Rl'SHV Will- \1' (.RASS 219 



leaves involute, ribbed, li_i;iilr bluiu, i).inicli' coiuracied, lower palea 

 blunt, spikelets compressed. 



Rushy Wheat Grass (.\L;ro|iyron jinucuni, Hc.iuv.) 



This is a coninu)n maritime j^rass, toimd in llie X. Temperate Zone 

 in Eunipe, X. Alrica, and X. America. It is found in every maritime 

 county in dreat Britain. e.\ce|)t S. Lines, \\ estmorlaiui, Kiri<cudl)right, 

 Linlithgow, S. Perth, X. Perth; but tliere is some doulji as to what 

 was meant by the name in earl\- ilays, so that it is uncertain if all 

 the older stations are correct. It is thus foiiiul from tiie ()rl<n(r\s to 

 Devon and Kent, and in Ireland and the Channel Islanils. 



The Rushy Wheat Grass is a characteristic shore or sand plant, 

 which helps to form a regular botanical association with L\me and 

 Marram Grass, all of which grow on .sand\- shores anil co\er a wide 

 area, extending from high-water level to some distance- inland. 



The stems are bluish-green, prostrate below, wiili creeping roots, 

 then ascending; smooth, with thick leaves, with the margin rolled 

 inwards, hairy on the ribs below, with smooth sheatlis, ami a short 

 ligiile. 



The panicle is a loose, stout, cur\('d spike, witli 4 5 llowered 

 spikelets, wIiIt glumes with 9 nerves, and without awns. Vhr. rachis 

 of the panicle is smooth, tragile, separating above each .spikelet. The 

 s[)ikelets are distant, glossy, pale, thick, the flowering glumes are 

 slightly nerved, the empty glumes strongly so, and blunt. 



The plant is i ft. to iS in. high. It is in flower in Julv and .August. 

 The plant is perennial. ])ro|)agated in' soboles or underground cree|)ing 

 shoots. 



The tloral s\ nimetry resembles that of Darnel, and both arc 

 anemophilous in their mode of pollination, the stigma maturing before 

 the anthers. 



The fruit is light, and adhering to the palea, which has keels 

 fringed with hairs, and it is easily dispersed by the wind. 



This grass is a halophyte or salt-lover living in a .saline soil, and 

 also a sand plant living in sand soil. 



It is attacked by a Smut, C's///a<;o hvpodvlcs. 



Agropyi'on, Gaertner, or .lo;ro/>vni»/, is from aji^ros, field, and 

 puj'os, wheat, and the second Latin name refers to the rush-like or 

 jointed stem. This plant is called Bent, Bentles. 



The name Bentles is given to low, sandy, tlattish land on the sea- 

 shore of Suffolk, where nothing but this coarse gnuss grows. It is 



