122 TRIANDRIA— DIGYNIA. Poa. 



Scot. 34. Schrad. Germ. v. 1 . 292. Host Gram. v. 2. 49. t. 67. 



Wahlenh. Lapp. 39. 

 P. n. 1456. Hall. Hist. V. 2. 220. 

 Gramen alpiimm paniculatum majuS;, panicula speciosa variegate, 



Scheuchz. Jgr. 18G. Prodr. 20. t. 3. 

 /3. Fl. Dan. t. 807, fl. viviparous. 

 Gramen alpinum latifolium^ panicula laxa foliacea, &c. Scheuchz. 



Agr. 2\2. t.A.f. 14. 



On lofty mountains. 



Common in the Highlands of Scotland. Hooker. On Corbie Craig 

 near the river Esk^ 5 miles from Forfar, Mr. G. Don. The late 

 Mr. J, T. Mackay sent it from the place last mentioned, as well 

 as from Ben Lavvers,, and other mountains of Breadalbane^ chiefly 

 in a viviparous state. 



Perennial. July, August. 



Root fibrous, tufted, not creeping. Stem A — 12 inches high, erect, 

 the lower joint only being sometimes bent; leafy below ; naked, 

 round, striated, and smooth at the top, with frequently a tinge 

 of purple. Leca-es linear, rather broad, flat, many-ribbed, bluntish 

 vi'ith a small point, rough at the edges and sometimes on the 

 upper side 3 a little glaucous beneath : radical ones numerous, 

 tufted, some of them narrower, spreading, with smooth lax 

 sheaths, and short blunt stipulas ; those of the stem having much 

 longer sheaths, each crowned with a lanceolate, often torn, sti- 

 pula. Panicle spreading, short, somewhat ovate, or triangular, 

 its branches angular, wavy, nearly smooth, mostly in pairs, re- 

 peatedly subdivided. Spikelets so broad as to be often almost 

 heart-shaped, usually of A florets, in cultivated specimens of 6, I 

 have never seen 9 or 1 1, as observed by Schrader. Glumes con- 

 cave, keeled, moderately compressed, green at the back, purple 

 at the sides, membranous and white at the edges, those of the 

 calyx 3-ribbed, much resembling the outer valve of the cor., ex- 

 cept that the lower half of the latter is silky, especially the keel, 

 and the base of each Jioret bears several longish straight hairs, 

 but the complicated web is wanting; inner valve finely fringed 

 at the ribs. Stigmas feathery, but according to Mr. Sowerby's 

 observation, slender, and I cannot ascertain whether they are 

 compound or not. The whole panicle often consists of buds in- 

 stead of real florets, particularly in wet seasons. There is also 

 a densely tufted variety, represented in Mr, Knapp's t. 117. 



3. P. laa^a. Wavy Meadow-grass. 



Panicle drooping, loosely spreading, zigzag. Spikelets ovate, 

 three-flowered. Florets connected by a web. Stipulas 

 all lanceolate. 



P. laxa. '' Hwnke Sudet. 118." Willd. v. 1 . 386. Schrad. Germ. v. 1 . 

 291. Wahlenh. Lapp. AO. Hook. Scot. 34. 



