94 GRAMINEAE 
3, Creeping Wheat, or Couch-grass (7. répens).—Spike very long ; 
spikelets 4—8-flowered ; empty glumes lance-shaped, with or without awns ; 
flowering glume sharply pointed, or rarely with a short awn. In one form 
the rachis is smooth or downy, but always with short ascending bristles on 
the angles; in another the rachis is quite smooth. ‘The second form, which 
is found near the sea, is of a pale sea-green colour, and is distinguished by 
having its flowers awned, and the edges of its leaves rolled inwards. The 
creeping perennial rootstock of this Couch-grass is but too well known to 
the agriculturist, rendering this one of the most troublesome of all the weeds 
which he has to contend with. The plant is very abundant on many arable 
lands, as well as on waste places, often giving a green colour to patches of a 
hedge-bank in winter, when its flat, rather dark green, and somewhat rough 
leaves hang about the slope. Its roots are most difficult of extirpation, and 
will retain their vitality amid many injuries. It flowers in the summer 
months, and its spike occupies about a third part of its stem, which is round, 
erect, smooth, marked with lines, and one or two feet high. The roots or 
underground stems are very sweet and nutritious, cattle of all kinds being 
fond of their shoots, which are found to contain three times as much nourish- 
ment as the stem and leaves. They have been recommended as suitable to 
be used in brewing table-beer. The Couch-grass is as common in most other 
European countries as in ours, and abounds even in Siberia. It is known to 
our farmers by several familiar names, as White Couch, Twitch, Stroil, and 
Quickens. There are several varieties beyond those mentioned. 
4, Fibrous-rooted Wheat-grass (7. caninum).—Spike very long, 
slightly inclining ; the spikelets near together, 2—5-flowered ; empty glumes 
lance-shaped, 3—4 ribbed, awned, as is the flowering glume. Perennial. In 
one variety of this grass, found on Ben Lawers, the spikelets are 4—5- 
flowered, the awn longer than its glume, and the leaves rough on both sides ; 
in another the awn is very short, and the leaves quite smooth, except on the 
margins. This is a very common grass in woods and hedges, and is dis- 
tinguished from the last by its roots, which consist of numerous downy 
fibres. Its round, erect, leafy stem is from two to four feet high, the leaves 
are flat, of a dark green colour, the spikelets being seated on the rachis in 
two rows, and forming a spike three or four inches long. This plant flowers 
in June and July, and is called Dog’s-wheat, because this, and probably the 
other species, are eaten medicinally by these animals. All the species have, 
when their foliage is bruised, a strong odour unlike that of other grasses. 
Many botanists recognise this genus by Gertner’s name of Agropyrum. 
38. (43) FALSE BroME-GRASS (Brachypdédium). 
1. Slender False Brome-grass (B. sylvdticum).—Spike drooping ; 
spikelets nearly cylindrical, inclining one way ; awns longer than their glumes. 
Perennial. This grass and the next have been placed by some botanists either 
among the Fescue, Brome, or Wheat grasses, and they seem to hold an inter- 
mediate place between the two latter. The Slender False Brome-grass is of 
no value to the agriculturist, as cattle seldom touch it. It grows in woods 
and hedges, especially in the western counties, flowering in June and July. 
Its stem is round and smooth, two feet high ; its leaves flaccid, broad, hairy 
