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Aira caryophyllea. Silver Hair-grass. 
Insignificant in bulk, though decidedly pretty. This grass is 
probably of slight value. It grows not unfrequently on dry sandy 
or gravelly banks, even where not overburdened with soil. + It is 
about six or eight inches high, and may be distinguished by the 
sheen of its bright silvery spikes. 
Aira precox. Early Hair-grass. 
More dwarfish in habit than the preceding. In light sandy 
ground, frequent. It is specially abundant in some of the sea-side 
fields below Coulderton. Probably the least of our local grasses ; 
seldom exceeding four or five inches in height. 
Avena flavescens. Yellow Oat-grass. 
~ In all our best meadows and pasture lands a frequent constituent. 
Like the Vernal Grass, it is not adapted for cultivation by itself. 
The weight of its produce is but moderate; and it owes its value 
chiefly to the bitter extractive which its leaves contain. I once 
found a most elegant variety of this grass in a railway cutting near 
Baggrow. 
Avena pratensis. Narrow-leaved Oat-grass. 
A local rather than a rare species, with which I was unfamiliar 
until within the last few years. I have seen it growing in the 
railway cuttings southward of St. Bees, and in several parts of 
Leath Ward, towards Penrith. Although of more robust habit 
than A. flavescens, it is reputed to be inferior in feeding properties 
to that grass. 
Avena elatior. Tall Oat-like Soft-grass. 
This is one of our larger and more robust grasses, as it is also 
one of the most abundant and widely distributed. Its produce 
per acre far exceeds the average in weight, but its nutritive matter 
is extremely saline and bitter; hence it cannot be cultivated 
separately with advantage. A bulbous-rooted type of this species 
is familiarly designated “button-twitch,” in some parts of Cumber- 
land. 
