300 GRASSES OF BRITAIN. 



White clover, ( Trlfolium repe?is, ) 6 lbs. 



Timothy-grass, {Phleum pratense,) 4 lbs. 



Bucetum-grass, {Bucetum pratense^) 1 peek. 



Fescue-grass, {Festuca duriuscula,) 1 peck. 

 '' Under favourable circumstances the growth of the Italian rye- 

 grass is astonishing ; a field sown in October has been cut for soiling 

 in December, and ready for cutting again in April, being then two 

 feet high. But it is only in good land and under good management 

 that this grass becomes so valuable."* 



1 have frequently known the Italian rye-grass confounded with 

 young examples of Lolium temulentum^ from which, however, it dif- 

 fers in the spikelets having but one glume, and that scarcely half the 

 length of the spikelet ; — while in Lolium temulentum the spikelets 

 have two glumes ; the inner one small, often cloven ; the outer, long, 

 about equal in length to the spikelet, (see Fig. 1.) 



Explanation of Plate CXXXVIII. Lolium perenne (variety) 

 italicum, natural size. 



Fig. 1 . Spikelet on a portion of the rachis, showing the glume and eight florets. " 



2. Glume. rs 



3. Outer palea opened, showing the five ribs. I 5S 



4. Inner palea, showing the toothed margins. i 5) 



5. Ligule. I M 



6. Ovarium, pistils, stamens, and scales. J 



Lolium perenne (variety) submuticum. 

 Short-awned Italian Rye- Grass. 

 Plate CXXXIX. 



This grass is a variety of the preceding, differing only in the spike- 

 lets being larger, bearing florets with short awns. The seeds are 

 rather heavier, and the stems thicker. It is stated that an acre of 

 this grass will yield as much as 5000 or 6000 lbs. of seed. 



The accompanying figure was drawn from a specimen gathered in 

 a field of Italian Rye-Grass in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. 

 * Miu-phy on the Grasses of Ireland. 



