280 FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



are very sharp, about an eighth of an inch long, with membranous 

 margins ; and the capsules are blunt. 



We conclude this chapter with a brief notice of two of the Grasses 

 of heaths and downs. One of these is the Common Quaking Grass 

 or Totter Grass [Briza media). — A very pretty, erect grass, rather 

 rigid, from six to eighteen inches high, common on diy downs except 

 in the extreme North of Britain, flowering during June and July. 

 Its stems are tufted, or sometimes sUghtly creeping ; and its leaves 

 are narrow and flat. The spikelets are round or broadly ovate, 

 nearly a quarter of an inch long, more or less tinged with purple, 

 on the long, slender branches of a loose, spreading panicle tliree 

 or four inches long. The broad glumes are all similar in shape, but 

 decrease in size upwards, and are not bristled. 



The other is the Common Mat Grass {Nardus stricta), a densely 

 tufted, wiry grass, from fom- inches to a foot in height, common on 

 heaths and moors, flowering in June and July. The leaves are 

 very fine and stiff, quite bristle-like. The flowers are in a one-sided 

 spike, from one to three inches long, the one-flowered spikelets 

 being placed alternately in two rows, in the notches of the central 

 axis. The spikelets are often of a reddish or purplish colour, and 

 each has a single, narrow, pointed glume, about a thu'd of an inch 

 long, an inner glume with a short bristle, three stamens, and a 

 single style. 



