175 



AYENA FATUA. 



LiNNiEus. Smith. Hooker and Arnott. Paenell. Knapp. 



WiLLDENOW. MaRTYN. DoN. ScHRADER. 



Host. Leers. Ehehaet. Schreber. Koch. Lindley. Withering. 



Hudson. Kunth. Hull. Relhan. 

 Sibthorp. Abbot. Winch. Macreight. Babington. Deakin. Hales. 



PLATE I,IX. 



The Wild Oat-Grass. 



Avena — Oat. Fatua — Wild. 



Avena. LinncEus. — The Oat-Grass has a lax panicle and laterally com- 

 pressed spikelets. Awns long and twisted. In this family is the Aveiia 

 sativa, or Cultivated Oat, an introduced species. Amongst our indigenous 

 species oxe Avena fatua, A.^strigosa, A. pratensis, A. puhescens, A.flavescens, 

 and A. planiculmis; the latter has only been collected by one botanist, Mr. 

 Murray, who discovered it at Glen Saunos, in the Isle of Arran. 



The Wild Oat-Grass is a common species in England and 

 Ireland, yet much rarer in Scotland. It chiefly grows in corn- 

 fields, and is a troublesome weed. 



The awns, from their extreme sensitiveness to the moisture 

 of the air, are manufactured into Hygrometers. The florets are 

 also occasionally used as artificial flies for trout- fishing. 



Native of France, Italy, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Lapland, 

 Asia, and Northern Africa. 



Stem upright, circular, and polished, having four or five flat, 

 linear, rough, minutely-ribbed leaves, with smooth striated 

 sheaths. Joints smooth. Inflorescence simple-panicled. Panicle 

 spreading, and of large size. Rachis smooth, branches rough. 



