NARDUS. 61 



grasses become more plentiful ; nor is their produce or nutritive pro. 

 perties sufficiently great to render them worth cultivation. Attempts 

 have been made to manufacture the long silky hairs into various arti- 

 cles of wearing apparel, hut it is too brittle to be used for that purpose. 

 In Lapland, Sweden, and poor mountainous countries, it is used for 

 stuffing mattresses and pillows ; but for this purpose it is also too brit- 

 tle, and " there is a prevailing opinion of its not being wholesome to 

 sleep on." 



GENUS XIV. NAR'DUS. LINN. Mat-grass. 



Nat Ord. GRAMI.VE.E. 



GEN. CHAR. Glumes wanting. Glumelles two unequal lanceolate valves, 

 the outer one largest. Name is derived from v*$o$inard, or spike- 

 nard; ^ufov >^ou, " ointment (or balsam) of spikenard." (Mark, 

 xiv. 3.) The plant-here spoken of is thought to be the Andropo- 

 gon nardits, the Indian Nard, or Spikenard, which yields an agree- 

 able essential oil. Nardus, or Nard, is a name anciently applied 

 to several plants, as Nardus cellica (Valeriana celticae), Nardus 

 italica (Lavendula spicata), Nardus mcn<ana(Asarumeuropeum). 

 J ts application to sweet-smelling herbs is celebrated by Milton in 

 the following lines : 



" He now is come 



Into the blissful field through groves of Myrrh, 

 And flow'ring odours, Cassia, Nard, and Balm." 



It would be difficult to assign a reason for the application of this 

 word to the present genus of plants, \vhich are so utterly devoid 

 of any properties analogous to those alluded to above. 



1. N. stric'ta, Linn. (Fig. 91.) Mat-grass. Spikes slender, erect, 

 florets all pointing in one direction, leaves setaceous, coarse, and 

 rigid. 



English Botany, t. 290. English Flora, vol. i. p. 71. Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 296. Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 32. Sinclair, 

 Gramineus Woburnensis, p. 288. 



Roots very strong, fibrous. Stems about a span high, numerous, 

 erect, wiry, striated, mostly rough on the edges, with short stiff hairs, 

 hard and rigid, as are the setaceous leaves, which are numerous, acutely 

 pointed, sheathing at the base, striated, diverging abruptly from the 

 stem, but curved upwards towards the extremity : ligula lanceolate. 

 Spike long, slender, usually half the length of the stem, striated, toothed 

 for the insertion of the florets, and marked with depressions, in which the 

 florets are contained before flowering, at which time they are spread out. 

 Florets arranged alternately in two rows, but all pointing in one direc- 

 tion. Glumes wanting, unless the border in front of the receptacle is 



