GRASS TRIBE 61 
this, that it might probably be profitably employed as a self-grass, especially 
in rich low-lands. “In such a situation,” says this botanist, ‘‘at the foot of 
Silbury Hill, Wilts, during a visit in the first week of May, 1849, an unusually 
cold spring, I walked through a field of this grass, which was being folded off 
by sheep, and a more luxuriant crop or better herbage I never remembered. 
It also does well where irrigation can be adopted, but it does not succeed 
well on the uplands. My garden specimens, however, yield an average crop, 
which endures cutting admirably, and throws up a tolerable second culmi- 
ferous and leafy growth.” 
2. Alpine Fox-tail (4. alpinus).—Stem erect above, slightly procumbent 
at the base; panicle spiked, oval; awn short ; upper leaf short and broad, 
and its sheath swollen and very long; rootstock creeping. Perennial. The 
stem of this grass is nearly a foot high, its leaves are broad and rough at the 
edges and inner surfaces. The panicle is short and blunt, rarely an inch in 
length, and very soft and silky, appearing in June and July. It is a moun- 
tain grass, growing at an elevation of 2,100 to 3,600 feet by the sides of 
streams, and on other marshy spots among the mountains of Scotland. 
Sheep eat its leaves, but it is not a valuable pasture-grass. 
3. Slender Fox-tail (4. agréstis).—Stem erect, the upper part rough ; 
panicle cylindrical, tapering to a point at both ends ; empty glumes acute, 
united below ; flowering glume smooth, with an awn more than twice its 
length. Annual. This grass, though considered as scarcely indigenous to 
Scotland, is common on road-sides in England, and often proves a trouble- 
some weed to the farmer, by coming up early in spring in wheat, clover, and 
other fields. John Ray called it Mousetail. It is readily distinguished in 
June and July by its slender spike, sometimes three inches long. The acute 
glumes are of a delicate sea-green colour, often tipped with purple. Its 
slender stem is one or two feet high, the leaves have a tendency to curl, and 
are frequently of a purplish-green hue. It thrives best on dry soils. Country 
people call it Black-bent. 
4. Floating Fox-tail (4. geniculdtus).—Stem ascending, smooth, bent 
at the joints; panicle cylindrical, blunt; empty glumes united at the base, 
blunt ; awn inserted at the base of the flowering glume. Perennial. The 
specific name of: this plant points out a ready distinction, for the stem is 
always kneed, and sometimes the joints are enlarged and fleshy. The stem 
is about a foot long, branching below, and in July and August is terminated 
by the sea-green panicle, delicately fringed, and one or two inches in length. 
The leaves are rather rough on both sides. It is not uncommon in marshy 
places, and though sometimes found in dry spots, is far more luxuriant in 
those which combine moisture and shade, where it attains sometimes the 
height of three feet. Its anthers are of a purplish-yellow colour. It is not 
a valuable grass to the agriculturist. 
5. Tuberous Fox-tail (4. bulbésus).—Stem erect, smooth ; panicle 
spike-like, slender, taper-pointed, hairy; empty glumes acute, not united ; 
awn twice as long as the flowering glume. Perennial. This is a rare plant, 
inhabiting wet salt marshes, and apparently a sub-species of A. geniculatus. 
The glumes on all the other British species are united at the base, but these, 
as may be seen by the aid of a lens, are entirely distinct. ‘The stem of this 
