GRASS TRIBE 77 
infrequent grass on muddy sea-shores of England, though rare in Ireland, 
and absent from Scotland. The stem, which is round and smooth, always 
bends more or less at the base, and is from half a foot to a foot long, bearing, 
in June and July, its compact cluster, about two inches long, of small grass- 
ereen spikelets, turning all one way on their branches, which stand in two 
rows on the stem. Mr. Knapp remarks of this grass, that at Hartlepool, 
where seaweeds were burnt in order to obtain an alkaline salt for the alum 
works at Whitby, after showers of rain an alkaline lixivium floated in the 
yard from the stacks of sea-weed, destroying all vegetation; yet that this 
Grass, though not frequent in the neighbourhood, luxuriated there abun- 
dantly. 
7. Hard Meadow-grass (P. rigida).—Panicle compact, erect, rigid, 
with branches in two rows, the branches being sometimes undivided so as to 
form a raceme ; spikelets small and narrow, 7—10 flowered ; glumes unequal 
and acute. Annual. This little wiry hard grass, with its rigid cluster one 
or two inches long, is common in June, on dry heaths, old walls, and rocks 
near the sea. ‘The branches of the panicle are short and rough, or some- 
times almost wanting ; the spikelets growing close to the stem on very short 
stalks. The wiry erect stem is rarely more than five inches high, and the 
leaves very narrow, flat, and tapering at the point. The roots take very 
little hold of the soil. Also known as Festuca rigida. 
8. Dwarf Wheat Meadow-grass (P. lolidcea).—Panicle racemose, 
rigid, usually one-sided, very rarely branched ; spikelets narrow and oblong, 
8—12-flowered ; glumes blunt, nearly equal. Annual. This grass is much 
like P. rigida, equally stiff and wiry, and of about the same height. The 
spikelets are mostly arranged down the main stem on alternate, short, stout, 
foot-stalks, more or less distant, each stalk bearing one spikelet, and all turn- 
ing one way. It flowers in June, and grows on sandy soils and on rocks, 
but is not, like the last species, a common plant. Its stem is stout and 
slightly curved. Also known as Festuca loliacea. 
9, Flat-stemmed Meadow-grass (P. compréssa).—Panicle rather one- 
sided and close, but spreading when in flower ; spikelets oblong or somewhat 
egg-shaped, 5—7-flowered ; rootstock creeping, with long runners. Perennial. 
There are two varieties of this grass; one having three silky nerves on the 
flowering glume, and its flowers connected by a web; and another in which 
the nerves are five in number, and the flowers free. This Meadow-grass is 
readily distinguished by its flat stem, which bends at the base, is rather 
stout, and usually more than a foot high. The panicle, which opens in June 
and July, is little branched, of a sea-green tint, often more or less tinged 
with purple ; the leaves grow early in spring, but are not numerous; they 
are short, narrow, and tapering to a point. In the variety in which the 
flowering glume is 5-nerved, the stem is flattened and has many knots, and 
the branches of the panicle are short. This grass is frequent on dry, stony 
places, and on the top of walls in Britain, but is rare in Ireland. 
10. Smooth-stalked Meadow-grass (P. praténsis).—Panicle loose 
and spreading ; spikelets oblong, of about four flowers ; stem smooth, upper 
sheath much longer than its leaf; rootstock creeping, with runners. Peren- 
nial. This species is in early spring one of our greenest grasses, and to it 
