GRASS FAMILY 553 



2.* S. glauca (Glaucous Bristle-grass). — A very similar plant ; 

 panicle i — i j in. long ; flowering glume transversely wrinkled. — A 

 cornfield casual, Weybridge, Surrey. — Fl. September. Annual. 



3.* S. verticilldta (Rough Bristle-grass or Panic). — Another very 

 similar species ; but with a narrower, rather loose panicle ; down- 

 ward pointing barbs to the bristles ; and a smooth flowering glume. 

 — Cultivated fields near London and Norwich. — Fl. July, August. 

 Annual. 



4. Spartina (Cord-grass). — Spikelets i-flowered, \ in. long, 

 laterally compressed, sessile in 2 rows along one side of the erect, 

 spike-like branches of a raceme ; glumes 3, lowest smaller, second 

 5-nerved ; flowering glume shorter, i -nerved, awnless ; styles long, 

 united half-way up. (Name from the Greek spartine, a cord, from 

 a use to which the leaves have been put.) 



1. S. stricta (Common Cord-grass). — A remarkably stiff, erect 

 grass, with a long, branched, creeping root-stock; stems 1 — il feet, 

 stout, polished, leafy ; leaves erect, leathery, pointed, glaucous 

 above, with blades jointed to their sheaths ; spikes 2 or 3, ad- 

 pressed, 1 — 3 in. long ; outer glume i -nerved, hairy ; rachis 

 scarcely extending beyond the last spikelet. — Muddy salt marshes 

 in the south ; local. It is cut at Southampton by the poorer 

 classes for thatching. — Fl. July — September. Perennial. 



2.^ S. alternifldra (Many-spiked Cord-grass). — A larger species, 

 2 — 3 feet high ; leaves with blades not jointed to the sheaths ; 

 spikes 3 — 8 ; outer glume 5-nerved, glabrous except on its keel ; 

 rachis produced beyond the last spikelet. — Mud flats, Southamp- 

 ton. — Fl. August. Perennial. 



3. S. Townsendi, a still larger form, with shorter leaves ; broader, 

 larger spikelets ; more lanceolate, downy glumes; and a flexuous 

 tip to the rachis ; has recently spread along the shores of South- 

 ampton Water, the Beaulieu River, Poole Harbour, and the Isle 

 of Wight. 



5. Leersia (Cut grass), of which L. oryzoides is the only 

 British species, has a smooth, shining stem, 2 — 3 feet high, leafy 

 and hairy at the nodes ; broad, rough, glaucous leaves with a 

 truncate, torn ligule ; panicle few-flowered, very loose, with 

 slender, wavy branches, mostly enclosed in the leaf-sheath ; 

 spikelets shortly stalked, laterally compressed, consisting of only 2 

 parchment-like glumes. — Wet places, Surrey, Sussex, and Hants. 

 (Named in honour of John Daniel Leers, a German botanist.) — 

 Fl. August — October. Perennial. 



6. Phalaris (Reed-grass). — Spikelets i-flowered, much com- 

 pressed laterally, in panicles, awnless ; glumes boat-shaped, keeled. 



