86 GRAMINEAL 
brown, and their awns are at all times very conspicuous. The stem of this 
grass is 1 or 2 feet high, faintly marked with lines; the leaves broad, flat, 
tapering to a point, and downy. It is one of our commonest grasses, and 
one which often mingles among the clustered grasses in the winter bouquet. 
It flowers in June. Cattle never eat it. 
4. Upright Annual Brome-grass (B. didndrus).—Panicle erect, with 
scarcely divided branches ; the long narrow spikelets mostly on short stalks, 
rising directly from the stem ; flowers erect, about as long as the straight 
awn. In one form (var. rigidus), having a compact panicle, the stem, branches, 
and glumes are downy ; in another (var. curtisii), the stem is smooth, except 
at the upper part, and the branches are rough. This is an annual grass, rare, 
and of little or no service to the agriculturist. It is found on sandy barren 
spots, chiefly in the south of England, grows below St. Vincent’s Rocks near 
Bristol, in the Channel Islands, and at Tipperary. The round smooth stem 
is about a foot high, the panicle smaller than in the last species, and always 
upright ; the spikelets are large and often of a purplish hue, and the some- 
what hairy leaves are long and taper to a point. Its flowers have usually 
2 stamens. Also known as Bromus madritensis. 
5. Great Brome-grass (. mdzximus).—Panicle loose, upright at first, 
but finally drooping, the branches little divided and becoming longer after 
flowering ; spikelets downy ; flowers distant from each other, and about half 
the length of the straight awn ; flowering glume about half as long as its 
awn. Annual. This handsome grass is remarkable for its long awns. It 
is 1 or 2 feet high, the leaves downy on both sides. It flowers in June and 
July on sandy places in the Channel Islands. 
6. Smooth Rye Brome-grass (B. secalinus).—Panicle loose, its branches 
little divided ; spikelets large, oblong, flat; awn straight, about as long as 
the glume ; the edges of the flowering glumes not overlapping those of the 
glumes above them. ‘This is a conspicuous plant when, in June and July, 
its panicle, 3 or 4 inches long, and composed of large flat spikelets, on very 
slender branches, stands on a stem 2 or 3 feet high. The branches of the 
panicle are hairy, and the yellowish-green spikelets polished. The leaves 
too are hairy, especially so on the upper surface ; and as the grass ripens, the 
florets become distinct and the spikelets droop. The seeds are said to impart 
a bitterness to flour if accidentally mingled with wheat, and the large size of 
the grass renders it a very troublesome plant in the rye or wheat field, where 
it is not unfrequent. It is considered a doubtful native. 
7. Tumid Field Brome-grass (JB. commutdtus).—Panicle loose, slightly 
drooping, the branches divided ; the simple flower-stalks as long as or longer 
than the oblong spikelets ; glumes overlapping each other, but not closely, 
about as long as the straight awn; sheaths hairy. This is a common grass, 
its herbage growing very early in the year, and its flowers expanding in June 
and July, by road-sides and in corn-fields. The spikelets are long and glossy, 
not so broad as those of the last species, often tinged with purple, and the 
stem is sometimes three feet high, and rough, as are also the branches of the 
panicle and the leaves. Sir W. J. Hooker remarks in his British Flora, 
“«This species,’ says Mr. H. Watson, who has studied the British Brome- 
grasses with great attention, ‘is known by its glossy grey-green spikelets 
