CLASS HI. ORDEail.] BROMUS. 133 



3. B. ster'ilis, Linn. (Fig. 170.) barren Brome-grass, Panicle 

 scarcely branched, drooping; spikelets compressed on long stalks; 

 florets remote, rough; awn longer than the floret; leaves flat, 

 linear, downy. 



English Botany, t. 1030.— English Flora, vol. i. p. 159.— Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 312. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 51. — Sinclair, Hort. 

 Gram. Woburn. p. 296. 



Root small, fibrous, woolly. Stem from one to two feet high, round, 

 slender, striated, leafy even to the panicle. Leaves narrow, ribbed, 

 soft and downy, with a few scattered hairs towards the base. Sheaths 

 rather short, close, striated, downy, and more or less clothed with de- 

 flexed hairs. Lif/ula short, mostly torn. Inflorescence a large, grace- 

 fully drooping, wide- spreading panicle ; its branches long, slender, 

 rough, angular, scarcely subdivided, dilated near the extremity. 

 Spikelets about an inch long, drooping, compressed, about eight- 

 flowered, purplish towards the extremity. Ghimes very unequal, 

 I'ough : the outer keeled, awl-shaped ; the inner lanceolate, membra- 

 nous towards the extremity, keeled, and with two lateral ribs. Glu- 

 melles very unequal, rough : the outer valve long, narrow, membranous 

 on the upper part of the margin, and bifid at the apex, tie keel and 

 numerous ribs uniting and forming a long, stiff, rough a««; the inner 

 valve thin, pale, membranous, its two green lateral ribs ciliated, with 

 short white hairs. Stigmas small, feathery. Fruit long, narrow, 

 hairy at the apex, deeply furrowed on one side. 



Habitat. — Very common in waste places, hedges, and shady situa- 

 tions. 



Annual ; flowering in June and July. 



The name sterilis, which distinguishes this grass, is not given to it 

 from its producing but a small quantity of seed, as supposed by some 

 authors, but from the innutritious quality of its herbage, and its inu- 

 tility as food for cattle. 



4. B. dian'drus, Cui:. (Fig. 171.) upright ayxnual Brome-grass. Pa- 

 nicle erect, slightly branched and spreading ; spikelets compressed 

 on short sialks ; florets remote, scarcely rough ; awn as long as 

 the floret ; stamens mostly two ; leaves nearly smooth. 

 English Botany, t. 1006. — English Flora, vol. i. p. 160. — Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 312. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i, p. 51. — Sinclair, Hort. 

 Gram. Woburn. p. 297. — Bro'mus Bladriten'sl;, Linn. 



Root small, fibrous. Stem erect, several from the same root, from 

 twelve to eighteen inches high, round, striated, smooth, and leafy. 

 Leaves narrow, smooth, or downy. Sheaths close, striated, smooth, or 

 sometimes downy. Ligula short, mostly torn. Inflorescence an erect, 

 somewhat spreading panicle, its branches dilated towards the extre* 

 mity, short, stiff, and roughish, scarcely CTer subdivided. SpihUts 



