THE FLORAL WOELD AND aARDEN GUIDE . 



79 



variety vivipera. A. cmpitosa is oiio of tlie commonest of grasses, and 

 largely used by cottagers in the making- of mats and basses. Air a 



AIEA C.'ESPITOSA. 



EEIZA MEDIA. 



caryoplii/lh, the silver bair-grass, is also veil worthy of a place in a 

 border ; it is very abundant in England, but most so in Sherwood Forest. 

 Festtjce^. — This tribe is the most useful of all, except the corn grasses. 

 The ornamental specimens are the hardy Bamboo, Bactylis caspitosa, the 

 Tussock grass, Eragrostis eJegans or love-grass, E. plmnosa, Bri%a media, 

 B. gracilis, B. maxima, quaking grass, B. aspera, Lamarkia aurea, Festuca 

 glaiica, F. lieteropliylla, F. ovina, Bri%opyrum siculum. Many of the Poas 

 are prized for their beauty, and none more so than P. aquatica, the reed 

 meadow-grass, which grows abundantly in wet meadows and by the edges 

 of streams. P. distans, P. fluitans, and P. pratensis are also pretty in 

 their floweiing. 



HoEDEiE. — There ai'e not many genera in this tiibe, but the few con- 

 tribute more towards the sustenance of man than any other tribe in the 

 ,,,, vegetable kingdom. "Wheat, rye, bar- 



ley, and rye-grass are the j)rincipal 

 among the productive members of the 

 tribe, and Elymus caput Meduscs, E. 

 giganteus, and E. hgstrix, those most 

 valuable as garden ornaments. 



EoTTBOELLEJi; produccs the sugar- 

 cane and several other sweet grasses. 

 As a stove-plant, the sugar-cane makes 

 a very beautiful object. The Chinese 

 sugar-cane. Sorghum or Solcus saccha- 

 ratiis, is getting to be extensively cul- 

 tivated in Britain as a valuable forage- 

 'y ^ ^|t plant. Por garden decoration it is 



^ -^^ik ^^ useful on account of its bold tropical 



character ; in habit of growth it bears 



a moderately close resemblance to 



maize, but its inflorescence is altogether 



Sown in the open gi-ound in May, it attains to a height of 



fOk AQTTITICA. LAQURUS OVATUS, 



different. 



