228 The Scottish Naturalist. 



sedge. Gaelic : gainnisg (Stewart), — gaimie, a sedge, reed, 

 cane, arrow; and seasg. 



Gramine/e. 



Agrostis alba— Fiorin-grass. Gaelic and Irish : fioran, feor- 

 iue, or fior-than ; derived from Gaelic : feur, feoir, grass, herb- 

 age, fodder. Latin: vireo, I grow green, — 7'er, spring ; fcenum, 

 fodder — r and ?i being interchangeable. This name is applied 

 in the dictionaries to the common couch-grass, because, like it, 

 it retains a long time its vital power, and propagates itself by 

 extending its roots. 



Alopecurus — Foxtail-grass. Gaelic : jiteag,—fit, food, refresh- 

 ment. Latin : vita. 



A. geniculatus. — Gaelic : fitcag chaw, — 



"A chuiseag dheireach's 7\xifMteagcham" — M'Intyre. 



ca?n, bent, from the knee-like bend in the stalk. A valuable 

 grass for hay and pasture. 



Arundo Phragmites — Reed grass. Gaelic : seasgan; seasg, a 

 reed. Lachan, the common reed. Irish : cruisgiornach, cruisigh, 

 music, song; from its stem reeds for pipes were manufactured. 

 Welsh : cawn wellt, cane-grass ; qwellt, grass. 



Anthoxanthum odoratum — Sweet meadow-grass. Gaelic: 

 mislean, from mi/is, sweet. 



" 'San canach min geal 's mislean arm." — M'Intyre. 

 The soft white cotton-grass and the sweet grass are there. 



Borrach (borradh, scent, smell). — (In some places this name is 

 given to the Nardus strieta, which see.) This is the grass that 

 gives the peculiar smell to meadow hay. Though common in 

 meadows, it grows nearly to the top of the Grampians (3400 

 feet) ; hence the names are given as " a species of mountain 

 grass " in some dictionaries. 



Milium effusum — Millet -grass. Gaelic: mileid. Welsh: 

 miled. The name derived from the true millet misapplied. Mil- 

 let is translated in the Gaelic Bible meanbh pheasair, small peas 

 (see Faba vulgaris). — Ezekiel iv. 9. 



Phleum pratense — Timothy grass, cat's-tail grass. Gaelic : 

 bodau, a little tail ; the same name for Typha angustifolia. " This 

 grass was introduced from New York and Carolina in 1780 by 

 Timothy Hanson." — Loudon. It seems to have been unknown 

 in the Hebrides and the Highlands before that date ; for Dr 

 Walker ('Rural Econ. Hebrides,' ii. 27) says, "that it maybe 



