44< Class III. Order III. 



axillary, another long and slender, each bearing a small leaf. 

 Rachis and calyx very hairy, corolla nearly smooth, with a 

 twisted awn. August, September. Perennial. 



46. HOLCUS. 



HOLCUS LANATUS. L. Velvet grass. 



Panicle equal ; calyx two flowered ; lower floret 

 perfect, awnless ; upper floret barren, with a recurv- 

 ed awn included in the calyx ; root fibrous. 



An exceedingly soft grass covered throughout with a whitish 

 downy pubescence, sometimes tinged with purple. Culm two or 

 three feet high. Leaves linear-lanceolate. Calyx glumes mu- 

 cronate. Upper floret barren, with a short awn which is straight 

 at first, but at length recurved. Meadows, Watertown. June. 

 Perennial. 



Subgenus HIEROCHLOA. Calyx three flowered ; lateral 

 ones triandrous, barren ; central one diandrous, perfect. 

 HOLCUS ODORATUS. L. Seneca grass. 



Panicle glabrous ; florets ciliate, about as long as 

 the calyx. 



Syn. HOLCUS BOREALIS. Schrader. 



HOLCUS FRAGRANS. Wllld. ? 



HIEROCHLOA BOREALIS. R. 4' & 



This is one of our earliest grasses, and distinguished by the 

 delightfully fragrant odour it exhales while drying. Culm one or 

 two feet high, smooth, invested with very short, remote, lanceolate 

 leaves. Panicle erect, sometimes one sided, with large, distinct, 

 chesnut coloured flowers. Calyx, two valved, acute, scarious, 

 containing three florets about as long as itself. Two lateral 

 florets barren, strongly ciliate on the inside. Middle floret per- 

 fect, ciliate at the end. There are no awns, unless the longest 

 hairs be so called. Meadows, Cambridge, Dorchester. May. 

 Perennial. 



This grass agrees with H. odomtus of Europe much better 

 than with H.fragrans of Willdenow, if indeed the latter be any 

 thing more than a variety. 



