140 CYNOSURUS CRISTATUS. 
half in length, linear, green when young, eventually brown. 
Spikelets consisting of three to five florets, having at the base 
a handsome pectinated involucre, which, together with the 
spikelets, point to one side of the rachis. Calyx of two narrow 
membranous glumes, destitute of lateral ribs. Florets of two 
pale; exterior one of basal floret extending beyond the calyx, 
form ovate-lanceolate, indistinctly five-ribbed; inner palea mem- 
branous, almost transparent. Length twelve to eighteen inches. 
Root perennial, fibrous, and tufted. 
Flowers at the beginning of July, seeds become ripe in the 
middle of August. 
The specimen illustrated was gathered at Highfield House. 
