200 GRASSES OF BRITAIN. 



Lagurus o vat us, 



Hair^ s-tail- Grass. 



Plate LXXXVIII. 



Specific Character. — Outer palea terminating in two, slender, 

 rough, bristles. 



Description. — Root annual, fibrous. Stem erect, round, smooth, 

 hollow and striated ; from three to nine inches high ; bearing four or 

 five leaves with soft, downy, inflated sheaths ; upper sheath longer 

 than its leaf. Ligule prominent, obtuse, embracing the stem. Joints 

 usually three, mostly covered by the sheaths. Leaves rather short, 

 broad, flat, acute, covered on both surfaces with soft downy hairs. 

 Liflorescence compound panicled, of an ovate form, usually about 

 an inch in length, at first erect, at length bending slightly to a side, 

 the branches short, numerous, clustered. Spikelets crowded, com- 

 posed of two, long, hairy glumes and one floret. Glumes of equal 

 lengths, fringed with long, soft, white hairs. Floret about one-third 

 shorter than the glumes, of two palese, the outer palea rough, five- 

 ribbed, hairy at the base, terminating in two, slender, rough bristles, 

 and furnished with a long dorsal awn. Inner palea about the length 

 of the outer, thin, narrow, and roughish on the lateral folds. Aicn 

 arising from a little below the bifid summit of the outer palea, and 

 extending considerably beyond the palea, rough its whole length, and 

 slightly bent a little below its centre. Styles two, very short. Stig- 

 mas feathery. Filaments three, slender. Anthers cloven at each 

 end. Scales acute. 



Obs. — The pale soft head of this grass is so striking a character, 

 that it is not likely to be mistaken for any other British grass. I 

 have known, however, some varieties of Alopecurus prate7isis mistaken 

 for it, but the form of the spikelets are totally different. 



As a British grass it is very rare, found only on sandy ground in 

 the north and west of Guernsey. It is also a native of Asia. 



Lagurus oratus, Linn., Koch, Kuntli, Smith, Hooker, Bab., Line!., Knapp, With. 



