ARRHEXATHERUM 57 1 



ARRHENATHERUM, Beauv. Agrost. 55 (1812). 

 A. avenaceum, Beauv. 1, c. Oat-Grass. 



Avena elatior, Linn. Sp. PI. 79 (1753^ and Herb. 

 Top. Bot. 485. Syme, E. B. xi. 81, t. 1742. Nyman, 809. Fl. Oxf. 338. 

 Native. Septal, &c. Roadsides, hedges, pastures, thickets, &c. 



Abundant through the county. P. May- July. 

 First record. Avena elatior, Dr. Noehden. A troublesome weed in 

 arable lands. Unpalatable to cattle, especially to horses, Mavor's 

 Agr. Berks, 1809. Very frequently attacked with TJreclo. 

 A. avenaceum is found abundantly in all the bordering counties. 



A. precatorium, Beauv. Agrost. 1. c. 56 (1812). Onion Couch Grass. 

 A. bulbostim, Presl, Cyp. et Gram. Sic. 29 (1820). Avena precatoria, 

 Thuill. Fl. Par. 58 (1790). Arrhenatherum avenaceum, var. nodosum, 

 Reichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. i. t. 98, f. 193. Parnell, Gr. Scot, t, 26. 



Native. Agrestal, &c. Cultivated fields, hedge- banks, &c. Locally 

 abundant. P. May-July. 



First recorded by the author in this Flora. 



1. Isis. Cumnor. 



2. Ock. Besilsleigh. Kennington. 



3. Pang. Tilehurst, Tufnail. Cold Ash. Near Reading. Pangbourn. 



Sulham. 



4. Kennet. Midgham. Near Reading. 



5. Loddon. Near Wokingham Station, Tufnail. Coleman's Moor. 



Bray. Near Sandhurst. 



Linnaeus noted in his copy of Scheiichzer's Agrostograpliia that this 

 bulbons-rooted plant was probably a distinct species, an oj)inion shared by 

 Prof. Lindley, Schrader, and others. 



It appears to me to be worthy of sub-specific rank, as it coraes true from 

 seed, and does not depend, as has been often stated, upon the nature of the 

 soil for its peculiarities, since seeds of it sown in stony, sandy, and loamy 

 soil, or chalk rubble, yield plants with the same root-characters ; while the 

 type appears to be equally' uninfluenced by soil, as in Glen Spean in Scotland 

 it was the prevailing form on dry rocky banks and waysides away from 

 cultivation. In Berkshire also it is by no means confined to arable fields. 



In addition to the curious bulb-like swellings on the lower part of the stem, 

 arranged one above another like a string of onions (hence the popular name), 

 the plant may be distinguished by the pubescent nodes (these are som.etimes 

 glabroiTS, testibus Wilkomm et Lange) of the stem, the glabrous lower pale, 

 and the shorter panicle branches, which give a more strict appearance to it. 

 Moreover, the flowers are usually hermaphrodite. The tuft of hairs at the 

 base of the flower is usually absent in A. precatorium. 



See note by Dr. M. T. Masters in Journ. Bot. (1894) 248 and 373. 



A. precatorium is found in all the bordering counties. 



SIEGLINGIA, Bernh. Syst. Vers. Erf. 44 (1800). 

 S. decumbens, Bernh. 1. c. 



Festuca decumbens, Linn. Sp. PI. 75 (1753). Triodia decumbens, Beauv. 

 Agrost. 76. 



