never sending out from the base
leafy barren shoots like those of the preceding species. Leaves flat,
acute, rough on both sides, especially toward the upper extremity.
Ligule short, obtuse. Spike six inches to a span or more in length.
Spikelets sessile, seldom more than five- or six-flowered, rarely exceed-
ing the external glume in length. Glume linear or oblong, strongly
three-ribbed with intermediate veins, generally a little longer than the
spikelet, on the inner face of which the rudiment of a second is, in
most instances, observable, and sometimes so much developed as to
partially interfere with the generic character. Pales two; the outer
one seven-veined, with a rough awn extending from below its bifid
extremity ; inner one linear, with two green marginal fringed veins.
Awn very variable in length, but in general about half that of the
,palea ; sometimes much longer, and rarely absent altogether.

Annual. Flowers in July and August.

Lotiom arvense. White Darnel. Prats CXXXVIL.

“Spikelets awnless, rather shorter than the calyx (glume). Calyx
two-valved. Straw smooth.”

Lolium arvense, Withering. E. B.1125. L. temulentum 8, Modern
botanists.

173

A mere variety of L. temulentum, growing in similar situations, and
only distinguished from it by the smoother habit, conspicuous presence
of the inner short glume, and absence or short hair-like character of
the awn ; from the pale or hoary hue of which latter, when present,
Dr. Withering seems to have adopted the above English name.

Lolium temulentum is widely spread, as a weed of cultivation,
throughout Europe and central Asia, having apparently followed
everywhere the introduction of those grains among which it still all
but exclusively vegetates. The Latin specific name denotes the
peculiar intoxicating property of the seeds, cither taken as food, or
employed in the preparation of fermented liquors, a circumstance
probably well known to all the agricultural peoples of the northern
hemisphere, from the earliest periods of their history. Evidence of:
such knowledge may be gathered from the use of it being prohibited by
the laws of China; while numerous instances occur in the writings of
the earlier European authors which indicate familiar acquaintance with
the properties in question. The ultimate effects are, on the broad
scale, not very dissimilar to those produced by diseased or ergotized
grain; but they commence with head-ache, dizziness, imperfect vision,
and other symptoms of intoxication—hence the old proverb, “he feeds
on Darnel,” applied to an imprudent or short-sighted person, and
alluded to by Plautus in one of his comic dramas written about two |
centuries before the Christian era. It is generally considered by com-
mentators that the word zzania, occurring in the parable in the 13th
chapter of St. Matthew, translated from the Greek version as tares
sown by an enemy among wheat, refers to Darnel. The word is not
Greek, but a Greek-rendering of the Syriac z’zana, whence the present

.Arabic and Turkish name of this noxious and troublesome weed, zuwan.

The manner in which it is still separated from the wheat in some parts
of Syria, drawing up both together by the hand, and afterwards col-
lecting the Darnel stems in bundles apart from the corn, is perfectly
consistent with the close of the parable in verse 30.

Many cases are recorded, in medical works, of poisoning by Darnel.
The seeds, ground and made into bread, with a small proportion of
wheat or other flour, and eaten in this manner repeatedly, produce
vomiting, purging, attended by giddiness, pain and swelling of the
limbs, and eventually gangrene and death. A small farmer near
Poictiers, in France, died in consequence of persevering in the use of
bread so circumstanced, while his wife and servant, who discontinued
to eat it after the earlier symptoms, recovered. In some instances
people have lost their limbs by subsisting on meal in which any con-
siderable quantity of Darnel grain was commingled. About thirty or
forty years back, according to Christison, ‘‘ almost the whole of the
inmates of the Sheffield workhouse were attacked with symptoms supposed
to be produced by their oatmeal having been accidentally adulterated
with Lolium.” Linnzeus states that the seeds, mixed with bread-corn,
produce but little effect, unless the bread be eaten hot; but, if malted
with barley, the ale soon occasions intoxication. This latter effect is
said to have occasioned its not-unfrequent use by fraudulent brewers
and publicans in England, and, although no evidence is advanced in

174

support of such statement, it is far from improbable that experiments of
the kind have been made. Professor Burnet, in his “Outlines of Botany,”
published in 1835, informs us, that “a few years ago two acres of ground
in Battersea Fields were sown with this grain,’—adding, “to what
good purpose it could have been applied is unknown, for, although
Darnel meal was once recommended as a sedative cataplasm, it has
long becn disused.” The crop to which he refers was visited by
myself, and specimens selected from it are still in my possession, as
well as from two other fields in Surrey, the property at the time being
in the possession of one of the partners in a well-known London firm.
This was more than twenty years past, and I have not since met with
the plant in any other position than that of an agricultural weed.

Our English name of Ray-grass is a corruption, or rather con-
traction of the French zvruze, from tyre, drunk, bestowed on the species
in allusion to its intoxicating effects. The seeds of Loliwm perenne,
being supposed harmless in this respect, the latter is often denominated
Jausse ivruie ; their actually wholesome character seems, however, as
remarked under our notice of the species, very doubtful, although
growing in situations where it does not interfere with human health,
the presence of any corresponding quality has hitherto escaped ob-
servation.

Most English writers, botanical as well as agricultural, apply the
name of Rye-grasses to the species of this genus, an orthography
liable to mislead, as there is no foundation for such title beyond the
belief of the peasantry in some rye-growing countries, that rye is apt to
degenerate into Darnel; a supposition equally prevalent in regard to
wheat and barley, among the ignorant in lands where the Lolium
temulentwm is more common than it is with us. :

The only well-authenticated instance of actually poisonous character
in grasses is that of the one before us; though certain species of
Bromus, Festuca, and other genera, are said to be unwholesome, and
some tropical grasses have the repute of proving fatal to cattle that
feed upon them.

Genus 45. LEPTURUS. Hard Grass.

Gen. Cuar. Inflorescence spicate. Spike solitary, slender, cylindrical,
zigzag, joited, eventually separating at the joints. Spikelets
solitary in each joint, alternately imbedded on opposite sides of
the rachis, one- or two-flowered. Glumes one or two, cartilaginous,
ribbed, collateral, on the opposite side from the rachis, covering
the flowers. Paleze of the fertile flower, two, scarious, awnless.

One of the glumes, anomalous in position as regards the spikelet,
both being placed outwardly, may be considered as the representative
of a second spikelet, the flower or flowers of which are undeveloped.

The genus is a small one, not very well defined, and presents only a

175

siugle British species. The name, from the Greek, leptos, slender, and
oura, a tail, alludes to the extreme slenderness of the spike, which is
not thicker than the stem it terminates. By some botanists the species
are confounded with those of Ophiurus, snakes’-tail, or of Rottbellia.
Though few, they have a wide distribution.

Leprurvs wcurvatus. Sea Hard Grass. Puare OXXXVIII.
Spike cylindrical, subulate. Glumes two.

Lepturus incurvatus, Trinius. Hooker and Arnott. Babington.
Bentham. Rottbeellia incurvata, Linneus. E. B, 760; ed. 2,
186. Parnell. Ophiurus incurvatus, Beawvois. Lindley.
Loudon. Agilops incurvatus, Linneus. Sp. plant.

A very frequent grass in salt marshes on the coasts of England and
Treland, but comparatively rare on those of Scotland. Stems decumbent
and much branched from the base, curving upwards toward the time of
flowering, smooth, bent at each joint, varying in length from two or
three inches to nearly a foot according to the character of the soil.
Leaves narrow, acute, more or less involute. Inflorescence continuous
with the stem, and scarcely distinguishable from it except when the
flowers open, cylindrical, spike-like, more or less curved or straight,
two to four inches long. Spikelets alternately disposed on the rachis,
in the depressions or cavities of which they are imbedded, being
covered externally by the closely appressed glumes; of the two flowers,
one is almost universally barren, and little more than rudimentary.
Glumes flat, linear-lanceolate, acute, four-ribbed, or veined, very rigid.
Palez thin, membranaceous, linear, neither veined nor awned. When
the seed is ripe, in place of the grain being shed, the rachis disarticu-
lates at the joints, and thus fulfils its dispersion.

Annual. Flowers in July and August.

A very slender variety, in which the stems are erect, and the spike
not at all curved, is met with in sandy soils, but far less commonly
than the normal form. It is the Lepturus filiformis of Trinius,
Rottbellia filiformis of Roth, and was once regarded as a distinct
species.

Only valuable as a colonizer.

Genus 46. KNAPPIA. Knappia.

Gey. Cuar., Inflorescence sub-spicate, unilateral. Spikelets shortly-
stalked, arranged in two series, but pointing to one side ; single-
flowered. Glumes two, equal, opposite, truncate, smooth, mem-
branaceous, single-veined. Outer palea hairy, obtuse, torn at the
apex, membranaceous ; inner narrower, generally absent, or very

small.

176

A single species, common to the sandy pastures of southern and
western Europe, especially toward the Atlantic and Mediterranean
coasts, constitutes this genus. Named by Sir J. E. Smith after
Mr. M. Knapp, an English botanist and author of a work on grasses.
It is variously entitled by British and foreign writers.

Kwappia agrostipea. Dwarf Knappia. Puare CXXXIX.

Knappia agrostidea, Smith. E. B. 1127; ed. 2.187. Hooker and
Arnott. Babington. Parnell. Chamagrostis minima, Borkhausen.
Lindley. Bentham. Mibora verna, Beawvois. Sturmia minima,
Hoppe. Agrostis minima, Linneeus.

One of the smallest of the grass family, being seldom more than
about two inches in height. As a British species it may be regarded
as a rarity, being chiefly confined to the south-west shores of Anglesea,
and those of the Channel Islands. It grows in a tufted form, sending
up several smooth, slender, thread-like stems from the same root.
Leaves short, linear, rather obtuse, rough; their sheaths about equal
to them in length, thin, whitish, inflated. Ligule obtuse, crenate,
stem-clasping. Inflorescence from a quarter of an inch to nearly an
inch in length. Spikelets in two rows on opposite sides of the rachis,
but inclining to one side, shortly pedicellate, sufficiently so to render
the inflorescence rather racemose than spicate, one-flowered ; from four
or five to ten on each apparent spike. Glumes two, equal, smooth,
dorsally compressed, truncate, green down the back, but having the
sides more or less tinged with purple, longer than the included flower.
Palea mostly solitary, but sometimes including at its base the opposite
rudiment of a second, hairy, obtuse, and jagged at the apex, whitish,
very thin and delicate.

Annual. Flowers in March and April, ripening its seed, and dying
off about the end of May, or the first week in June. Like many
other short-lived annual plants that flower early in the spring, a second
crop may occasionally be met with in the autumn.

Genus 47, SPARTINA. Cord Grass.

Gen. Cusr. Inflorescence a more or less compound spike; partial
spikes erect. Spikelets laterally compressed, sessile, one-flowered,
arranged alternately in two rows on one side of the zigzag, partial
rachis. Glumes two, very unequal, lanceolate, compressed.
Paleze two, unequal, lanceolate-acuminate, compressed. Styles
elongated, united half-way up. Stigmas plumose.

The genus is a small one, consisting of eight or ten species, chiefly
American and western European, growing in muddy salt marshes, and
about the estuaries of rivers. They are harsh, unpalatable grasses,

177

destitute of agricultural value, and, indeed, almost beyond the pale of
cultivation. ;

The name is of doubtful origin, but is supposed to have been adopted
from the resemblance in habit between these grasses and the Lygeum
Spartum, the Bass-weed, or Cord-grass of Spain ; esparto being a
general name in that country for grasses used in manufacturing ropes,
baskets, nets, &e. The Greek sparton seems to have had some similar
general signification.

Spartina stricta. Twin-spiked Cord Grass. Prare CXL.

Partial spikes two or three, appressed, erect; their rachis angular,
smooth, scarcely extended beyond the terminal spikelet. Glumes
hairy; the inner and larger one single-veined. Outer palea hairy,
single-veined ; inner one much longer, delicately two-veined. Leaves
articulated with their sheaths; the uppermost (usually) shorter than
the spikes.

Spartina stricta, Smith. E. B. ed. 2. 190. Generally adopted.
Dactylis stricta, Linneeus. Knapp. Withering. E. B. 380.
D. cynosuroides, Hudson.

Not unfrequent in muddy salt marshes on the eastern and south-
eastern shores of England, especially near the mouths of rivers.
Whole plant remarkably rigid. Root more or less creeping. Stems
from six or eight inches to a foot and a half high ; completely invested
by the sheathing bases of the leaves, the uppermost of which extends
to immediately below the inflorescence. eaves comparatively short,
pungent, more or less involute, very rigid; often contracted at the
base, where they join the sheath, so as to form a spurious articulation
at which they readily separate. Inflorescence sometimes simply
spicate ; but more commonly consisting of two or even three spike-like
branches connected at the lower part, erect and parallel. Rachis
angular, smooth. Spikelets laterally compressed, sessile, arranged
alternately in two series on the same side of the rachis; five to ten on
each partial spike, bearing individually one perfect flower and occa-
sionally the rudiment of a second. Glumes very unéqual, the outer
one much the smaller; both hairy, and without any lateral veins.
Paleze very unequal; the outer smaller, hairy, and with only a dorsal
vein; the inner two-veined, longer than the larger glume.

Perennial. Flowers in August.

Far too rigid to be eaten by cattle ; but valuable as a colonizer and
land-former in the situations where it flourishes, contributing largely
towards fixing and rendering solid the mud-flats that accumulate about
the mouths of rivers on low coasts. A brackish condition of the mud-
water or frequent sprinkling from the sea-spray seems essential to its
vegetation, as I have experienced in my frequent attempts to naturalize
it in the botanic garden.

178

SPARTINA ALTERNIFLORA. Many-spiked Cord Grass. Pare CXLI.

Partial spikes many (four or more), erect, more or less appressed ;
their rachis angular, smooth, extended beyond the spikelets as a long
flexuose awn-like point. Outer and smaller glume glabrous; inner and
larger one five-vemed, glabrous except on the middle or keel-vein,
which is fringed with distant short bristles. Outer palea three-veined,
not hairy; inner one longer, thin, acute. Leaves continuous with
their sheaths; the uppermost equal to, or longer than, the spikes.

Spartina alterniflora, Loisel. E. B. Supp., 2812. Most modern
British botanists. 8. glabra, Muhl. 8. levigata, Link.

Found abundantly on the mud banks and flats of the Itchen and
Southampton rivers. A much larger and stronger growing grass than
Spartina stricta. Root sending out long creeping under-ground
shoots or stolones. Stems a foot and a half to two or three feet high,
covered throughout with the investing leaf-sheaths. Leaves often a
foot or more in length, and in luxuriant specimens from half to three
quarters of an inch in breadth at the lower part, where they are never
contracted nor present any appearance of articulation, like those of the
preceding species. Inflorescence a more or less compact or spike-like
panicle, consisting of from four or five to ten or twelve erect secondary
or partial spikes, the upper ones springing like the pedicels of a raceme
one above another from the main rachis; which latter, as well as the
partial ones, always extends considerably beyond the uppermost spike-
let as a terminal awn-like point. The spikelets, with their glumes and
the paleze of the solitary flower, are not very dissimilar at the first
glance from those of 8. stricta; but the glumes and palez are not
hairy, indeed perfectly smooth, with the exception of a few distant
bristles on the keel-vein of the longer glume. In addition to this
difference it will be remarked, that the inner or upper glume is five-
veined and the outer palea three-veined, instead of being both only
single-veined as they are in the latter species. The comparatively
greater length of the uppermost leaf is a feature of doubtful importance,
being liable to considerable variation.

Perennial. Flowers in August.

When recently gathered, this grass has a peculiayly foetid odour
much resembling that of phosphurated hydrogen gas. Dr. Arnold
Bromfield, who furnished the description and the specimen figured in
the English Botany Supplement, informs us that “in spite of its rank
smell, it is greedily devoured by pigs and horses, and is extensively
used both as litter for cattle and for thatching by the poorer classes
about Southampton.”

There are so many features of general resemblance between this
grass and the preceding, and those of obvious distinction are of a class
so liable to variation under difference of locality and other circum-

179

stances, that it is difficult, for one accustomed to the close investigation
of specific characters, to believe that the one before us has claim to be
considered otherwise than as a very luxuriant form of its congener.
Mr. Bentham assures us that “in North America, where it is frequent,
it passes gradually into the more common form;” and I have seen
Southampton specimens which it would be impossible to regard in any
other light than as intermediate varieties. Dr. Bromfield mentions S.
alterniflora as having been met with on the banks of the Adour near
Bayonne, on the coast of France.
The rank odour above referred to is by no means peculiar to this
American species or variety, whichever it may be, being not at all
uncommon to plants vegetating in similar localities, and, though un-
noticed by authors as a property of S. stricta, that grass will be

found, when first collected, to be almost equally unpleasing to the
nostrils.

Genus 48. CYNODON. Dog’s-tooth Grass.

Gen. Cuan. Inflorescence a digitate, umbellate, or racemose cluster
of spreading, linear spikes. Spikelets nearly sessile, equidistant
in a single row on one side of the rachis, laterally compressed,
one-flowered (occasionally with a superior rudiment of a second
flower). Glumes two, nearly equal. Paleze two, compressed ;
the lower boat-shaped, eventually hardening around, and enclosing
the caryopsis (fruit). Styles distinct.

A small, but widely distributed genus, separated from Panicum, to
which the typical species, Cynodon Dactylon, was referred by Linnzeus.
Named from the Greek cyon, a dog, and odous, a tooth, adopted by
Persoon, probably as characteristic of the arrangement of the leaves in
the creeping, barren shoots, as seen spreading over the surface of the
soil. The rudiment of the second flower in the spikelet is usually a
mere filament, proceeding from the outer base of the external palea,
and occasionally either thickened or bearing a minute scale at its
apex. From its position this filament may be regarded as an extension
of the floral axis, and the terminal scale as the rudimentary palea of
another flower, which is therefore superior or above the perfect one.
This explanation is important in a physiological point of view, but
unnecessary to the recognition of the genus.

Cynopon pacryton. Creeping Dog’s-tooth Grass. Puare CXLIT.

Clusters of from three to six spikes. Outer palea longer than the
glumes, smooth, slightly ciliated on the keel and margins. Leaves
downy beneath; those of the creeping barren shoots flat, spreading ;
those of the culms usually folded inward.

180

Cynodon dactylon, Persoon. E. B. ed. 2, 188. Modern botanists
generally. Panicum dactylon, Linneus. EH. B. 850. Withering.
Knapp.

Rare as a British grass, being only met with on the sandy sea-shores
of the south-western counties of England; on those about Penzance, in
Cornwall, it grows most abundantly, and has been found in a few
scattered localities on the English Channel coasts of Devonshire and
Dorset, but not farther east than Studland in the latter county. A
low, creeping grass, spreading extensively at the root by sending out
long cord-like stolones that fix themselves firmly in the loose sand by
producing at every joint a cluster of strong radicle fibres. The flower-
ing stems are seldom more than four or five inches in height, springing
here and there from the prostrate barren leaf shoots, that, branching
and rooting as they extend, cover the soil with a compact network.
Leaves flat, except on the culms, where they are generally folded, but
not involute, rather short, acute, somewhat hairy. Ligule absent, or
only represented by a tuft of hairs at the top of the sheath; which
latter eventually opens, leaving the culm exposed. Spikes of the in-
florescence linear, an inch to two inches in length, usually four or five,
spreading like the stalks of an umbel, but always to one side; occa-
sionally two or three branch out from a common rachis, when the
inflorescence assumes the form of a racemose panicle. Spikelets
laterally compressed, purplish, variable in number, often ten or twelve
on each spike, equidistant, nearly sessile, unilateral, with only one
perfect flower. Glumes acute, the outer one rather smaller, bristly on
the upper part of the mid-vein or keel, shorter than the flower. Outer
palea large, smooth, but ciliated on the margins and midvein.

Perennial. Flowers from July to September.

A maritime grass, common on all the coasts of southern Europe, and
the islands and basin of the Mediterranean, where it is among the most
efficient of the class of sand-binders, covering the surface of the loose
material, with its dense and rapidly-forming network, as well as inter-
lacing it below. In England, as indicated by its very local distribu-
tion, it can only be regarded as a naturalized species, and as one not
very likely to extend its habitats much northward. It is strictly a
denizen of warm latitudes, and evidently incapable of withstanding the
effects of excessive cold and moisture; as in the neighbourhood of
London it suffered, last winter (1860-61), almost equally with Arundo
Dorax, Tripsacum dactyloides, and other semi-tropical plants of the
order. Wither the same or certain very nearly allied species is found
both in the East and West Indies; in the former Cynodon linearis,
regarded by some persons as identical with C. Dactylon, is one of the
most common and valuable of fodder grasses, known as the Durva or
Doorba grass of Hindustan; and Dr. Parnell mentions his having
received authentic specimens of that now before us from Jamaica.

181

Genus 49. DIGITARIA. Finger Grass.

Gun. Cuar. Inflorescence an umbellate or racemose cluster of
spreading, linear spikes. Spikelets unequally pedicellated, in
pairs on one side of the flattened rachis, dorsally compressed, one-
flowered, with an inferior rudiment of a second. Glumes two;
the lower or outer one usually very small, or even obsolete; the
upper one three-veined. Palew, of the upper or fertile flower,
two; eventually hardening around and inclosing the caryopsis.
Styles distinct. Barren flower almost as large as the fertile one.

Named from the Latin digitus, a finger, in allusion to the finger-like
arrangement of the spikes of inflorescence.

A genus, of annual grasses chiefly, very widely distributed in the
warmer regions of both hemispheres. The British species are only
accidental intruders as weeds of cultivation. With the exception of
D. sanguinalis, cultivated for the use of its seeds in some parts of
Germany, these grasses are not of any agricultural value.

Digitaria was originally confounded by Linneus, like Cynodon,
Setarta, &c., with his unwieldy and diversified genus Panicum, from
which it is at once distinguished by the remarkable form of the
inflorescence : in this respect it approaches Cynodon, but comparison of
the above generic characters will prevent the possibility of mistake.
It should be observed, that the rudiment of the second flower in each
spikelet is a very conspicuous object, consisting of a large flat, five-
veined palea, often equalling in size the upper glume, and very unlike
the simple clavate or spathulate hair which represents it in the fore-
going genus, Cynodon.

Dierrarta saNaurnatis. Hairy Finger Grass. Prats CXLITI.

Clustered spikes three to six or more, linear, spreading. Rachis
flattened, flexuose, the margins minutely serrulate. Spikelets oblong-
lanceolate. Lower glume minute, very acute; upper one lanceolate,
three-veined. Culm creeping and branching at the base. Leaves and
sheaths hairy.

Digitaria sanguinalis, Scopoli. E. B. ed. 2.189. Most modern Eng-
lish ee Panicum sanguinale, Linneus. #. B. 849.
Withering, Bentham. Syntherisma vulgare, Schrader.

Occasionally met with in old garden ground in a silty or sandy soil.
About forty years since, both this and the next species, D. humifusa,
grew most abundantly in the asparagus beds of the Battersea market
gardens; but I have never found it elsewhere, unless in living
botanical collections. Mr. Borrer, as quoted by the authors of the
‘British Flora,’ considers that the other native habitats given for the

182

species, belong to D. humifusa. Stems, several from the same root,
branched, decumbent, and rooting at the base, from a span to eighteen
inches or two feet high, smooth, striated. Leaves flat, rather short,
oblong-lanceolate, acute, rough, with hairs on both sides; the hairs
springing from small tubercles, very distinctly seen upon the sheaths.
Clustered spikes usually four or five, but sometimes in very luxuriant
specimens ten or more. Spikelets in pairs, supported by pedicels of
very unequal length, and more or less appressed to the same side of
the flattened rachis, two-flowered. Lowermost barren flower consisting
of a single large, oblong-lanceolate palea, five-veined, and pubescent on
the margins. Upper fertile flower, with two equal paleze, more or less
tinged with purple.

Annual. Flowers in August and September.

Very widely distributed in warm and tropical countries, in many of
which it is a common and troublesome weed in arable land; as,
though an annual and short-lived plant, the stems are at first decum-
bent, and, taking root at the lower joints, send up others of similar
habit, occasioning it to increase rapidly and occupy a large space.
According to Mr. Sinclair, “in some parts of Germany this grass is
cultivated for its seed, which, when boiled with milk or wine, is said to
form an extremely palatable food, and is generally made use of whole
in the manner of sago, to which it is im most instances preferred. It
produces much seed, of which birds are very fond, and requires to be
protected by nets or otherwise during the time of ripening. The usual
method of collecting and preparing the seeds is, that at sunrise they
are gathered or beaten into a hair-sieve from the dewy grass, spread on
a sheet and dried for a fortnight in the sun; they are then gently
beaten with a wooden pestle in a wooden trough or mortar, with straw
laid between the seeds and the pestle, till the chaff comes off; they are
then winnowed. After this they are again put into the trough in
rows, with dried marigold flowers, apple and hazel leaves, and pounded
until they appear bright; they are then winnowed again, and being
made perfectly clean by this last process, are fit for use. The marigold
leaves are added to give the seeds a fine colour. A bushel of seed with
the chaff yields only about two quarts of clean seed.”

Dierrarra, Humirusa. Smooth Finger Grass. Piare CXLIV.

Clustered spikes two to four, linear, spreading. Rachis flattened,
nearly straight, the margins minutely serrulate. Spikelets oval or
oblong. Lower glume very minute, truncate, often absent altogether ;
upper one oblong, three- or five-veined, nearly the length of the fertile
flower. Culm decumbent at the base. Leaves and sheaths glabrous.

Digitaria humifusa, Persoon. E. B. Supp., 2613. £#. B. ed. 2. text,
page 78. Most modern English botanists. Panicum glabrum,
Koch, Gaudichaud. Bentham. P.humifusum, Kunth. Digitaria
filiformis, Koel. Syntherisma glabrum, Schrader.

183

More frequently met with than the preceding, in cultivated ground,
in various parts of England, but not indigenous. It prefers a light
sandy soil. A much smaller plant than D. sanguinalis, for which it
seems to have been frequently mistaken. Stems from a few inches to
near a foot in height, decumbent and spreading, but with little tendency
to root. Leaves flat, short, rather broad, rough at the margins, but
not hairy. Clustered spikes usually three or four. Spikelets ovate,
sometimes three together, shortly pedicellate. The whole plant is
occasionally more or less tinged with purple when in flower.

Annual. Flowers in July and August.

Botanists in general seem inclined to regard this.a distinct species,
and there are differences between them, that in many other genera
among the grasses would be considered decisive of the fact. The
result of several years’ cultivation of the two in my own garden induces
me to entertain a different opinion; they pass through intermediate
forms into each other. Linnzeus, it would seem, was not acquainted
with the plant to which the specific name sanguwinalis is now given,
which is not found in Sweden, his Panicum sangwinale being our
Digitaria humifusa : this fact will account for the title that appears so
much at variance with the aspect of the former, and which has led some
authors to gravely quote a very ludicrous interpretation of the same to
reconcile the inconsistency. The deep purple hue, often assumed by
the grass before us, resembling blood stain, might well lead to the
name in question, but could have no relation to its congener ; concern-
ing which we are told that, “ D. sanguenalis has its specific name, not
from the colour as might be supposed, but from an idle trick which the
boys, in some parts of Germany, have of pricking one another’s nostrils
with its spikelets until they bleed !”

\

ERRATA.

Apart from a few minor typographical errors in orthography and punc-
tuation, not interfering with the general sense of the passages in which they
occur, the reader is requested to attend to the following :-—

Page 11, line 3 from bottom. Fig.c. plate X. only represents the pistil.

20, line 18.
25, line 11.
72, line 7.

73,
110, line 33.
111, last line.
122, line 27.
128, line 24.
140, last line.
149, line 13.
151, line 10.
160, line 25.
162, line 9.
162, line 19.

For than most, read than in most.

For flower, read flour.

The little leafy bulb referred to on plate LVIII. was
omitted in the engraving.

For Mr. read Dr. Parnell.

For state, read states.

Take out commas after inflorescence and dissimilar.

For B. mollis, B. velutinus, read B. mollis, 8. velutinus.

Take out comma after cereal.

For oppressed, read appressed.

Take out commas after maritime and meadow.

For jistula, read jistular.

For mildewed, read mildew.

For Rushey, read Rushy.

For faces, read surface.

ALPHABETICAL

LATIN INDEX OF GENERA AND SPECIES.

Synonyms and Names incidentally mentioned are printed in Italics.

Achnodon arenarius .
Aigilops ‘4
incurvatus .
Agropyrum . ;
caninum
cristatum
repens
Agrostez
Agrostis
alba
canina
interrupta
littoralis
minima
pulustris
‘panicea
pumila
setacea
Spica-venti .
stolonifera
vulgaris.
Aira
alpina
aquatica
brevifolia .
cerulea
caespitosa .
canescens.
caryophyllea .
cristata .
flexuosa
levigata
longiarista
montana,
Aira precox -
Airochloa *
Airopsis
Alopecurus ‘
agrestis .
alpinus
‘bulbosus .

PAGE
. 21 | Alopecurus fulvus «
. 157 geniculatus
. 175 geniculatus .
. 161 geniculatus bulbosus

. 164 Monspeliensis
161 pratensis .

. 163 ventricosus .

xxiii | Ammophila
32 arenaria
35 arundinacea
32 | Anemagrostis interrupta
39 Spica-venti .

. 28 a emnnn ;

176 odoratum A
35 | Apera . e+
27 interrupta
35 Spica-venti .
33 Shien tieeant :
38 avenaceum
35 bulbosum .«
34 | Arundinez :

41 | Arundo arenaria

44 Calamagrostis .
40 colorata

43 Epigejos

48 lapponica
42 Phragmites
47 stricta .

45 | Asprella ees
58 | Avena :
44 | Avena . ‘ ee
44] Avena. z .
42 alpina

45 Chinensis

46 elatior

58 fatua

45 flavescens

5 latifolia .

7 nuda .

7 nuda .

8 orientalis

Avena orientalis
planiculmis
planiculmis
pratensis
pratensis var. .
pubescens .
sativa
sterilis
strigosa .

Avene

Brachypodium .

pinnotum

sylvaticum
Briza .
maxima
media .
minor
Bromus .
arvensis var.
arvensis
asper
commutatus .
cristatus
diandrus
erectus
giganteus
Bromus nadritensis
maximus
mollis
multiflorus
muralis
patulus
pinnatus .
polymorphus .
pratensis
racemosus
racemosus
rigidus
secalinus .
squarrosus
sterilis
sylvaticus
tectorum
triflorus
velutinus .
Bucetum .
elatior
giganteum
loliaceum .
pratense

Calamagrostis
arenaria
Epigejos

lanceolata .

Calamagrostis variegata
stricta
Catabrosa :
aquatica .
Catapodium loliaceum
Chamagrostis minima
Chilochloa arenaria
aspera.
Boehmert
Chlorez
Corynephorus
canescens
Cynodon .
Dactylon .
linearis .
Cynosurus ‘
ceruleus
cristatus .
echinatus

Dactylis . 3
cynosuraides
glomerata .
stricta

Deschampsia ccespitosa ;

Deyeuxia neglecta .
Digitaria :
JSiliformis
humifusa
sanguinalis
Digraphis arundinacea

Echinochloa Crus-galli .

Ehrartia clandestina. .
Elymus
arenarius .
Europeus
Europeus
geniculatus .

Festuca i
angustifolia .
arundinacea
bromoides
cesia
Calamaria
decidua
decumbens
distans
dumetorum .
duriuscula
elatior .
Sluitans
gigantea
hybrida
loliacea

Festuca myurus
ovina .
pinnata
pratensis .
rigida
tubra .
sabulicola .
sciuroides
sylvatica .
sylvatica
tenuifolia .
triflora
uniglumis
vivipara

Festucese

Gastridium z
australe
lendigerum

Glyceria 4

aquatica,

Borreri .

conferta

distans
fluitans
maritima
plicata
procumbens
rigida

Hitsiodlion 2
borealis

Holcus .

avenaceus
borealis
Sragrans
lanatus
mollis
odoratus
odoratus
repens

Homolocenchrus onysoides .

Hordes

Hordeum . 5
arenarium
distichum .

gymnodistichum
gymnodistichum .
gymnohexastichum .

hexastichum
maritimum
murinum
murinum
nodosum
pratense
sylvaticum

vulgare

Hordeum Zeocriton
Zeocriton
Hydrochloa aquatica .

Koeleria cristata .
Knappia . ;
agrostidea

Lagurus . :
ovatus
Leersia -
lenticularis
oryzoides
Lepturus . :
JSiliformis
incurvatus .
Lolium .
arvense .
italicum
Ltalicum
linicola
multifiorum .
perenne
temulentum .
temulentum B
tenue ‘
Lygeum Spartum .

Melica ‘
cerulea,
nutans
uniflora

Mibora verna

Milium .
effusum .
lendigerum

Molinia
alpina
altissima

cerulea
depauperata .
Mygalurus bromoides
candatus .
unighumis

Nardus
stricta

Ophiurus incurvatus .

Oplismenus Crus-galli . ;

Oryza
Oryzee .

Paniceee
Panicum ,
arborescens .

Panicum Crus-galli
Crus-corvi. .
Dactyton
Srumentaceum
glabrum .
glaucum
humifusum
miliaceum .
miliare
sanguinale .
verticillatum

Phalaree

Phalaris
alpina
arenaria
arundinacea
canariensis .
oryzoides
paradoxa
phleoides .

Phleum . : :

alpinum .

arenarium .

asperum .

Boehmeri

commutatum .

crinitum
Michellii.
nodosum
paniculatum
pratense
Phragmites communis
Poa . : ‘
Poa Abyssinica
Poa . 3 d
Abyssinica
airoides
alpina
alpina
annua
aquatica
Balfourii
Borreri
bulbosa .
cerulea
cesia
cesta
compressa,
decumbens .
distans .
flexuosa
fluitans
glauca
glauca
laxa .

Poa loliacea .
maritima .
minor
montana
nemoralis
nemoralis .
nemoralis
Parnellit
polynoda
pratensis
procumbens
rigida
rupestris
subcerulea
subcompressa .
sylvatica
trivialis .

Polypogon ; :

littoralis

Monspeliensis .

Psamma arenaria .

Rottbeelliae 3 :
Rottbellia filiformis
incurvata .

Saccharum officinale
Schedonorus :
elatior
pratensis
sylvaticus
Sclerochloa -
Borreri
distans
loliacea
maritima
procumbens
rigida .
Secale :
cereale
cornutum
orientale
Serrafalcus
arvensis .
commutatus .
mollis
patulus
TACEMOSUS
secalinus
secalinus
squarrosus .
Sesleria
cerulea
Setaria : -
Germanica .
glauca

Setaria Ttalica
verticillata ,
viridis .

Sorghum .

Sorghum vulgare .

Spartina . a

alternifolia

glabra
levigaia .
stricta

Spermoédia clavus .

Sphacelia segetum ,

Stipa ‘ :

pennata .
tenacissima .

Stipes 5

Sturmia minima

Syntherisma glabrum

vulgare

Trichodium caninum
selaceum
Triodia

decumbens
Trisetum . :
pratense .
pratense

Trisetum pubescens
Triticum . F
aestivum .

. caninum
compositum
compositum
cristatum, sy
dicoccum
hybernum
junceum
laxum
littorale
loliaceum
monococcum
pinnatum
polonicum .
repens
sativum

spelta . fs ;

sylvaticum .
turgidum

Vulpia bromoides .
uniglumis .

Zizania aquatica

ALPHABETICAL INDEX

PAGE

135

” | 156

156
157

"| 158

161

161

156
. 162
162

| 162

88

* 161

166
. 160
163

"| 156

160

* | 165

158

. 101
102

» xiii

To the English Names of the Grasses, and to such of their Products and Asso-
ciations as are mentioned in the Text.

Barley. ‘

Barley, Battledore
Black
Chevalier .
Cultivated .
Mouse
Patent .
Pearl
Pot
Putney
Rice ‘
Sea-side .
Six-rowed
Sprat
Spring .
Summer
Two-rowed
Winter

Barley Grass :
Meadow
Wall = «.
Wood

Bass-weed ‘

Bear . .

Beard Grass. :
Annual
Perennial

Beer . .

Bent Grass : ‘
Bristle-leaved
Brown
Creepin
Fine e
Marsh

Bere :

Bigg

Black Bent

Bouza . ‘

Bristle Grass
Glaucous .
Green .
Rough

Brome Grass
Barren
Corn . F
Downy Rye
False
Great F
Hairy Wood.
Heath
Rye.
Slender
Smooth Rye .
Smooth
Soft
Spreading .
Taper Field .
Tumid Field
Upright z ‘
Upright Annual

.

Canary Grass . a * -
Bristle-spiked .
Cultivated .
Reed
Cat’s-tail Grass f
Alpine .
Common .
Meadow.
Michelian . :
Purple-stalked
Rough
Sea
Cheena .
Club Grass
Grey :
Cock's-foot Grass . ss 7
Clustered
Rough
Cord Grass - : ‘:
Many-spiked
Spanish . ‘
Twin-spiked.
Couch 5 ‘
Couch Grasses
Couch Grass
Cow-quakes .

Darnel Grass F
Annual

Bearded

Perennial .

Darnel Grass, White .

Dog’s-tail Grass
Crested
Rough .

Dog’s-tooth Grass

Creeping

Dry Gangrene . '

Doorba Grass

Durva Grass

Ergot. ; : j is
Effects of, and Experi-

ments upon .
Ergotism :
Gangrenous

False Brome Grass ‘
Heath .
Slender
Feather Grass . :
Fescue Grass .
Creeping
Deciduous
Giant.
Glaucous .
Hard .
Meadow .
Purple
Ree
Sheep's
Spiked
Single- glumed
Bartell
Tall .
Tall ;
Tall Bearded — F
Three-flowered Bearded
Viviparous .
Wall
Wood.
Finger Grass . :
Hairy .
Smooth
Fiorin : ,
Fox-tail Grass 5
Alpine
Floating
Kneed
Meadow.
Orange-spiked :
Slender .
Tuberous .
Furmety

Gangrene, Dry .
German Rice.

153 to

German Sago ‘
Grass for town-growth “

Groats

Haber-meel . :

Hair Grass 5
Alpine
Early
Silvery
Turfy
Waved

Hard Grass. :
Borrer’s
Creeping Sea .
el ‘3 <
Procumbent
Reflexed
Sea.
Wiry

Hare’s-tail Grae i

Ovate .

Hassocks . ‘

Havers . s

Heath Grass

Decumbent
Hedge-hog Grass.
Helme . P 3
Hill-corn .
Holy Grass . .

Northern
Hordearii -
Hover

Indian Salt . :

Knappia, Dwarf
Knot-grass .
Koeleria, Crested

Lady-grass, Painted
Lady’s-hair .
Lady’s-traces.
Lavender Grass

Leghorn Plait . Yt

Leghorn Plait .

Long-grass, Orcheston .

Lyme Grass. a

Pendulous Sea .

Upright Sea .
ood .

Maiden’s-hair .
Maize . - ‘
Sugar from.
Manna seeds. ‘
Marram

Mat-grass . e ‘i
Mat-grass . ‘ : 3 » 15
Mat-weed, Small . - ‘ 3
Mat-weed . A -
Meadow Grass. - , 65
Alpine » . 7
Annual . ‘ 67

Balfour's . . 76

Bulbous . 68
Flat-stemmed . 83

Glaucous . - 78

Glaucous . . 82

Grey ‘ 72

Lesser Mountain . 70

Parnell’s . ‘ 75

Rough : . 79

Smooth . ‘ 81

Viviparous . - 72

Wavy . . 70

Wood . 5 . 4

Melic Grass . 5 7 ‘ 49
Mountain - . 50

Wood . : : 51

Meslin . 3 F . 151
Millet . ‘ ‘ : : 50
Brown . P . 61
German . s ‘ 63
Italian. 7 “ . 63
Yellow. ‘ ‘ z 61
Millet Grass. ‘ és . 22
Moor Grass, Blue . ‘ . 59
Nit Grass . P “ . 23
Awned . , ‘i 23

Oat, Animal . . 127
Bristle-pointed 132
Chinese . é . 128
Chinese : , . 181
Common . ‘ F . 127
Cultivated . 127
Hill. ‘ ‘i ‘ . 130
Meadow 3 ‘ . 1382
Naked . ‘ ; . 128
Naked . 131
Tartarian. ° . 128
Walking 127
Wild ‘ P . 126

Oat Grass. 7 F 126
Alpine 133

Downy . 135
Flat-stemmed | - . 134
Narrow-leaved. 132

Yellow . . 136

Oat-like Grass: . ‘ 54
Common . . 54

Oat-meal
Orchard Grass ,
Orcheston Long-grass
Orge Celeste . :

Pacey-grass .
Painted Lady- grass .
Panick Grass

Loose
Peel Corn

Quaking Grass .”
Common
Garden
Lesser

Quern Mills

Quicken

Ray Grass . :
Ttalian .
True
Reed, Common

Sea .

Small .
Reed Ronds .
Rice, Canada.

Wild
Rice Grass.
Ribbon Grass
Rivets z
Rough Caps
Rye F -
Common 5
Hairy-spiked .
St. John’s Day .
Spurred .
Rye Grass. Re ea

Italian .

Sanwuk

Sarkara.

Sea Reed .

Seigle de St. J ean .
Shama

Small- Reed , . A , ; ;

Lesser .

Purple-flowered

Wood .
Soft Grass

reeping

Meadow

Soukar.. . . .
Spear-grass.
Spelt . ;
Spring Grass.
Squirrel-tail Grass .

THOMAS PIPER, PRINTER, PATERNOSTER ROW. A

Squitch 36
Squitch 52
Squitch . . 163
Suffolk Grass 68
| Sugar xiv
Sugar cane xiv
Sugar from Maize . xvi
Sweet Grass 89
Floating 91

Reed 90

Tares, St. Matthew 173
| Teff Bread ‘ 66
Timothy Grass. 16
Tuscarora Grain xiil.
Tussocks : , 43
Vernal Grass, Sweet-scented . 1
Viviparous Grasses . xviii
Way Bennet . 148
Water Foxtail, Orange- spiked Rae.
Water Grass, Kneed 9
Wheat . . 156
Bearded ‘ é 157
Blighted é ‘ . 159

Clog . 159
aan Cultivated , 156

Dog . 164

Hard 158
Lammas - 157
Mildewed . ‘ 159.
One-grained 161
Pharoah’s dream . 158
Polish 160

Red F 158

Rice . é 3 . 161

Soft . 158
Spelter 160
Summer. . 157
Two-grained 161,
White . 158
Winter 157
Wheat Grass : 156
Bearded 164
Creeping. . 163

Crested . 161

Rushy eek 162

Whorl Grass. 40
Water . 40

Wick P 3 . 52
Wickens . 7 ‘ ‘ 56
Wind Grass . ‘ ‘ 38
Dense-flowered 39

Spreading . 38

\

LOTATLIP.

Snthaxcanthum bi

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LM OopecttUs 2 ULNSES.

Alopecu Pues a. [pin “Zs.

AMlopecuris agres Zz.

_ LMopecuras

Aulbos tts.

“ Mopecurus ger cw ts

AMopecu rus fitlvies.

Lhatlars COP LASTEST S

l@

ye
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ALUMI ELE

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Lhleum pratense

ALN

Lh lew

SPOT EI,

thy

Lh feu

Prout LAs

Phlewm Michela.

i7

Phileum arenarium.

IS.

Langwrs ovatus.

Lg

Milian effusum.

Lolypogon monspeltensts.

a

Poly pogan littoratis.

Calamagrostus Epigesos.

26

rostis lanceolata.

G

Calamagrestis stricta.

ye

Agrostis Canna

2s

\

Agrostis setacea

Agrostis vulgaris.

30

Ot

Agrostis. stolonitera.

Apera Spica verte.

34

parm Gierrupla.

CALOUM OSG GUALLL,

dire PrP eCTITTOSLL

Aira alguna

Aira (lecucsa.

ara caryophy lea.

1)

Aira proce.

7.

Corynepnerus CANESCENS.

A?

Molina carulea

Meltca nittans.

Meliea wrttlore

XN
S
S
=
~
a
S
=
ag

Holous lanatius.

Arrhenatherum AVOH ACCT.

he

Neelerta cristata

AY

ee

Sesleri coerulea

Lanceume Crius-yulti

verti lili

Selurta

SCCUT

VUITT

Solara MHaucn

LOU UNNUE,

Low

OUlbO SA,

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Pow larva

Loa apie

Lou coesia

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Pou nemoreales

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Loa Baltour i

fou Glace

Low Friis:

Pow prakensss.

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PRA SUM PP ULC

LOU COMPpPOESSA

Selerechilit MATUUNEGA,

MWYS
ASN SHCKOCRLOM MATHS

Selerochlote BUsyverts

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SATOH A PFOUMPENS

PUailte.

lero bie CEL

Pay

ae

Seberochbote, (AltA.

NS
NY

vee

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AL rat VIO

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Trivia AMMO VS

Briza pletlith

Dacdyls GLOWLEV la

CPROSUIUS = CPUSCOMUS

VF

Cad sieyits COLMHM ES

99

#6 Gf
Festi
MANAA
Utes yl
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LEslhed te

PLMI ORAS

LESCULLL IMIVTETUS

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LENCO ME OVE

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Lestriedd VIEL te

LCOSCALL

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4

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(

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LCST. FUT

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LUSLTEC SLOP IEEE

TLLCOVEL

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ra 2 eee eee
r POTILELS EXCCTAS

LOWS ASPET

LOM US SCCTUIS.

Bromits Aandrus.

Brinus martes.

SECALLMUS.

ae

LOFTS

Bromus VeluttHus, zB

LO04

Bromus commulalis

PVM MS TACETROSUS.

Dromius molly.

IVER SES.

PTOWLIUS

Prornies SYMMTIUOSUS.

\

> fay
WW ff
3S deena faliie.

|

Aen SCCELV

ena o7vventalts

AVENA SAVGOSA

AVENU JUUTENSTS.

Arend apie

Arona plimiulinrs

r fi (ERLE. pile SE CIES

Avent MAavescens.

LATA GAUGES UMINUNTS,

JVINUS HATS.

%
i
ft

,

fa

CEPELCTL EN &

ues

<

Hordeum dishehum, Lig L
Hordeu hevasthichum, Lig 2

Hor leur PPATCUSE.

Morden PUITH UMINM

PUP TLLINUTI.

Hordeuin

~

Hordeum sylvatcum.

cereale

Secale

Triticum

SLLV USAT

f/

LTULTCU IN COP POSTUM LM

> SS We _ —
AZ WGA.
LLL YT “GF

Ca

Triticum eri stall.

LTUTCUI JURCEULT

Triticum PEPENS.

Tr1cum CAIN,

Prachypolt un SVU!

se —————

Sea ; —— _ ———— — = ———_=

Frachynedium punalum.

LOAM PEPE RUC

Lolium temiulercni

Lal tut UVENSE.

Fit 6
35

Lie

hy
VN

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LEphuyus THUIVALES.

Anappre wpostiden

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Cymotin dative n

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