MILIUM.] GRAMINE/E. 438 



3-nerved. Fl. glume shortly pedicelled, rigid, ovate, tumid, convex, 



obscurely 3-nerved, awnless. Palea 2-nerved. Scales 2, fleshy, acute, 



toothed on one side. Ovary glabrous ; styles short, stigmas feathery. 



Fruit terete, included in the hardened glume and palea. DISTRIB. Temp. 



and trop. ; species 8. ETYM. The Latin name for the true Millet, 



misapplied. * 



1. M. effu'sum, L. ; leaves broad flat thin. 



Damp woods from Argyle and Moray southwards ; ascending to upwards of 

 1,000 ft. in the Lake district ; rather rare in Ireland ; fl. May-June. Peren- 

 nial, pale green. Stems 2-4 ft., tufted, erect, smooth, shining, leafy. Leaves 

 ^-J in. broad, linear-oblong, acute, scabrid above ; sheaths smooth ; ligule 

 long, truncate, torn. Panicle 5-10 in., very lax and slender; branches 

 capillary, spreading or deflexed, in remote whorls, few-fld. Empty glumes 

 HI in., elliptic-ovoid, obtuse, scaberulous, edges hyaline; fl. glume quite 

 smooth, white, and polished when ripe. DISTRIB. Europe (Arctic), Siberia, 

 W. Asia, N. America. 



14. POLYPO'GON, Desf. BEARD-G-RASS. 



Spikelets in a contracted or spikelike panicle, 1-fld. Empty glumes 2, 

 much exceeding the flowering, equal, concave, keeled, 2-fid or notched, 

 awned in the sinus. Fl. glume sessile, hyaline, naked at the base, 

 broad, truncate, toothed, awned near the top. Palea small, 2-nerved. 

 Scales 2, falcate, entire. Stamens 3 ; anthers small. Ovary glabrous ; 

 styles long, stigmas feathery. Fruit terete, wrapped in the palea. 

 DISTRIB. Warm and trop. regions ; species 12. ETYM. iro\vs and irtaycaif, 

 from the many awns. 



1. P. monspelien'sis, Desf. ; annual, awns much exceeding the sca- 

 brid deeply-notched glumes, fl. glume not awned. 



Damp pastures on the S. E. coast ; from Norfolk to Hants, rare ; intro- 

 duced as far north as Fife and W. as Devon ; fl. June-July. Annual. 

 Stems J-4 ft. , erect, stout, smooth. Leaves large, broad, flat, scabrid ; 

 sheaths smooth ; ligule large, obtuse. Panicle 1-6 in., oblong-ovoid or 

 fusiform, cylindric or lobed, obtuse, pale greenish-yellow, dense, soft. 

 Empty glumes nearly ^ in., narrow linear ; awn straight, 2-3 times as long ; 

 fl. glume not as long as the empty, silvery. DISTRIB. Europe from 

 Holland southwards, N. Africa, W. Asia to India. 



2. P. littora'lis, Sm. ; perennial, awns as long as the nearly smooth 

 acute obscurely notched glumes, fl. glume awned. 



Muddy salt marshes from Norfolk to Hants, very rare ; fl. July. Perennial, 

 variable in size. Stems 1-6 ft., erect or decumbent, usually more slender 

 below than in P. monspeliensis ; panicle smaller, more lobed, purplish ; 

 empty glumes much smoother, more acute, awns shorter, keel scabrid ; 

 fl. glume about \ shorter than the empty; awn exserted. DISTRIB. W. 

 Europe from France, Belgium, and Germany to Spain. 



15. LAGU'RUS, L. HARE'S-TAIL GRASS. 



A soft, hairy, annual, tufted grass. Spikelets in a dense feathery 

 ovoid head, 1-fld., laterally compressed; pedicel not jointed at the top. 

 Empty glume* 2, much exceeding the flowering, equal, long, with slender 

 feathery points. Fl. glume membranous, shortly stipitate, with the 



