152 TItlANDHIA— DIGYNIA. Bromus. 



ovate, of about ten, distinct, somewhat cylindrical, smooth 

 florets. Awns wavy, shorter than the glumes. Leaves 

 slightly hairy. 



B. secalinus. Linn. Sp. PL 1 12. mild. v. 1 . 428. R Br. 125. 

 Engl. Bot. r. 17. /. 1171- Tr. of Linn. Soc. v. 4. 28 1 . Knapp 

 t. 79. Hook. Scot. 41. Schrad. Germ. v. 1.347. Host Gram, 

 v. 1. 10. t. 12. Ehrh. Calam. 45. Leers 36. t. 1 \.f. 2, not ex- 

 cellent. 



B. polymorphic y. Huds. 49. 



B. vitiosus. Weig. Obs. 4. t. 1 ./. 2. 



Festuca avenacea, spicis habitioribus, glumis glabris. RaiiSyn.4\4. 



F. graminea, glumis glabris. Scheuchz. Agr. 251. t. b.f. 10. 



Gramen avenaceum, locustis majoribus squamatis, segetale majus. 

 Moris, w.3.212. sect. 8. t.7.f. 16. 



In cornfields. 



Annual. July — September. 



Root fibrous, downy. Stem 3 feet high, round, smooth, with 4 or 

 5 somewhat downy knots. Leaves linear, pointed, flat, with 

 many minutely hairy ribs ; the edges, and upper side, besprinkled 

 with longer hairs. Sheaths striated, smooth and naked. Stipula 

 short and blunt. Panicle erect j the lower branches whorled, 

 and somewhat compound j upper alternate and simple ; all an- 

 gular and rough, spreading as the seed ripens. Spikelets ovate- 

 oblong ; their florets imbricated whilst in bloom ; minutely 

 downy towards the edges and summit; convex at the back, with- 

 out any keel ; obscurely 2-ribbed at each side ; subsequently, 

 by the inflexion of their edges, the florets become cylindrical, 

 and their common stalk appears between them. The awns are 

 sometimes much shorter than the glumes, inserted below the 

 bluntish cloven point, and more or less wavy. The inner valve 

 is very obtuse, its ribs strongly toothed, or fringed, with distant 

 bristles. Styles from the opposite sides of the germen, below 

 the top. Seed elliptic-oblong j convex and loose at the back ; 

 channelled along the front, or upper surface, to which the chan- 

 nelled permanent inner valve of the corolla is closely attached. 

 As the seed ripens, the spikelets become pendulous. 



A useless, and rather troublesome, weed in arable land. 



2. B. velutinus. Downy Rye Brome-grass. 



Panicle spreading ; scarcely subdivided. Spikelets ovate- 

 oblong, of from ten to fifteen crowded, elliptical, downy 

 florets. Awns as long as the glumes. Leaves slightly 

 hairy. 



B. velutinus. Schrad. Germ. v. 1 . 349. t. 6.f. 3. Hook. Scot. 41 . 

 B. multiflorus. Sm.Tr.of Linn. Soc. v. 4. 283. Fl. Br. 126. Engl. 

 Bot. v. 27. t. 1884. Knapp t. 80. 



