GRASS TRIBE (i 
than a dozen. They are yellowish or purplish green, somewhat tinged with 
silver colour, but less so than most of the species, and they are rather pointed 
at the lower end. The florets have scarcely any hairs at the base. The leaves 
are few, slender, and bristle-like. In dry seasons it withers very early. 
17. (34) Moxinra (Molinia). 
Purple Molinia (M. cerilea).—Panicle erect, narrow ; spikelets erect, 
violet, 2 or 3-flowered, oblong, narrow ; flowering glume much longer than the 
empty glumes. Perennial. This grass flowers in August and September, later 
than almost any other, and is common on heaths and moory grounds. Its 
stem is usually two or three feet high, and has a single joint near its base, 
but grows much taller when sheltered by the furze-bushes or ling of the 
moist moor. The panicle is of a much deeper hue than any other of our 
native grasses; for although a variety found at a great elevation on the 
Clova mountains, and called depauwperata, has numerous, pale green, one- 
flowered spikelets, yet our grass has usually a tint as deep as that of the 
myrtle leaf, with a dark tinge of bluish-purple spread over it, and large 
purple anthers. Its spikelets are small but numerous, 2—3-flowered, and the 
panicle is from three to six inches long, with numerous waved branches. 
The leaves are long, slender, and taper-pointed. The long straws of this grass 
are said by Withering to be made, in country places, into carpet-brushes, and 
twisted together they form a durable line used by fishermen. ‘The root has 
large thick fibres. 
18. (36) Meuic-crass (Jeélica). 
1. Mountain Melic-grass (J/. nitans).—Panicle almost a raceme ; its 
spikelets large, hanging on short stalks, which are rarely branched, from one 
side of the stem, oval, and with two flowers, the upper perfect, the lower male ; 
glumes oval; flowering glumes unequal. Perennial. This grass has many 
long, thin, bright shining leaves, and a stem about a foot high. Its flowers 
appear in May and June ; the glumes are of a purplish-brown colour, with a 
white margin. It is found in shady places and woods in hilly and moun- 
tainous countries, in Scotland and along the west side of England as far 
south as Hereford. Cattle do not relish it. 
2. Wood Melic-grass (Jf. wnifléra).— Panicle branched, slightly 
drooping ; spikelets erect, oval, two-flowered, the lower perfect, the upper 
male. Perennial. This is one of our most common vernal grasses, nodding 
to the breeze of May, beside the primroses and bluebells. It is very abundant 
in some woods ; and its large spikelets standing on a slender stem, a foot or 
more high, and each on a hair-like stalk, would hardly fail to be noticed by 
any lover of flowers. The spikelets are few, and distant from each other, 
erect, and of a purplish-brown hue, variegated with white and green. Cattle 
relish the soft, drooping, bright green leaves, which are marked on both sides 
with lines. It flowers early in summer, but the glumes retain their form 
long after the seed is shed. 
19. (24) Sorr-crass (Hdlcus). 
1. Creeping Soft-grass (H. muilis),—Panicle loose; glumes tapering 
to a point; awn rough; joints of the stem hairy. Perennial. This grass, 
