THE GRASS TrrBE $31 



* Perennial ; rooistock not or only slightly creeping 

 | Lower branches of the panicle solitary or in pairs 



2. P. bulbosa (Bulbous Meadow-Grass). Remarkable for the 

 bulb-like swellings at the base of the stems and leaf-sheaths ; 

 leaves short, the upper with prominent ligules ; panicle rather 

 compact, only about I inch long ; spikelets 3- or 4-flowered, with 

 a few woolly hairs on the axis at the base of the pointed, keeled 

 flowering glumes. Sandy places, chiefly near the sea in the south 

 and east. Fl. April, May. Perennial. 



3. P. alpina (Alpine Meadow-Grass). Much like the last, but 

 the stems are scarcely bulbous at the base, and the panicle is rather 

 larger and looser ; spikelets often viviparous, resembling tiny tufts 

 of leaves. Common on the higher mountains in the north and in 

 I ind. Fl. June, July. Perennial 



4. P. laxa (Wavy Meadow-Grass). Tufted or slightly creeping, 

 more slender than P. alpina ; panicle loose, with few spreading 

 branches ; spikelets 1-3 on each branch, each 3- or 4-flowered, 

 often viviparous ; glumes about \ inch long, more pointed than is 

 usual for a Poa. I Eigher Scottish mountains ; very rare. Fl. July, 

 August. Perennial. 



5. P. minor is onlv slightly different from the last ; leaves folded, 

 not flat, the ligules of the upper long and acute ; spikelets rarely 

 viviparous ; flowering glumes with 5 instead of 3 veins. Higher 

 Scottish mountains ; very rare. Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



6. P. glauca (Glaucous Meadow-Grass). Rootstoc itly creep- 

 ing ; leaves slightly incurved, tapering at the tip ; ligule blunt ; 

 panicle erect, slender; spikelets 2- or 3-flowered ; flowering glumes 

 with 5 veins, 3 of them hairy as in P. minor. Scottish and Welsh 

 mountains ; rare. Fl. July. Perennial. 



f| Lower branches of the panicle usually 3 or 5 together 



7. P. nemoralis (Wood Meadow-Grass). Tufted or slightly 

 creeping, slender ; leaves narrow, flaccid, with very short ligules ; 

 panicle loose, with slender branches ; spikelets compressed, 2-5- 

 flowered, with scarcely any woolly hairs on the axis ; flowering 

 glumes more pointed than in P. pratensis or P. irivialis, each with 

 5 veins of which 3 are hairy. Woods and shady places ; frequent. 

 Fl. June, July Perennial. [P. Balfourii and P. Parnellii are pro- 

 bably only mountain forms of P. nemoralis ; the former has more 

 prominent ligules, and in the latter the upper sheaths are usually 

 longer than the leaves. In P. nemoralis the sheaths are not longer 

 than the leaves.] 



