Xotices respecting New Books. 221 



cle, and in the general roughness. Hudson asserted, that when 

 transplanted into a moistish soil it became canina ,• and thus 

 it is y of that author. Perhaps its nearest congener is A. m- 

 bra, to which Hudson referred it in his first edition, and of 

 which it is, improperly, made a variety by Wahlenberg. His 

 remark is, " Var. /3 in Suecia inferiori quoque crescit, et om- 

 nino convenire videtur cum A. setacea Smith — paniculam satis 

 densam habet. Flosculi vero in utraque iidem, ita et nonnisi 

 varietate a Lapponica differt." There is this difference, how- 

 ever, between his plant and ours, that the valve of the corolla 

 of the Lapland species is " apice subintegra subenervis," 

 whereas the nerves of our setacea are conspicuous, and end in 

 a mucro. Though this difference is but trifling to the eye, it is 

 much more to be depended on than many more obvious ap- 

 pearances. A. mutabilis of Sibth. is rightly rejected as a 

 synonym of setacea. He describes his plant as awnless, "pa- 

 nicula patente," &c, all of which agrees well with some of 

 the varieties of alba, and not with setacea. There is nothing 

 but his reference to Scheuchzer to favour the idea of his having 

 had that plant in view, whose description and figure, how- 

 ever, are equally applicable to alba. In addition, it may be 

 remarked, that the writer of this has sought in vain for setacea 

 in the habitats mentioned by Sibthorp, and he thinks he may 

 safely affirm, that A. mutabilis is not setacea, but most pro- 

 bably a variety of alba. 



A new specific character is drawn up for A. canina, which 

 was left in the Fl. Br. in considerable obscurity. The syno- 

 nym of Leers is now added, whose character and description 

 are completely satisfactory. In referring to Withering's 

 A. vinealis as A. canina, some doubts suggest themselves, for 

 which there is not room in this place. The canina of the 2nd 

 edition of the " Botanical Arrangement " is probably Lin- 

 naeus's plant. Panicum, which included a completely artificial 

 assemblage of species, is now divided into Panicum, having 

 P. viride for its type; Cynodon being the old P. Dactylon ,• and 

 Digitaria, which is the Cock's-foot grass. Aira Icevigata E. B. 

 is here transferred to alpina, after Wahlenberg. Hierochloc 

 borealis (sometimes spelt by the learned President, as if by 

 intention, Hierocle) is a new and curious arctic species. " It 

 is a very natural genus of grasses," as Mr. Brown observes, 

 " natives of the colder regions of both hemispheres." It is re- 

 lated in some particulars to Anthoxanthum. Glyceric?, com- 

 prising Poa aquatica and its allies, is another well authorized 

 change sanctioned by Mr. Brown. The true Poce are confined 

 to that section which has ovate spikelets. Poajicxuosa is ascer- 

 tained by Schrader to be laxa : subctcrulca and /lumilis are 

 brought buck to pratensis as varieties; and aes/a is made a var. 



of 



