TRIANDRIA— DIGYNIA. Agrostis. 91 



readily distinguished from the awned varieties of A. vulgaris, 

 without adverting to the corolla. Sheaths striated, smooth. Sti- 

 pula lanceolate, elongated, finally torn ; in vulgaris this part is 

 extremely short. Panicle spreading when in flower, otherwise 

 collected into lobes or close tufts j the branches capillary, elastic, 

 angular, rough, brownish purple. Fl. erect, shining. Valves of 

 the calyx ovate, pointed, purple ; occasionally yellow, Sincl. 153-5 

 the outer one largest, with a rough keel ; inner smooth. Cor. 

 membranous, white or greenish ; the larger valve ribbed, notched, 

 about the length of the calyx, or rather shorter, with a jointed 

 incurved awn, from below the middle of its keel, extending a 

 little way beyond the point ; smaller valve often entirely want- 

 ing, though some flowers in every panicle usually have it, either 

 diminutive, as in Engl. Bot., or nearly equal to the awned valve, 

 as in a specimen before me. Leers, the most accurate of all ob- 

 servers in this tribe of plants, says this valve is very often want- 

 ing, but not always. Such a partial deficiency could hardly 

 afford a specific, much less a generic, distinction. The awn 

 varies in length, and is occasionally absent, as in var. p, nothing 

 being more uncertain than the dorsal awns of grasses. The 

 terminal ones, whether of the calyx or corolla, are much more 

 to be trusted. 



3. A. setacea. Bristle-leaved Bent-grass. 



Awn incurved, from near the base of the corolla; inner 

 valve minute. Calyx lanceolate, tapering, rough. Ra- 

 dical leaves bristle-shaped. Stem nearly erect. Panicle 

 close, oblong. 



A. setacea. Curt. Brit. Gr. 42. Lond.fasc. 6. t. 12. Fl. Br. 79. 

 Engl. Bot. w. 17. *. 1188. Knapp t. 24. Hook. Scot. 25. 



A. alpina. With. 128, with erroneous synonyms. 



A. canina y. Huds. 31, excluding the syn. 



On dry turfy heaths, in the south and west of England. 



Mr. Curtis, who first distinguished this grass, received it from his 

 gardener Robert Squibb, from Piddletown heath, Devonshire. 

 The late Earl of Gainsborough, and the present Bishop of Car- 

 lisle, observed it in Hampshire ; the late Duchess Dowager of 

 Portland at Weymouth ; and Mr. D. Turner in the Isle of Wight. 

 Professor Link sent it from Portugal, where he found it common 

 on heaths. 



Perennial. July, August. 



Root rather woody, tufted, with strong downy fibres. Stems 8 — 12 

 inches high, a "little inclining, slender, nearly or quite smooth, 

 leafy. Leaves pale glaucous green ; the radical ones involute, 

 almost capillary, erect, acute, roughish, or downy \ those of the 

 stem shorter, broader, with very long smooth sheaths. Stipula 

 lanceolate, tender, often torn. Panicle erect, oblong, cylindri- 

 cal, but little spreading at any period ; its branches angular, 



