76 



BRITISH FLORA 



copses. The linbil is scdt'c-llkc, the stem smoolli, 

 leafy, 3-anglecI. The leaves are flat, broad, pale- 

 green, limp, the sheaths auricled opposite the 

 blade. The bracts are leafy, shorter than the 

 stems, the sheaths long. The male spikclets arc 

 pale and slender. The fertile spikclets are slender, 

 drooping, distant, long, loose, many-flowered, with 

 exsertcd stalks. The fruit is oblong, lance-shaped, 

 veined, narrowed each end, with a blunt moulh, 

 the beak obscme. The nut is elliptic. The plant 

 is 1-2 ft. high, flowering in May and June, and is 

 a herbaceous perennial. 



Order Grami>i.\ce.« 



Millet Grass (Milium effusum, L.). — The habi- 

 tat of this grass is damp, shady woods. The 

 habit is grass-like. The stem is stoloniferous 

 below, tall, tufted, erect, shining. The leaves are 

 lance-shaped, linear to oblong, broad, flat, thin, 

 acute, rough above, pale-green, scented. The 

 sheath is smooth. The ligule is long, blunt, torn. 

 The panicle is branched, spreading, loose, and 

 slender, bent down in fruit, vertical in flower, 

 the whorls distant, few-flowered. The pales are 

 acute. The empty glume is elliptic to egg-shaped, 

 blunt, with rough, transparent edges, and the 

 flowering glume is smooth, white, polished. The 

 fruit is rounded, included in the glume and palea. 

 The plant is 2-4 ft. high, flowering in June and 

 JuU', and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Rough Drooping Brome Grass (Bromus asper, 

 L.).— The habitat of this plant is woods, thickets, 

 hedgebanks. The plant has the grass habit. 

 The stem is tall and smooth. The leaves are 

 broad, flat, with hairy sheaths, with downwardly- 

 directed hairs, long, the lower broadest. The 

 ligule is short. The panicle is drooping, downy, 

 with flowers arranged all one side. The lower 

 branches are 2-6-divided, loose, thread-like, with 

 a rough rachis. The spikelets are narrow, bluish- 

 green. The empty glumes are long-pointed, 

 hairy or not. The flowering glumes are 5-8, 

 twice as long as the awn, spreading in flower, 

 erect in fruit, hairy, the tip 2-toothed. The plant 

 is 4-5 ft. high, flowering in July, and is a herb- 

 aceous perennial. 



Common Wood Reed (Calamagrostis epigeios. 

 Roth.). — The habitat of this plant is damp woods, 

 and damp shady places. The habit is grass-like. 

 The stem is simple, stout, the leaves rough above, 

 bluish-green below, the point slender. The ligule 

 is acute and torn. The panicle is purplish-brown, 

 open, erect, with nearly erect branches, close, 

 lobed. The spikelets are crowded, arranged one 

 side of the stalk. The empty glumes are narrow. 

 The hairs are longer than the pales, the awn 

 straight. The plant is 3-5 ft. high, flowering in 

 June and Jul}', :uk1 is a herbaceous perennial. 



Small Wood Reed (Cnlamagrostis lanccolata. 

 Roth.). — The habitat of this plant is damp woods, 

 copses, hedges, marshes, and wet places. The 

 habit is as in the last. The stem is erect, smooth, 

 slender. The leaves are narrower and smoother 

 than in the last. The ligule is shorter. The 



panicle is erect, loose, purplish, the branches 

 spreading, with a tirooping apex. The spikelets 

 are spreading. The empty glumes are lance- 

 shaped, broader. The awn is not so long, small, 

 terminal. The hairs are longer than the flower- 

 ing glume. The plant is 2-4 ft. high, flower- 

 ing (ioni June to August, and is a herbaceous 

 pJr.-„ni.d. 



Soft Grass (Hulats mollis, L.). — The habitat of 

 this plant is dry woods, thickets, heathy places, 

 sandy waste places, open places on a light soil. 

 The plant has the grass habit. The root is creep- 

 ing. The plant is more slender than //. la>ia/us. 

 The stem is smooth or slightly hairy, softly hairy 

 at the nodes. The leaves are rough, the sheaths 

 hairless. The lower flower has no awn. The 

 uppir glume is acute, the awn rough, kneed, 

 longer than the glumes. The glumes arc rough, 

 long-pointed. The plant is 1-3 ft. high, flowering 

 in June till .'Xugust, and is a herbaceous perennial. 

 Mountain Melic Grass (Melica nutans, L.).— 

 The habitat of this ])lant is calcareous woods. 

 The habit is the grass habit. The plant is stoloni- 

 ferous. The stems are thread-like, drooping, 

 3-sided, rough above, with scaly sheaths. The 

 leaves are flat, slender, sparsely hairy, rough on 

 the keel and margin. There is no ligule or a 

 short one. The panicle is drooping, or a one- 

 sided, simple raceme, the rachis wavy. The 

 spikelets are drooping, egg-shaped, 6-10, and 

 2-flowered, the 2 upper flowers complete. The 

 empty glumes are purple, oblong, the flowering 

 glumes greenish, keeled, pvirple, hairless. The 

 plant is 1-2 ft. high, flowering in IVIay and June, 

 and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Sylvan Melic Grass (Melicn nniflora, Retz.). — 

 The habitat of this plant is shady and rocky 

 places. The habit is as in the last. The leaves 

 and spikelets are few, erect, the perfect flowers 

 similar. The panicle is loose, branched, slightly 

 drooping, the rachis thread-like. The ligule is 

 long, from the auricles of the sheath. The stalks 

 are hairlike, roughish, 2-flowered. The glume 

 equals the palea. The plant is 1-2 ft. high, 

 flowering from May to Juh', and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Sylvan Poa (Poa nemoralis, L.). — The habitat 

 of this plant is woods, copses, and shady places. 

 The habit is the grass habit. The root is some- 

 what creeping. The stem is smooth, like the 

 sheaths, which are furrowed, the upper not longer 

 than the leaf, green or bluish-green, very slender, 

 rounded or slightly flattened. The leaves are 

 linear, narrow, limp, the upper horizontal. The 

 ligule is short and blunt. The panicle is slender, 

 drooping, with branches 2-5-divided, roughish. 

 The spikelets are egg-shaped to lance-shaped, the 

 3-4 flowers webbed, yellowish-green. The empty 

 glumes equal the 1-5 flowering glumes with a 

 downy keel and margin. The plant is 1-2 ft. 

 high, flowering in June and July, and is a herb- 

 aceous perennial. 



Poa chaixii, Vill.— The habitat of this plant is 

 woods and plantations in deep shade. The plant 

 has the grass habit. The stem is z-edged, with a 



