564 



GRAMINE^ 



graceful species; stems 2 — 12 in. high, bent below, rough, often 



purplish ; leaves short, bristle-like, blunt, with rough sheaths; 



panicle i — 2 in. long, very spreading, 

 with long, triply forked branches. — 

 Dry places ; common. — Fl. June, 

 July. Annual. 



6. A. prd^cox (Early Hair-grass). — 

 A similar but smaller species, not 

 more than 6 in. high, greener, with 

 smooth leaf-sheaths and a close, 

 oblong, spike-like panicle, | — i in. 

 long, with short branches. — Dry 

 places ; common. — Fl. April, May. 

 Annual. 



21. CORYNEPHORUS, of which C. 



canescens (Grey Hair-grass) is the 

 only British species, is a tufted, 

 slender plant, less than a foot 

 high, with numerous short, bristle- 

 like, glaucous leaves with rough 

 sheaths ; panicle rather dense, i — 3 

 in. long, spreading in flower, with 

 short branches ; spikelets variegated 

 with purple and white ; glumes with 

 slender, transparent tips ; flowering 

 glume shorter, with a bent, sub-basal 

 awn, bearded at the joint, and 

 thickening into a club-shaped tip ; 

 anthers purple ; fruit grooved, adnate 

 to the flowering glume and pale. — 

 Sandy coasts of Norfolk, Suffolk, and 

 the Channel Islands. — Fl. June, 

 July. Perennial. (Name from the 

 Greek koru7iephoros, a mace-bearer.) 



22. HoLCUS (Soft-grass).— ^Z??^^- 

 lets numerous, much compressed 

 laterally, in an open panicle, 2- 

 flowered ; lower flower perfect, awn- 

 less ; upper staminate, with a twisted 



h6lcus m6llis iCreeptng- Soft.grass\ dorsal awn to its 5-nerved flowenng 



glume. (Name said to be from the 

 Greek holkos, connected with helko, I draw, referring to a supposed 

 power of drawing thorns out of the flesh.) 



