250 GRASSES OF BRITAIN. 



BucETUM LOLiACEUM (variety) longiglume. 



Long-glumed Bucetum- Grass. 



Plate CXIII. 



There is no grass at first sight more likely to be mistaken for the 

 common rye-grass (Lolium perenne) than the present one, but if 

 we examine the two plants closely they will be found to differ 

 widely. In the plant under consideration the spikelets have two 

 glumes on a short though distinct footstalk, (see Fig. 1) ; — while in 

 the rye -grass the spikelets have but one glume, (the terminal one ex- 

 cepted,) and that perfectly sessile on the rachis. 



That this grass is the true Festuca loliacea of Hudson there seems 

 but little doubt, and that it has frequently been confounded with the 

 following variety, as well as with Bucetum loliaceum described in page 

 104. Independent of the length of the upper glume, it is distin- 

 guished by the glumes being flat, the upper one with seven or eight 

 ribs, and the foliage of a dark green. 



It is a frequent grass in Scotland, England, and Ireland, growing 

 in meadows, and is one of our most valuable permanent pasture 

 grasses, producing a large quantity of herbage, which is much relish- 

 ed by cattle. 



It flowers late in July, and the seeds are seldom found in a state 

 of maturity. 



It is very justly remarked by Mr Murphy, in his treatise on the 

 grasses of Ireland, that " if this grass be not a good species it is cer- 

 tainly a very marked variety, which some botanists have confounded 

 with Bucetum pratense.'''' 



Description. — Root perennial, creeping, producing stems which 

 are either erect or nearly prostrate. Stems smooth, hollow, round, 

 striated, bearing three or four leaves with smooth, striated sheaths; 

 upper sheath longer than its leaf. Ligules short, obtuse, clasping 

 the stem with a small auricle on each side. Joints two or three, situ- 

 ated on the lower part of the stem. Leaves of a dark green, flat, 

 lanceolate, acute, smooth behind, rough in front, frequently with a 



Festuca loliacea, Hud., Smith, Hooker, With., Knapp, Koch, Kunth. Lolium festu- 

 caceum, Link., Leighton. 



