144 DACTYIIS. [class in. order u. 



above the middle of the valve spreading : inner valve pale and mem- 

 branous, with two lateral roughish ribs ; the apex bifid. Sti(/mas pro- 

 truding, feathery. 



Habitat. — Dry meadows, pastures, and heathy places; frequent. 



Perennial; flowering in June and July. 



This grass will grow in almost all kinds of soil and situa- 

 tion, from the dry upland heath to the moist irrigated meadow ; it 

 prefers, however, a dry calcareous soil, where it is the most productive 

 and useful, and is always found a component of the grasses in the rich- 

 est meado^ pastures : but it never is so productive wlien cultivated 

 alone, as when mixed with other grasses. The nutritive matter which 

 it contains is combined with a considerable proportion of bitter princi- 

 ple, which renders it very agreeable to cattle, especially in combination 

 with other grasses containing a less quantity. 



GENUS XLII. DAC'TYLIS. Linn. Cock's-foot-grass. 



Gen. Char. Panicle loose ov contracted; branches solitary, the lower 

 ones long, the upper very short. Spihdets clustered, three or four- 

 flowered. Glumes two, unequal. Ghuncllex two, lanceolate, 

 nearly equal ; the outer with a short awn. — Name from ^a-KrvXoc, 

 & finger or foot. 



1. D. glomera'ta, Linn. (Fig. 186.) roi(ijhCoek\i-foot-grass. Spikelets 

 in dense, globular tufts, turned to one side ; leaves flat, roughish. 



English Botany, t. 335.— English Flora, vol. i. p. 134.— Lindlcy, 

 Synopsis, p. CIO. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 48. — Sinclair, Hort. 

 Gram. Woburn. p. 136. 



Root with long stout fibres, tufted. Stem erect, or bent in the lower 

 part, from one to three feet high, rough, especially towards the top, 

 leafy, particularly in tlie lower part. Leaves linear, flat, with a (apcriug 

 point, dull green, striated, and roughish. Sheaths close, striated, 

 somewhat compressed and keeled, roughish. Ligula elongated, em- 

 bracing the stem, raost^.y torn. Infiorescence a large, one-sided panicle ; 

 its Ijianches arising singly on alternate sides of the stem, rough and 

 angi'.lar, the lower long and mostly spreading, the upper short, each 

 bearing a dense ovate or globular tuft of cross id spikelets all turned 

 to one side. Spikelets three or four-flowered. Glumes unequal, mem- 

 branous, lanceolate, the point long, sometimes awned, smooth except 

 on the keel ; the outer keeled only ; the inner keeled, and with two 

 lateral ribs. Florets compressed, on short smooth footstalks. Glu- 

 melles equal : the outer valve lanceolate, cartihiginous, with a narrow, 

 pale, membranous margin, four lateral ribs, and a rough keel, termi- 

 nating between the bifid apex in a short uv.n ; i»He)- valve membranouF, 



