TRIANDRIA. DIGYNIA. Agrostis. ' 129 



/ 





Wells 



Joseph Banks. P. J 



(2) Without awns. 



A. Panicle large, spreading : calyx both valves serrulated : al'ba. 



straw trailing. 



Var. 1 • Panicle branches crowded with florets at the base. 



Leers 4. 5—//. ox. viii. 6* ro<w 1 « 2J. 



Panicle loose, calyxes awnless, equal. Sp. pi. Stem striking 

 root at the joints. Flowers roughish. Linn. Panicle either brown 

 or green. Pet. gram. Straw smooth, upright, but trailing at the 

 base. Leaves broad, rough, those on the stem 3 to 5 inches long. 

 Sheaths rough. Sheath-scale long, spear-shaped. Panicle 5 to & 

 inches long ; branches 1 to If- inch long, rather upright, crowded 

 with florets quite down to their union with the main fruit-stalk. 

 Calyx both valves serrulated on the keel. Bloss. inner valve but 

 half the length and breadth of the outer. 



The specific characters affixed by Linn^us to the Agr. alba 

 and sfolonifera, are so insufficient to distinguish them, that other 

 botanists have been greatly at a loss how to refer to those species ; 

 he does not cite any figure of either, and his synonyms afford but 

 little assistance. Thus under Agr. alba, the reference to Pet. 

 gram. 118 and 1 1$, only informs us that it is a large grass, and 

 that the panicle is either brown or green. The reference to Ray 

 Syn, 4-04, tells us little more than that it is an awnless grass, and 

 grows in tufts. Under Agr. itolonifera the most instructive re- 

 ference is to Scheuchz. 128 and 130, but Scheuchzer's descrip- 

 tions are hardly sufficient to remove the difficulty, and we have 

 still no figure to assist us. Mr. Hudson, apparently to get rid of 

 difficulties, lumps them altogether under the comprehensive title 

 of polymorpha y including no less than J species and varieties, 

 amongst which we find the capillaris, the pumila, the stolonifera 3 

 the alia, and the sjluatica of Linn^us, a list not only com- 

 prehending all but one of the awned species of Agrostis, then 

 known as natives, but also some species which have not yet been 

 found with us. It is sufficient at present to say, that the figure 

 °f Leers referred to above, is a very exact representation of the 

 plant now spoken of, and this Leers calls the Agr. alba, though 

 n ot without a mark of doubt. 



Gramen alpinum, panicula fere arnndinacea, tpadicto-wiridi* 



Scheuchz. 131. Wet ditches, bogs and marshes. P. June, July. 



% Var. 2. Only the shorter branches of the panicle crowded 

 w *th florets at the base : calyx both valves serrulated. 



Panicle 3 to 5 inches, branches \ to If inch long, the longer 

 branches bare at the base, the shorter ones crowded with florets. 

 Calyx both valves serrulated on the back. Bhss* inner valve 

 rot half the length and breadth of the outer. 



v °l. II. K 





