40 GRASSES OF SCOTLAND. 



than its leaf, crowned with a long lanceolate jagged ligule. Joints 

 naked. Leaves narrow, spreading, acute, ribbed, rough on both sur- 

 faces. Inflorescence compound panicled, loose, spreading. Panicle 

 large, silky in appearance, leaning to one side and elegantly waving 

 with the wind ; its branches slender, rough, finely subdivided, ar- 

 ranged in alternate bundles, the middle branch being the largest ; 

 rachis mostly smooth and polished. Spikelets numerous, small, of one- 

 awned floret equal in length to the calyx. Calyx of two unequal 

 acute glumes, (Fig. 1), rough on the keels, the large glume the up- 

 permost, three- ribbed. Floret of two paleae, (Fig. 2), the outer palea 

 of an ovate-lanceolate form, roughish, faintly three-ribbed, furnished 

 with a tuft of hairs at the base. Awn rough, long, and slender, aris- 

 ing from a little below the summit, more than three times the length of 

 the palea. Inner palea linear, membranous, rather shorter than the 

 outer palea, biffid at the summit, the margins entire. Seeds very 

 smooth, 



Obs. — The great length of the awn compared with the length of the 

 floret will readily distinguish this grass. It is separated from the 

 genus Agrostis in the lower glume being smaller than the upper 

 glume, wliilst in agrostis the lower glume is the largest. 



This is one of the rarest grasses we have in Scotland ; found only 

 on the Fifeshire coast. In England, it is met with in Northumber- 

 land, Durham, Cumberland, Lancashire, York, Warwick, Berks, 

 Beds, Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Sur- 

 rey, and Kent, but unknown in Ireland. It is a native of the middle 

 and south of Europe. It has not been discovered either in Lapland, 

 Norway, or Sweden, and no mention is made of its existence in Ame- 

 rica. It grows in light, sandy soil, especially w^hen it is occasionally 

 overflowed. Flowers in June and July. 



26. Milium effusum.* 

 Spreading Millet Grass. 



Specific Characters. — Branches of the panicle loose, spreading, 

 (Plate XVII.) 



* Milium effusum.) Linn. Smith, Hooker, Lindley, Grcville, Koch. 



