Etymmt] GftAMINEiE. 313 



Dry pastures. On the common near Kingstown, and many other 

 places near Dublin. On the side of Slemish Mountain, County of 

 Antrim ; Mr. Templeton. County of Derry ; Mr. D. Moore. Fl. 

 June, July. %. — Corolla with a purple stain. Glumes all shining 

 and pellucid at the summit. Awn brown, rough, from the middle of 

 the valve, twice as long as the calyx. Style very short. 



5. A. Jlavescens, Linn. YeUow Out-grass. Panicle much 

 branched, lax; spikelets of about three florets, equal in length 

 to the longer of the very unequal calyx valves ; outer valve of 

 the corolla with two terminal bristles. Br. FL ed. 3. p. 54. 

 E. Fl. v. i. p. 166. E. Bot. t. 952. 



Dry meadows, and pastures, frequent. Fl. July. %. — This has the 

 smallest flowers of any of the Oat-yrasses, and may readily be distin- 

 guished by that circumstance, by the two terminal bristles on the outer 

 valve of the corolla, and by the unequal calyx-valves. 



22. Arundo. Linn. Reed. 



Panicle loose. Calyx 2-valved, unequal, many-flowered. Co- 

 rolla of two very unequal valves ; all, except the lower and 

 imperfect one, surrounded by* a tuft of hairs. Fruit free, 

 covered by the corolla. — Name ; Arundo, the Latin for a 

 Reed; " ab arendo, quod cito arescat." De Theis says it 

 comes from am, the Celtic word for tvater. 



Triandria. Digynia. 



1. A. Phragmites, Linn. Common Reed. Panicle spreading; 

 calyx-valves acuminate, coloured, ribbed, and about 5-flowered; 

 leaves lanceolate, acuminato-cuspidate. Br. Fl. ed. 3. p. 54, 

 E. Fl. v. i. p. 168. E. Bot. t. 401. 



Abundant in ditches, margins of lakes and rivers. Fl. July. %. — 

 Six feet or more high, the tallest of our Grasses. Panicle large, purple- 

 brown, at length drooping, very handsome. Valves of the calyx very 

 unequal : exterior ovato-lanceolate, many-ribbed ; int. twice its length, 

 thin, membranous, obsoletely ribbed. As the flowers advance, the 

 tufts of hair increase, at length becoming very silky. An extensive 

 use is made of the culms, for thatching, garden-screens, for walls and 

 floors which are afterwards covered with clay. The tops of the culms, 

 with the adhering hairs or down, are sometimes tied to a pole, and used 

 for brushing cobwebs from the ceilings of rooms. 



# * Floivers spiked. (Solitary jlowers, or spikelets, sessile 

 upon a common stalk or rachis.) 



f Floivers or spikelets distichous or inserted on all sides. 



23. Elymus. Linn. Lyme-grass. 



Spikelets two or three from the same point. Calyx 2-valved, 



Q Q 



