GRASS FAMILY 



569 



grass) is the only British species, is a tufted plant with stems 

 6 — 12 in. high; short, linear, glaucous radical leaves with small 

 rough points; panicle oblong, rather i-sided, | — | in. long, dark 

 blue-grey or lead colour. — Limestone and micaceous rocks ; local 

 in the north, and in the west of Ireland. (Named in honour 

 of Leonard Sesler, an Italian botanist.) — Fl. i\pril — June. Pe- 

 rennial. 



PHRAGMITES COMMUNIS {Comvion Reed). 



30. Cynostjrus (Dog's-tail). — Spikelets in a i -sided, spike-like 

 panicle, 2 — 5-flowered, with bristly comb-like glumes below them, 

 awnless. (Name from the Greek our a, tail, kimos, of a dog.) 



I. C. cristdtus (Crested Dog's-tail). — Slightly tufted, with 

 runners ; stems slender, erect, about a foot high ; leaves short, 

 narrow, with 2-fid ligules ; spike i — 4 in. long, simple, unilateral ; 

 ■flowering glumes shortly awned. — Pastures ; abundant. A useful 

 grass ; but the wiry stalks when not eaten by sheep remain in a 



