HORTUS GRAMINEUS WOBURNENSIS. 263 



declines till the seventh or eighth, when it become^ so thin and 

 diminutive as hardly to amount to one-sixth of the above : this 

 is the case with creeping roots in general ; but, though they im- 

 poverish thus the soil for their own maintenance, nevertheless 

 the fibrous-rooted species succeed well when planted on the 

 ground so impoverished by the creeping roots of the Festuca 

 rubra : the nutritive rtiatter of the creeping roots consists almost 

 entirely of mucilage, while the greater proportion of the nutritive 

 matters of the fibrous species {F, durhiscula, F. Camhrica, and 

 F. glabra,) consists of saccharine and bitter extractive matters. 



I found this species, last summer, growing in the sands, within 

 high-water mark, on the coast near Skegness; the roots penetrated 

 deeply into the loose sand, and the culms, in some instances, 

 were nearly two feet high. Plants brought from these sands were 

 planted in the grass-garden, where they grew not more luxuri- 

 antly, although planted in heath soil; but the colour of the foliage 

 appeared more healthy, being of a deeper green colour. 



Flowers in the third week of June, and ripens the seed in the 

 second week of July. 



FESTUCA dumetorum. Pubescent Wood-fescue. 



Specific character: Panicle branches pointing in many direc- 

 tions; spikelets pubescent; leaves thread-shaped. Wither. 

 Arr. ii. p. 154 ; Flo. Dan. 700. ? 



Obs. — Spikelets straddling, some pointing upwards, some 

 slanting, some nearly horizontal. (Wither.) — The whole 

 plant is of a light glaucous colour, the spikelets nearly white 

 with the numerous fine hairs that clothe them. Culms 

 slanting ; leaves long, slender, and pointing downwards. The 

 peculiar pubescence of the spikelets, and the distorted figure 

 of the panicle, which remains unaltered from seed, particu- 

 larly distinguishes this species from the hard, smooth, Welsh, 

 and creeping fescues. 



German, Hartlicher'Schwingel. 



Native of Britain. Root perennial, slightly creeping. 



Experiments. — At the time of flowering, the produce from a 

 rich black, sandy soil, incumbent on clay, is — 



Produce per Acre, 

 dr. qr. lbs. 



Grass, 16 oz. The produce per acre - - 10890 



80 dr. of grass weigh, when dry - 40 ) _ . . _ 

 The produce of the space, ditto - 128 i 



