1 36 GRASSES OF SCOTLAND. 



ribbed ; awn of the outer palea longer than the palea ; — whereas in 

 T. repens the root is extensively creeping ; glumes more than three- 

 ribbed ; awn when present not the length of the palea. 



Triticum caninum may be considered as one of the most valuable 

 among the early grasses, for, although it does not flower before the 

 first week of July, it affords a large crop of nutritive herbage early 

 in spring, which horses, cows, and sheep eat with avidity. It grows 

 naturally in moist woods and damp shady situations, and will thrive 

 well when cultivated in open places, in almost any kind of soil ex- 

 cept that which is tenacious and retentive of moisture. 



It is a frequent grass in Scotland, England, and Ireland ; also a 

 native of Lapland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, 

 Portugal, Switzerland, Iceland, and Siberia. Found also in the 

 United States, but is reported to have been introduced. Its limit of 

 altitude is about 500 feet above the sea. 



Flowers in the first week of July, and ripens its seed in the early 

 part of August. 



00. Triticum repens. * 

 Creeping Wheat-Grass. 



Specific Characters. — Root creeping. Rachis rough. Stem 

 smooth. Leaves smooth on the lower half of the outer surface 

 (Plate LXII.) 



Description. — It grows from one to two feet high. The root is pe-. 

 rennial, creeping. Stem erect, round, smooth, and striated, bearing 

 five or six flat leaves with smooth striated sheaths ; the upper sheath 

 shorter than its leaf, crowned with a very short obtuse ligule. Joints 

 smooth, the two uppermost very remote. Leaves dark green, acute, 

 frequently all directed to one side ; upper leaf broader than those of 

 the root, roughish, and frequently hairy on the inner surface, 

 smooth behind on the lower half. Inflorescence spiked. Spike erect, 

 about one-fifth the length of the stem, with the margins of the rachis 

 rough. Spikelets of an oval form, arranged alternately in two rows 

 on the zig-zag rachis ; of four to five awnless florets. Calyx of two 



* Triticum repens, Linn. Kocli, Smith, Hooker, Lindlcv, Grcville. 

 3 



