TRIANDRIA— DIGYNIA. Poa. 121 



pendulous, oblong, cloven at each end. Germcn ovate. 

 Styles very short. Stigmas, spreading, feathery, in several 

 species repeatedly branched. Seed elliptic- oblong, acute, 

 somewhat angular, loose, covered with the unchanged 

 corolla, and sometimes woolly at the base with the per- 

 manent web above described. 

 Root either fibrous or creeping, in most instances perennial. 

 Stems leafy, knotty. Leaves flat, linear. Fl. loosely pa- 

 nicled, numerous. Several species are among the most 

 valuable pasture grasses. 



1 . P. compressa. Flat-stalked Meadow-grass. 



Panicle unilateral, rather dense. Stem compressed. Root 

 creeping. Spikelets ovate-oblong. Florets connected 

 by a web. 



P. compressa. Linn.Sp.Pl.lOl. mlld.v.\.397. Fl.Br.99. Engl. 



Dot. v. 6. t.365. Knapp t.57. Hook. Scot. 34. Schrad. Germ. 



v. 1. 303. Host Gram. v. 2. 51. t. 70. Leers 30. t. 5. /. 4. FL 



Dan. t. 742. 

 P. n. 1455. Hall. Hist. v. 2. 220. 



Gramen pratense paniculatum medium. Dill, in Rail Syn. 409. 

 G. paniculatum, ratlice repente, culmo compresso. Vaill. Par. 91. 



t. 18. f. 5. Scheuchz. Agr. 198. 



On the tops of walls, and in dry barren ground, frequent. 



Perennial. June — September. 



Root moderately creeping, with downy fibres. Stems obliquely as- 

 cending in the lower part, then erect and often crowded together, 

 near a foot high, remarkably compressed, by which this species 

 may readily be known, as also by a sudden contraction where 

 the panicle begins. The branches of the latter are acutely an- 

 gular, rough, spreading considerably while in flower, but close 

 and erect both before and after. Leaves short, narrow, rough- 

 ish, especially at the edges, with long, compressed sheaths, and 

 a short obtuse stipula. The whole plant is more or less glau- 

 cous. Calyx-glumes 3-ribbed. Florets from 3 to 8 or 9, connected 

 at the base by a mass of white folded threads, as fine and soft 

 as a spider's web, which may be drawn out to a considerable 

 length. The outer valve of the cor. has 5 not very conspicuous 

 ribs, and is rough at the keel • purplish upwards j silvery and 

 membranous at the margin. Stigmas slender. 



Schrader's remarks seem to imply that the web is occasionally 

 wanting, in which I apprehend some mistake. 



This grass, though not succulent, is eaten by all cattle, but cannot 

 be cultivated in moist or manured ground. Its produce any 

 where is far from abundant. 



