GRASS TRIBE 87 
acquiring a brownish tinge in sunny spots, its longer and harsher peduncles 
(foot-stalks) than those of B. mdllis, and racemédsus, and its flowering glumes 
larger and more inflated than in B. secalinus, and arvénsis.” This is a 
nutritive grass, useful in the spring. 
8. Soft Brome-grass (B. millis).—Panicle erect, close ; spikelets egg- 
shaped, somewhat flattened, downy ; glumes overlapping each other closely, 
and about as long as the straight awn. In one form the panicle is unbranched, 
the spikelets are on very short stalks, and, as well as the leaves, thickly 
covered with down. This is among our most common grasses, growing in 
almost every meadow, as well as on the sunny banks of our road-sides, and 
in field borders. It has an erect downy stem a foot or a foot and a half high, 
and its leaves and sheaths are hairy. It flowers in May and June. The 
spikelets are large, but smaller than those of the last two species, and are of 
a very beautiful bright, but not deep green, the chaffy edges of their flower- 
ing glumes showing so plainly that they look as if variegated with white and 
green. Both empty and flowering glumes are somewhat downy, and this 
feature distinguishes the plant from £. racemdsus, in which these parts, 
instead of being soft to the touch, are rather rough. The panicle is two or 
three inches long. The very downy variety is found on sandy ground in 
Cornwall ; it is of a less bright green colour than the ordinary form. The 
farmer includes the Soft Brome-grass with the Barren species among his 
worthless grasses. 
9. Smooth Brome-grass (B. racemésus).—Panicle close, long and 
upright, usually with each spikelet on a short stalk, but sometimes with 
slightly divided branches; spikelets egg-shaped, slightly flattened, over- 
lapping each other ; awn straight, about as long as the glume. This appears 
to differ from the last species chiefly in being smooth instead of downy. It 
grows commonly in meadows and pasture lands ; flowering in June and July, 
and its shining spikelets are usually of a lighter green than those of the last 
species. Its erect round stem is a foot and a half or two feet high. Its 
herbage shoots early in the spring ; but it is not a valuable grass, and grows 
chiefly on poor soils. 
10. Taper Field Brome-grass (B. arvénsis).—Panicle upright, spread- 
ing, branched ; the partial flower-stalks longer than the narrow flattened 
spikelets ; flowering glume shorter than the straight awn ; anthers remarkably 
long and narrow. In this plant the glumes usually acquire a purple tinge, 
and the flower-stalks are longer than in the preceding species. It is a 
naturalized grass, flowering in July and August, and is a lighter, prettier, 
and more graceful species than the last, with spikelets much smaller than 
those of most Brome-grasses. 
1l. Spreading Brome-grass (B. pdtulus).—Panicle erect, spreading 
loose, drooping in fruit, the lower stalks much lengthened, and either simple 
or branched ; spikelets lance-shaped, flattened ; glumes rather shorter than 
the nearly straight awn. Annual. This grass, which is nearly allied to the 
preceding, is not native. It has been accidentally introduced with ballast or 
foreign grain, and occurs only casually. 
12. Corn Brome-grass (B. squarrésus).—Panicle drooping, branches 
undivided ; spikelets oblong, somewhat flattened; glumes overlapping each 
