216 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 



destroy it, laws being framed to prevent its destruction. It has been 

 used for mats (hence the name). 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



332. AniniopJiila arenaria, Link. Stem tall, erect, leaves involute, 

 glaucous, long, panicle in spike, cylindrical, glumes keeled. 



Hedgehog Grass (Cynosurus echinatus, L.) 



This common maritime grass is found in the North Temperate 

 Zone in Mid and S. Europe, N. Africa, and West Asia, but not in 

 early plant beds. The typical station for this species is in the Channel 

 Islands, and it is merely an introduction on the coasts of Great Britain, 

 as well as inland, as it is also in Ireland. In its native habitat this 

 grass grows on the seashore on coasts normally sandy. It has been 

 brought over to England, and is found on the British coast, but in 

 inland stations it has been dispersed with ballast, coming up in waste 

 places, mills, offal yards, and so on. 



The stem is erect, with broad, flat leaves, and the plant is in 

 general taller and larger than the Common Dog's Tail Grass. The 

 bracts are comblike, with long points. 



Hedgehog Grass has a dense, spikelike panicle which is narrowed, 

 glossy, lobed, and with comblike branches which have awl-like seg- 

 ments, with a membranous edge, and rough. The awns are short, 

 and as long as the palea. The empty glumes are hyaline, or semi- 

 transparent, the flowering ones green. 



This grass is 1-2 ft. high. The flowers are in bloom in July. The 

 plant is annual and propagated by seeds. 



The spikelets are in a dense panicle and dimorphous. The floral 

 structure is similar to that of other grasses, with 3 stamens, yellow 

 anthers, short and terminal styles, and feathery stigmas. The flowers 

 are wind-pollinated. The anthers and stigma ripen at the same 

 time. 



The fruit is light, and easily dispersed by the wind, the glume and 

 palea being attached to it. 



The plant is a salt-lover and found in saline soil. 



A butterfly, the Small Heath (Ccsnonvmpha pamphilus], is the only 

 insect which is attracted by it. 



Cynosurus, Linnaeus, is from the Greek ciion, dog, and oura, tail, 

 from the shape of the spike, and the second Latin name refers to its 

 spinous character. The only name cited by Britten & Holland is 

 Cock's Comb Grass. 



