556 GRAMINACEAE 



BigrapMs arundinarea, Trin. Fund. Agrost. 127 (1820). Baldingera 

 coloraia, Gaertn. Fl. Wett. i. 96 (1799). 



Top. Bot. 473. Syme, E. B. xi. 19, t. 1697. Nyman, 791. Fl. Oxf. 323. 



Native. Paludal. Sides of rivers, ditches, ponds, canals, and brooks. 

 Common and generally distributed in all the valleys of the county. 

 P. June-July. 



First record. Gramen arundinaceum acerosa gluma, Park. Ubique ad 

 Thamesis ripas, Reede Grass with whitish tops, Johnson's Mercuriu.i, 

 part 2, 22, 1641. Phalaris arundinacea, Dr. Noehden. Banks of 

 rivers and pools. As a thatch it is more durable than straw, 

 Mavor's Agr. Berks, 1809. Sonning [/. colorata], S. Budge in Herb. 

 Brit. Mus. 1800. 

 The form variegata (Parnell, 1. c. 188, t. 82, as a variety), which is the 

 Ribbon Grass so often cultivated in village gardens, has been 

 found at Cothill, Bablock Hythe, near Wittenham, and Sonning. 

 Phalaris arundinacea is found commonly in all the bordering counties. 



ANTHOXANTHUM, Linn. Gen. n. 40. 



A. odoratum, Linn. Sp. PI. 28 (1753), and Herb. Sweet Scented Vernal 

 Grass. 



Gramen Anthoxanthon spicatum, J. Bauhin, Hist. ii. 466. 



Top. Bot. 473. Syme, E. B. xi. 17, t. 1696. Nyman, 790. Fl. Oxf. 332. 

 Native. Pratal, &c. Meadows, pastures, heaths, open woods, &c. 



Abundant and widely distributed. P. April-June. 

 First record. Common in meadows and pastures, and one of our 

 earliest grasses. It communicates to new mown hay that delightful 

 smell for which it is distinguished, Mavors Agr. Berks, 1809. 

 Forms with yellow and with purple anthers are found. 

 Var. PUBESCENS, S. F. Gray, Nat. Arr. ii. 135 =^ A. villosum, Dumort. 

 Agrost. Belg. 129 ; Reichb. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. i. t. 182, f. 498, is 

 a slight variety with pubescent glumes and somewhat scabrid stem 

 which occurs occasionally with the type, as at Padworth and Little 

 Common, Hungerford. 



In woods it occurs as a lax spiked and taller plant, with longer and 

 more acuminate glumes. 



The fragrance is due to the presence of a principle called Coumarin, which 

 is contained in several of our British plants, as Asperula odorata, Milium 

 effusum. Melilotus, Orchis Simia, O. militaris, O. ustulata, &c. 



A. odoratum is found commonly in all the bordering counties. 



**A. PuELii, Lee. et Lamotte, Cat. PI. Auv. 385 (1847), Kept as a species in 

 Index Kewensis. 



A. aristatum, Boiss Voy. Esp. ii. 638 (1839-45), var. Puelii, Lange in PL Hisp, 

 Exsicc. n. 19. 



