ii8 



BRITISH FLORA 



lets at the base, the glumes acute. The anthers 

 are long-pointed. The fertile spikelets are 4-6, 

 cylindrical, acute, stalked, inclined, long, and 

 stout, sometimes compound at the base or male 

 above. The glumes are ovate to oblong, narrow, 

 with brown margins and green midrib, and rough 

 tip. The male spikelets have slender glumes. 

 The fruit is erect to spreading, dull-green, nar- 

 rowed to the cloven beak, with numerous close 

 ribs, oblong, ovoid, longer than the glumes, con- 

 vex both sides. The nut is pear-shaped, triangular, 

 elliptic, 3-sided, yellow. The plant is 3-5 ft. in 

 height, flowering in May, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Order Graminace.« 



Ribbon Grass (Phalaris arundinacea, L.). — The 

 habitat of this grass is rivers, lakes, watery places. 

 The plant has the grass habit. The rootstock is 

 creeping. The stems are stout, erect. The leaves 

 are bro.id, flat, with smooth sheaths, and the 

 ligule is large. The panicle is long, more or less 

 erect, with rough, short, spreading branches when 

 in flower. The spikelets are ovate, purplish, the 

 flowers clustered. The glumes are not winged, 

 but keeled. The empty glumes are 3-nerved, 

 long-pointed, smooth. The flowering glumes are 

 shorter, ovate to lance-shaped, without nerves, 

 silky. There are 2 narrow silky scales. The 

 plant is 2-6 ft. in height, flowering in July and 

 August, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Marsh Foxtail [Alopecurus ^eniculalus, L.). — 

 The habitat of this plant is wet meadows, ditches, 

 wet grassy places. The plant has the grass habit. 

 The root is fibrous. The stem is prostrate and 

 rooting below, then ascending, bent at the node 

 (hence ^eniculalus). The leaves are flat, roughish 

 above and on the edges, elsewhere smooth. In 

 dry places the knots are oval and fleshy. The 

 upper sheath is swollen. The ligule is oblong. 

 The panicle is slender, cylindrical, blunt, dense- 

 flowered, with branches of i spikelet. The empty 

 glumes are hairy and silky, the keel fringed with 

 hairs, blunt, united below, membranous at the 

 top. The awn is longer than the palea. The 

 anthers are purplish, then yellow, linear. The 

 styles are combined. The plant is 8-18 in. in 

 height, flowering between May and September, 

 and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Alopecurus fiilvus, Sm. (= A. aqualis, Sobol. ). — 

 This species is regarded as a sub-species or variety 

 of the Marsh Foxtail. It has been found in 32 

 vice-counties in England, Wales, S. E. Yorkshire, 

 Norfolk to Sussex, and Devon. It is of the Eng- 

 lish type, found between coast-level and 600 ft. 

 It is a native species found on the margins of 

 ponds, reservoirs, &c. The plant has the grass 

 habit. It is bluish-green. The stem is prostrate 

 below, then ascending, often floating, bent at the 

 nodes, smooth. The leaves are bluish -green. 

 The ligule is oblong. The sheaths are rather 

 swollen. The panicle is slender, more or less 

 acute, cylindrical. The glumes are united below, 

 blunt, fringed with hairs, the awn inserted near 

 the middle, longer than the flowering glume. The 



anthers are white at first, then orange. The plant 

 is in flower from May to September, and is a herb- 

 aceous perennial. The plant is found on clay and 

 loam in the rush society. 



A^rostis verticillala, V'ill. — This species is found 

 in the Channel Islands. It is similar to Agyos/is 

 alba, but the stem is bent at the base. The 

 branches of the panicle have flowers at the base. 

 It is in flower in May and June, and is a herb- 

 aceous perennial. 



Tufted Hair Grass (Deschampsia caspilosa, 

 Beauv. ). — The habitat of this species is wet mea- 

 dows, woods, thickets, rough pastures. The stems 

 are stout, leafy, shining, and smooth. The plant 

 is tufted. The leaves are linear, oblong, flat, 

 rough, leathery, rolled in at the border, the sheaths 

 shining, smooth or rough. The upper ones are 

 very long. The ligule is blunt. The panicle is 

 large, ovate, oblong, nodding, the branches rough, 

 wavy, spreading in flower. The spikelets are 

 purplish, flattened, shining, the florets overlapping. 

 The glumes are rough at the keel, the empty 

 glumes narrow, blunt, not so long as the flower- 

 ing glumes (1-3), the third of which is imperfect, 

 silky below. The awn is short, inserted below 

 the middle, as long as the glume. The flower-stalk 

 of the second floret is downy or hairy. The plant 

 is 2-4 ft. high, flowering in July and August, and 

 is a herbaceous perennial. 



Water Grass or Whorl Grass (Catabrosa agua- 

 iica, Beauv.). — The habitat of this grass is watery 

 places, ponds, ditches. The rootstock is stout, 

 branched, creeping, and rooting. The plant is 

 soft, bright-green, and limp. The stems are long, 

 prostrate or floating, bent below, then erect, 

 flattened smooth, finely furrowed, leafy, some- 

 times much-branched. The leaves are flat, linear- 

 lance-shaped, blunt, the upper ones short. The 

 panicle is long, pyramidal, with a stout, grooved 

 rachis, with whorled branches, in alternate threes 

 and fives, divided, slender, spreading. The spike- 

 lets are 2- or 3-5-flowered, more or less solitary, 

 stalked, green and purple. The empty glumes 

 are green, broad at the tip, the nerves obscure. 

 The flowering glumes are purplish, smooth, with 

 green nerves. The anthers are white. The plant 

 is 6-12 in. high, flowering in May and June, and 

 is a herbaceous perennial. 



Manna Grass {Glyceria aquatica, Wahl.). — The 

 habitat of this plant is watery places, marshes, 

 stream-sides. The rootstock is stout, creeping. 

 The stems are stout, smooth, finely' furrowed, 

 slightly flattened. The leaves are long, rough- 

 edged, and rough on the keel, flat, acute, more 

 or less erect. The sheaths are long and smooth, 

 round in section. The ligule is short. The panicle 

 is large, erect, much-branched, the branches rough. 

 The spikelets are oblong, blunt, yellowish-green 

 and purple, 5-10-flowered. The glumes are rough. 

 The flowering glumes are blunt, rigid, 5-9, entire. 

 The empty glumes are short, shining. The plant 

 is 2-6 ft. high, flowering in July and August, and 

 is a herbaceous perennial. 



Flote Grass (Glyceria fluitans, Br.). — The habi- 

 tat of this plant is watery places. The rootstock 



