92 GRASSES OF SCOTLAND. 



61. POA DISTANS.* 



Rejiexed Meadow- Grass. 



Specific Characters. — Florets not webbed. Rachis and branches 

 rough. Spikelets linear. Glumes three-ribbed. Outer palea ob- 

 tuse, five-ribbed. Upper sheath longer than its leaf. (Plate XLI.) 



Description. — It grows from twelve to eighteen inches high. The 

 root is perennial, fibrous. Stem erect, round, smooth, frequently de- 

 cumbent at the base ; bearing four leaves with smooth striated sheaths ; 

 the upper sheath longer than its leaf, crowned with an obtuse ligule ; 

 second sheath most frequently reaching beyond the first joint. Joints 

 three, smooth. Leaves mostly flat, acute, very seldom folded, rough- 

 ish on the inner surface, smooth behind. Inflorescence compound pa- 

 nicled. Panicle erect, with slender rough branches arranged on the 

 rachis, at certain distances, in pairs, threes, or fives : the lower bran- 

 ches ultimately becoming rigidly bent dotmiwards, assuming a very 

 striking appearance. In the early stage of growth the branches are 

 erect and close. Spikelets linear (Fig. 3) ; when young, somewhat 

 elliptical, usually of five obtuse florets ; the summit of the lowermost 

 floret extending considerably beyond the larger glume of the calyx. 

 Calyx of two unequal membranous obtuse glumes, (Fig. 1,) three- 

 ribbed ; the outer glume rather more than half the length of the inner 

 one. Florets not webbed; oftwopalese, (Fig.2); the outer palea of lower- 

 most floret flve-ribbed, the middle rib not extending to the summit, 

 (Fig. 4) ; smooth and slightly hairy at the base ; lateral ribs naked. 

 Inner palea about equal in length to the outer palea, with two mar- 

 ginal ribs delicately fringed. 



Obs. — Poa distans is closely allied to Poa maritima, but differs 

 from it in the spikelets being smaller, and the rachis and branches 

 rough to the touch ; — whereas in P. maritima the rachis and bran- 

 ches are quite smooth to the touch. (See Plate XLII.) 



From Poa procumbens, in the branches of the panicle spreading, 

 the lower ones ultimately becoming deflexed and scarcely unilateral. 

 The ribs of the glumes not prominent, and the dorsal rib oHhe outer 



* Poa distans, Linn., Hooker. Glyceria distans, Smith, Koch. Festuca distams, Kimth. 

 Poa retroflexa, Curtis. 



