104 POA AQUATICA. 
Abroad it is a native of France, Italy, Germany, Norway, 
Russia, Sweden, and North America. 
Stem erect, strong, smooth, striated, bearing seven or eight 
flat, lengthy, broad, rough-pointed leaves, with harsh sheaths, 
the upper one longer than its leaf, and having at its apex a 
brief, broad ligule. Joints smooth, six to eight in number. 
Inflorescence compound-panicled. Panicle upright, large, branches 
rough, situated alternately in half-whorls on the rachis. Spike- 
lets many, upright, having from four to eight florets, the upper 
ones large and ovate, the others smaller and narrower. Calyx 
consisting of two membranous, unequal-sized, blunt glumes, 
destitute of lateral ribs. Florets not webbed, consisting of two 
awnless pale. The exterior palea of lowest floret seven-ribbed. 
Stigmas compound and plumose. Styles larger than the stigmas. 
Length from three to six feet. Root perennial and creeping. 
Flowers about the middle of July, and ripens its seed in a 
month. 
The specimen for illustration was gathered near Gee-Cross, 
Cheshire, by Mr. Joseph Sidebotham, of Manchester. 
