The Scottish Naturalist. 189 



pale yellow, some with a thick stem and large head, some with 

 a thin stem and small head — the species purpurea and micro- 

 cephala seem to run into each other. The Claviceps, which 

 grows in deep shade under withered grass, near the bottom of 

 a ditch, is less ruddy in colour than that which grows on a 

 ledge more exposed to the light. 



A question suggests itself — What may be the effect of Ergot 

 on the grasses ? Of course the immediate effect is to prevent 

 the growth and ripening of a certain proportion of the seeds ; 

 and thus to hinder in one way the natural propagation of the 

 plant. But it is a fact that the ripening of the seeds and 

 culms of the cereal grasses tends to make these grasses annual. 

 They are not absolutely annual even when a few spikes on a 

 stool are fully ripened, but grow occasionally for two or three 

 years. Now, if before rye was cultivated, it was so largely 

 ergotised as to prevent all but a few seeds from maturing, the 

 plant may at that time have been a perennial grass. And the 

 present effect of Ergot on the grasses may be to give a longer 

 term of perenniality to the roots and lower nodes, than if all 

 the seeds were allowed to exhaust the plant by coming to 

 maturity. 



o 



APPENDIX— No. I. 



List of Ergotised Grasses referred to. 



1. Wheat, Triticum sativum Linn. 



2. Wheat grass, Trit. repens Linn. 

 Rye, Secale cereale Will. 



3. Rye, Sec. cereale, artificially ergotised. 



4. Barley, Hordeum distichum Linn. 



4. Barley, Hor. distichum, artificially ergotised. 



5. Vernal grass, Anthoxanthirm odoratum Linn. 



6. Mat grass, Nardus stricta Linn. 



7. Fox-tail grass, Alopecurus pratensis Linn. 



8. Reed Canary grass, Phalaris arundinacea Linn. 



9. Cat's-tail grass, Phleum pratense Linn. 



10. Turfy hair grass, Air a caespitosa Linn. 



11. Waved hair grass, Airafiexuosa Linn. 



12. Creeping grass, Holcus mollis Linn. 



13. Meadow soft grass, Holcus lanatus Linn. 



14. Oat grass, Arrhenatherum avenaceum Beau. 



15. Smooth meadow grass, Poa pratensis Linn. 



