LEPTUKUS.] GRAMINE^E. 455 



39. LEPTU'RUS, Br. 



Spikelets solitary, sessile, distichous, alternate in a small spike, placed 

 broadside to and in excavations of the jointed rachis, 1-fld. Empty glumes 

 2 (rarely 1) enclosing the flowering, equal, hard, coriaceous, ribbed, placed 

 in front of the spikelet, except in the terminal one. Fl. glume keeled. 

 Palea 2-nerved. Scales glabrous, entire. Stamens 3. Ovanj glabrous ; 

 stigmas sessile distant and terminal, feathery. Fruit free. DISTBIB. 

 Europe, N. and S. Africa, Australia ; species 7. ETYM. \vrus and ovpd, 

 from the slender ftn7-like spikes. 



1. L. filifor'xnis, Trin. ; annual, glabrous, spike slender. 

 Waste places by the sea, from Linlithgow southwards ; all round Ireland ; fl. 

 July. Root fibrous. Steins 410 in., bent or curved below, ascending, stout 

 or slonder, shining, terete, leafy. Leaves short, coriaceous, scaberulous, soon 

 involute ; sheaths slightly compressed, smooth, upper inflated ; ligule very 

 short, auricled. Spike 2-6 in., straight or curved, short or long ; rachis 

 rigid, grooved, hollowed on one side. Spikelets \ in., green, appressed or 

 spreading ; empty glumes rather oblique, linear-oblong, pointed ; fl. glumes 

 with 1 green nerve ; palea with glabrous keels. DISXRIB. Europe from 

 Gothland southwards, excl. Russia, N. Africa. 



VAR. \,Jilifor'mis proper; stem and spike slender, the latter nearly straight. 

 VAR. 2, incurva'tus, Trin. (sp.), stem and spike stouter, the latter strongly 

 curved. 



4O. EL'YMUS, L. LYME GRASS. 



Spikelets 2 3-nate, sessile, distichous, compressed, spiked, inserted 

 broadside to the rachis, 2-7-fld. Empty glumes 2, equalling or exceeding 

 the flowering, equal, placed in front of the spikelet. Fl. glumes 5-nerved, 

 coriaceous, awned or not. Palea with 2 ciliate keels. Scales ovate, usually 

 ciliate. Stamens 3. Ovary hirsute ; stigmas sessile distant feathery. Fruit 

 adnate to the fl. gluine and palea. DISTRIB. N. temp, regions ; species 

 22. ETYM. lAuco, the fruit being rolled up in the palea. 



1. E. arena'rius, L. ; fl. glumes rigid acuminate, awn 0. 

 Sandy sea-shores, from Essex and N. Wales northwards ; fl. July. Perennial, 

 g aucous. Roohtock stout, creeping, stoloniferous. Stems 3-6 ft., very 

 stout, smooth, terete. Leaves rigid, strict, pungent, ^-f in. diam. ; sheaths 

 smooth, grooved; ligule very short. Spike 6-12 in., stout, strict, rachis 

 flexuous, plano-convex, hirsute. Spikelets 1 in., imbricate, appressed ; axis 

 stout, pubescent ; empty glumes linear-lanceolate, purplish ; n. glumes 1-3, 

 lanceolate, ciliate and hirsute, keeled towards the cuspidate tip ; palea as 

 long as the glume. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Asia, N. America. 



41. HOR'DEUM, L. BARLEY. 



Spikelets 3-nate, subsessile, distichous, compressed, spiked, inserted 

 broadside to the rachis, 1-fld., with often the subulate rudiment of a 2d 

 fl. glume ; lateral Spikelets, rarely the central, male or 2-sexual. Empty 

 glumes 2, exceeding the flowering or not, -equal, collaterally placed in 

 front of the spikelet, awned. Fl. glume awned. Palea as long, narrow, 

 with 2 keels. Scales 2, ciliate. Ovary hirsute; stigmas 2, subsessile, 

 feathery. Fruit adherent to the palea. DISTRIB. N. temp, and warm 

 regions, S. America; species 10. ETYM. The old Latin name. 



