432 Q&AMtNBJS. [AouosTis. 



in form. Empty glumes A in., subequal, ovate or lanceolate, acute, nearly 

 smooth, dull red or purplish and green ; fl. glume a little shorter, truncate, 

 3-nerved, 3 times longer than the palea ; awn or short. DISTKIB. Europe, 

 N. Africa, Himalaya, N. America. 



VAR. 1, vulfju'ris proper ; slender, panicle usually elongate, fl. glume rarely 

 awned. VAR. 2, pu'mila, L. (sp.); short, stout, panicle shorter, branches 

 stouter, empty glumes broader, fl. glume usually awned. 



4. A. alba, L. ; ligule long acute, fruiting pauicle contracted. Fiorin 

 Grass. 



Pastures and waste places; ascending to nearly 1,400 ft. in Yorkshire; fl. 

 July-Sept. Perennial. Stems 6-24 in., with or without stolons, more or 

 less prostrate below, scaberulous above. Leaves flat, scabrid or not ; sheaths 

 smooth. Panicle 1-8 in., branched or lobed, green or yellowish ; branches 

 scabrid. Empty glumes much as in A. vulyaris, but rather larger, more 

 rigid, not so shining ; fl. glume 5-nerved, rarely awned. DISTRIB. Europe 

 (Arctic), N. Africa, Siberia, Dahuria, N. America. A. stolouifera, L., is a 

 more stoloniferous state. 

 SUB-GEN. 3. Ape'ra, JBeauv. (gen.). Upper empty glume larger than the 



lower. Fl. glume with the pedicel of a 2<1 flower at the base, awned. 



5. A. Spica-ven ti, L. ; panicle large pyramidal effuse or contracted, 

 awn much exceeding the fl. glume. 



Sandy, often inundated fields, in the E. of England, from Northumberland to 

 Kent and Hants; fl. June-July. Annual. Sttms 1-3 ft., densely tufted, 

 stout or slender, erect from a decumbent base, smooth. Leaves flat, gla- 

 brous or pilose, scabrid below and on the edges; ligule short, torn. Panicle 

 3 in., 1-fld., sometimes 3 in. broad, green or purple ; branches many in a 

 whorl, capillary, scabrid. Empty glumes -fs in., lanceolate, acuminate, mem- 

 branous, closed in fruit, nearly smooth, shining; fl. glume hairy, awn 

 subterminal, 3 times its length, erect, very slender ; palea with 2 tufts of 

 silky hairs at the base. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, Siberia. 



Sub-sp. SPICA-VEN'TI proper ; panicle large broad effuse, anthers linear. 



Sub-sp. INTERRUP'TA, L. (sp.) ; panicle contracted interrupted, anthers 

 oblong. Rarer. 



SUB-GEN. 4. Gastrid'ium, Beauv. (gen.). Panicle contracted. Empty 

 glumes closed, gibbous at the base. 



6. A. austra'lis, L. ; glumes lanceolate, awn exserted. Oastridium 

 lendigerum, Gaud. Nit-grass. 



Maritime sandy marshes, &c., from Norfolk S. and W. to Cornwall ; a colonist, 

 Watson; fl. June-Oct.-- Annual. Stems 6-10 in., densely tufted, erect or 

 ascending, slender, leafy. Leaves short, flat, scaberulous ; sheaths smooth ; 

 ligule oblong. Panicle large, 1-3 in., cylimlric-fusiforni, dense, pale green, 

 glistening; branches scaberulous ; pedicels swollen at the top. Empty 

 glumes J in., erect, lanceolate, very acuminate, the swollen base polished, 

 keel obscurely scabrid ; fl. -glume minute, white, shining, truncate, 4- 

 toothcd ; awn near the top, very slender. DISTRIB. Europe from France 

 Spain and Germany E. to Turkey, Asia Minor, N. Africa. 



13. MII/IUM, L. MILLET-GRASS. 



SpiTceUts in an effuse panicle, l-fld. ; branches in 4-whorls. Empty 

 glumes 2, equalling the flowering, broad, subequal, obtuse, awnless, 



