SWISS FLO WEES. 121 



100. Stipa.— Feather-grass, 



(PLATE LV.) 



The Stipa, cultivated ia our gardens for the sake of its 

 beautiful awn, a foot or so in length, is well known under 

 the name of Feather-grass, having some resemblance to the 

 plume of the tail of a Bird of Paradise. The Stipas grow 

 in loose panicles of about five or six single flowers, the 

 lower husk of which bears the awn, which is at first very 

 smooth and twisted, but soon becomes feathery. The husk 

 adheres closely to the seed, which is sharply pointed and 

 barbed with bristles at the base ; and possibly the long awn 

 may help to float it through the air, as no doubt the barbed 

 point fixes it in the ground. 



S. capillata (Fig. 100) is not so pretty a plant as S. 

 pennata of our gardens. It is coarser, and the stalks rise 

 much higher before they flower; they, like those of the 

 other, are covered by the sheath to the top. The leaves 

 are rough, straight, rolled round, and grow in partial 

 whorls. The awns are not so long as in S. pennata, and 

 are more inclined to twist themselves about. Large 



