Mr. F. Town send on a supposed new species of Glyceria. 107 



vii. t. 79) is an excellent one of G. plicata ; except the fruit, which 

 is a tolerable representation of that of G. fluitans, as will be seen 

 by reference to Nees von Esenbeck (Gen. PI. Fl. Germ. Monocot. 

 i. 57), whose figure of the fruit is exactly that of G. plicata; the 

 rest of the plate by the latter author is not sufficiently accurate. 

 By Parnell (Brit. Grasses, t. 45), as far as I can judge, a fair figure 

 is given of G. pedicellata ; and in Curtis (Fl. Lond. i. t. 18) also 

 is to be found a good plate of the same plant : the form of the 

 panicle is good ; but the outer pale is too long, and the magni- 

 fied representation still less accurate ; the anthers and leaves are 

 accordant. There only remains one other figure to be noticed, 

 viz. that given in 'EngKsh Botany ' (t. 1520) ; it is however so 

 faulty that I can determine nothing with sufficient accuracy. 



Since the above was forwarded to the Botanical Society at 

 Edinburgh on Nov. 29th, 1849, some " Remarks on G. fluitans 

 and G. plicata'^ have appeared in the ' Phytologist ^ (iii. 734) 

 from the pen of Mr. W. H. Purchas, on whose paper I should 

 wish to say a few words. In G. fluitans 1 have not myself ob- 

 served any characters by which specimens with appressed branches 

 may be distinguished from those with the branches divaricate ; 

 colour is the only distinction which Mr. Purchas has remarked, 

 and of this he appears to speak only from recollection and to 

 consider almost valueless. 



G. plicata a. of the same paper is certainly my G. pedicellata ; 

 but these plants do not agree in the proportion of the outer pale j 

 in the latter the outer pale is twice as long as broad, in the 

 former it is less than twice as long as broad. The character 

 taken from the position of the apex of the outer pale with re- 

 spect to the floret next above (when first attempting to distin- 

 guish the plants) I thought might be of value, but afterwards de- 

 termined it to be worthless. The plicature of the leaves may be 

 found in all these plants, but not generally in G. fluitans, whilst 

 in G. pedicellata and G. plicata I have found the plicature pretty 

 constant. That a specimen from Mr. Moore agrees with this plant 

 is possible, as the two latter plants possess some characters in 

 common and were not then distinguished ; but an original speci- 

 men from that botanist preserved in Mr. Babington^s herbarium 

 is the G. plicata of this paper. 



The description of G. plicata /3, which Mr. Purchas thought 

 to be my plant, is that of G. plicata (Fries), with the exception 

 of the proportion of the outer pale and the character given of the 

 leaves. It is curious that Mr. Purchas should never have ob- 

 served the leaves to be folded, as I have found them very con- 

 stantly so, having examined plants from numerous localities in 

 several countries. The panicle has truly a " fuller look," " from 

 the greater number of compound branches," as well as from 



