BROMUS INTERRUPTUS, IN BRITAIN, 427 
‘Flora of Berkshire.’ This summer Mr. L. Lester found it in a 
sandy cornfield, on the Coralline Qolite, between Elsfield and 
Headington, near Oxford, and pointed out to me that in his 
specimen the inner pale was split to the base. I was at once 
struck with the importance of this character in deciding upon 
its specific position, and in order to test its constancy proceeded 
to examine all the specimens of Bromus I could meet with. 
The result of my investigations is that I find all the specimens 
of B. mollis and its varieties, glabrescens and Lloydianus, have 
the upper pale entire. Some hundreds of specimens from 
Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Hungary, Turkey, 
Madeira, and Tasmania have been examined. I have also never 
found specimens of B. commutatus or B. racemosus with the 
upper palea split. On the other hand, all the specimens of 
B. interruptus which I have examined have the inner palea 
split to the base. This is true, not only of my gatherings of 
1888, but of those gathered since that time. The specimens 
which have been cultivated by Mr. F. Tufnail as the var. inter- 
ruptus, and for seeds of which I am indebted to him, show the 
same character. It may be well to add thai specimens labelled 
B. mollis var. interruptus, which were collected by Captain 
Wolley-Dod, near Dartford Hospital, in West Kent, and sent to 
the Exchange Club in 1893, were referred to B. mollis by 
Professor Hackel. The two specimens in my possession from 
that locality, and which I referred to B. interruptus from their 
general appearance, show on examination that the palea is split. 
The question may be asked: Is B. interruptus a native plant 
to Britain? This question I am unable to answer positively in 
the affirmative. We may urge in its favour that when it was 
sent to Professor Hackel seven years ago it was a new form to 
him, nor since that time have I been able to see a continental 
specimen. From its occurring exclusively in arable ground and 
chiefly in crops of vetches, seeds, and clover, it may be urged 
with some force that the designation colonist would be more 
suitable. In these fields 1 have not observed any specimens of 
Silene dichotoma, Crepis taraxacifolia, or CU. nicwensis, which are 
often present among continental grass seeds. B. commutatus 
occurs with B. interruptus more frequently than B. mollis, 
although I have seen these two growing together The sugges- 
tion of its being a form due to local peculiarities of soil is, 
therefore, not tenable. 
