94 AGROSTIS. 



ORDER H. 



4. A. vulga'ris, Withering, (Fig. 118.) fine Bent-grass. Panicle 

 loose, its branches smoothisb, diverging; glumes nearly equal; 

 glumelles with the outer valve three-ribbed ; ligula abrupt, ex- 

 tremely short. 



English Botany, t. 1671. English Flora, vol. i. p. 92. Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 303. Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 38. Sinclair, Hort. 

 Gram. Woburn. p. 269. 



/3. arista'ta, outer valve of the glumelles bearing an awn. 



Agros'tis cani'na, Withering. A. vulga'ris cani'na, Sinclair, Hort. 

 Gram. Woburn. p. 271. 



y- pumil'a, whole plant much smaller, scarcely three inches high. 

 Lightfoot, Scot. p. 1081. fig. in title-page. 



.RooMufted, putting out roots and branches from the lower joints. 

 Stems mostly numerous, ascending, from one to two feet high, leafy, 

 slender, finely striated, smooth below, roughUh above. Leaves linear, 

 tapering at the point, rough. Sheaths long, close, striated, smooth. 

 Ligula extremely short and truncate, the upper one the longest, but 

 never so long as in the following species. Inflorescence aloose branched 

 panicle, the rachis nearly smooth, the branchlcts more or less hispid, 

 slender, capillary. Glumes lanceolate, nearly equal, shining, mostly 

 purple, smooth except on the keel. Glumelles of two unequal pale 

 membranous valves ; the outer scarcely as long as the glumes, three- 

 nerved, which terminate in three teeth, awnless, or with a dorsal awn 

 of uncertain length arising from beneath the middle of the valve when 

 it is the variety (3., but not unfrequently we have seen on the same 

 specimen some florets with awns and others without; inner valve about 

 half the size, two-nerved, bifid. Dr. Hooker mentions his having spe- 

 cimens of this species bearing the rudiment of a second flower upon a 

 rather long footstalk, in the same calyx. It is said to be found in a 

 viviparous state in moist shady situations. Anthers scarcely project 

 beyond the glumes. Styles separate. Stigmas feathery. 



Habitat. In pastures, and dry waste places, very common. 



Perennial ; flowering from July to August. 



The value of this grass for agricultural purposes is very trifling ; its 

 best recommendation is its early produce, but. this is far from being 

 abundant, and the nutritive matter which it contains is inconsiderable. 

 It thrives best on a sandy soil. 



5. A. alba, Linn. (Fig. 119.) Marsh Bent-grass. Panicle loose, its 

 branches rough ; glumelles wilh the outer valve five-ribbed ; li- 

 gula oblong. 



English Botany, t. 1189. English Flora, vol. i. p. 93. Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 303. Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 39. A. re pens, p. 

 344 ; A. stolonif'era arista'ta, p. 345 ; A. stolonif'era angustifo'lia, p. 

 340 ; A. palus'tris, p. 348 ; A, stolonif'era latifo'lia, p. 225, is the cele- 

 brated Fioiin grass. Sinclair, Hort. Gram. Woburn. p. 342. 



