GRASS TRIBE 73 
or woodland by the briar-roses, or overtops the corn, or glistens in the 
meadow just ready for the scythe. Wherever it grows in abundance we 
may infer that the soil is poor, and it is most likely to be either of a clayey 
or light sandy nature, as this plant does not prevail on stiff rich soils. The 
bulbous variety, the Onion Couch, forms little strings of knobs, like small 
onions, at the base of its stem, and is so troublesome in corn-fields that when 
abundant it is often dug up and burned. Professor Buckman remarks of it, 
that it is a pest on such lands as are frequently to be met with in some parts 
of Worcestershire, which is mostly made up of disintegrated slabs of new red 
sandstone ; or again at Cheltenham, where are thick beds of ancient marine 
sands, filling up hollows in the lias. In the latter, which is much used for 
garden ground, for which it is peculiarly adapted, the Onion Couch has to 
be picked out in digging with great care, otherwise the evil is continued, as 
the smallest portion left behind grows with great, rapidity. 
The stem of the Oat-grass is round and shining; its leaves are lance- 
shaped, narrow, pointed, and rather hairy. The herbage has a bitter un- 
pleasant flavour, and it is this bitterness probably which makes it unpalatable 
to cattle, otherwise it would be a valuable pasture grass, both on account of 
the early growth of its foliage and the large supply which it yields. 
21. (9) Hoty-crass (Hierdchloe). 
Northern Holy-grass (H. boredlis).—Panicle straggling ; stalks of the 
spikelets smooth; glumes egg-shaped, unequal ; flowering glumes awnless ; 
rootstock creeping. Perennial. This grass has a thick stem, a foot or a foot 
and a half high. Its panicle is composed of rather large purplish-brown 
spikelets, with very conspicuous pale brown anthers. It is an extremely 
rare grass, being found only on wet banks in Caithness. Its scent is sweet, 
like that of our Vernal-grass, and it takes its English familiar name from the 
uses to which it is applied in some parts of Germany, where the plant is 
dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and strewed in the aisles of churches and 
around the doorways on festival days. It grows in abundance in Iceland, 
and there, as in other parts of Northern Europe, it is laid in bundles among 
linen, or hung up in rooms, for its fragrance. Its odour is also believed to 
cause sleep, and in Sweden it is sold in bundles for this use. 
22. (33) KOELERIA (Koeléria). 
Crested Koeleria (K. cristata).—Panicle compact and spike-like, inter- 
rupted below; glumes flattened, acute; flowering glumes white and thin, 
Perennial. ‘This rare, or rather local plant, grows in dry pastures near the 
sea, mostly in the north. Its downy stem varies from a foot to a foot and a 
half in height ; its leaves are rough, and fringed on the edges. It flowers in 
June and July, and its spikelets vary as to downiness, being sometimes quite 
smooth, and of a greenish silvery hue. 
23. (31) Moor-Grass (Sesléria). 
Blue Moor-grass (8. cwviilew).—Panicle oval, slightly one-sided ; outer 
flowering glume jagged, and with a short point. Perennial. This is a very 
beautiful early flowering grass, bearing its short greyish-green cluster from 
Iv.—10 
