IIORTUS GRAMINEUS WOBU KN EN SI S. 245 



Hortus Kewensis it is said to have been cultivated, in 1758, 

 by Mr. Philip Miller. 



ELYMUS hystrix. Rough Lyme-grass. 



Specific character : Spike upright; spikelets without the 

 involucre, spreading. 



Native of the Levant. Root perennial. 

 Experiments. — At the time of flowering, the produce Irom 

 a rich siliceous sandy loam is 27,225 lbs. per acre. 



The harsh, broad, thin, light-green leaves of this species, 

 and likewise of those of the e. striatus and e. Sibericus, indi- 

 cate that they are naturally inhabitants of woods or wet 

 shady places, and there is no authority for recommending 

 the I'ough lyme-grass to the notice of the agriculturist. 



It flowers in the second week of July, and ripens the seed 

 in the second week of August. 



ELYMUS arenarius. Upright Sea Lyme-grass, Starr, or 

 Bent. 



Specific character : Spike upright, close; main stalk not 



winged ; calyx lanceolate, the length of the spikelets ; 



leaves spinous-pointed. — Fig. 1. Spikelet. 2. Floret. 



3. Germen. 

 Native of Britain. Root perennial. 

 Experiments. — At the time the seed is ripe, the produce 



from a clayey loam is 43,560 lbs. per acre. 



The nutritive matter afforded by this lyme-grass is remark- 

 able for the large quantity of saccharine matter which it 

 contains, amounting to more than one-third of its weight ; 

 this grass may therefore be considered as the sugar-cane of 

 Britain. The saccharine matter must render the hay made 

 from this grass very nutritious, particularly when cut into 

 chaff, and mixed with corn or common hay. Its natural soil 

 (if soil it can be called) are the blowing sands on the sea- 

 coast. The arnudo arenaria, poa maritima, and festuca 

 rubra, I found in company with the elymus arenarius, on the 

 sands near Skegness, Lincolnshire. The sand-hills on tlie 

 shore near that place were formed by the e. arenarius and 



