SESLERIA.] GRAMINE&. 431 



peduncles. Empty glumes 2, longer than the flowering, subequal, 1- rarely 

 3-nerved. Fl. glumes 2-3, the upper rudimentary, keeled, 3-cuspidate, 

 5-nerved. Palea 2-keeled. Scales 2, 3-5-toothed. Stamens 3. Ovary 

 hairy at the top ; styles terminal, connate below, stigmas very long hairy. 

 Fruit slightly compressed, free. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, W. Asia; 

 species 8. ETYM. L. Sesler, an Italian botanist. 



1. S. cseru'lea, Scop. ; panicle oblong subsecund silvery -grey. 

 Hilly pastures, especially in limestone districts, from Ross to York and West- 

 moreland ; ascending to 2,500 ft. in the Highlands ; W. of Ireland, local; 

 fl. April-June. Perennial. Hoot fibrous. Stems 6-18 in., erect, smooth. 

 Leaves narrow, flat, glaucous above, tip scabrid mucronate, glabrous or 

 pilose, upper very short ; sheaths compressed, breaking up into fibres ; 

 ligule short, ciliate. Panicle ^-1 in., blue-grey, glistening. Spikelets T \j in., 

 in subsessile fascicles, the lower embraced at the base by a small convolute 

 bract or glume ; empty glumes ciliate, acuminate ; fl. glumes pubescent, 

 3 central nerves confluent ; awn very short. DISTRIB. Europe. 



12. AGROS TIS, L. BENT. 



Spikelets very small, in an open or contracted panicle, with whorled 

 branches, 1-fld., with or without the pedicel of a 2d (upper fl. glume) at 

 the back of the palea. Empty glumes 2, exceeding the flowering, unequal, 

 membranous, awnless, convex, keeled. Fl. glume hyaline, awn slender ; 

 dorsal or 0. Palea 2-nerved or 0. Scales glabrous, entire. Stamens 

 3. Styles 2, stigmas feathery. Fruit free, terete, glabrous. J)ISTRIB. 

 All temp, and cold climates; species 60. ETYM. An old Greek name. 



SUB-GEN. 1. Tricho'dmm, Michx. (gen.). Upper empty glume smaller 

 than the lower. Palea very minute or 0. 



1. A. cani'na, L. ; leaves narrow flat smooth. 



Moors, heaths, &c. ; fl. July- Aug. Perennial, glabrous, smooth. Stems 6-24 

 in., sometimes stoloniferous. Leaves 2-5 in., T V- jV in. broad; ligule oblong. 

 Panicle 2-4 in., slender, flexuous, flowering open, fruiting contracted, pur- 

 plish or green ; branches capillary, scabrid. Fl. glume shorter than the 

 empty, truncate, with 5 excurrent nerves ; awn from above the base, 

 variable in length, bent in the middle. DISTRIB. Europe (Arctic), Siberia, 

 W. Asia to the Himalaya, N. and S. America, Australia, New Zealand. 



2. A. seta'cea, Curt. ; leaves setaceous involute scaberulous. 



Dry downs, from Glamorgan and Cornwall to Sussex and Hants ; fl. June- 

 July. Perennial. Stem, 8-12 in., strict, scaberulous. Leaves very many, 

 erect, rigid ; ligule oblong. Panicle 1^-3^ in., and spikelets much as in A. 

 canina, but empty glumes scabrid, almost awned ; fl. glume with a longer, 

 rather twisted awn, and 2 minute tufts of hairs at the base ; palea minute. 

 DISTRIB. Belgium, France, and Spain. 



SUB-GEX. 2. Agros'tis proper. Empty glumes subequal, or upper smaller 

 than the lower. Palea 2-nerved. 



3. A. vulga'ris, With. ; ligule short truncate, fruiting panicle spreading. 

 Meadows and marshy places ; ascending to nearly 3,200 ft. in the Highlands ; 



fl. June-Sept. Perennial. Stems 6-24 in., ascending, smooth. Leaves short, 

 flat, scabrid ; sheaths smooth. Panicle 1-3 in., narrowly ovate, but variable 



