CL. III.] TRIANDRIA DIGYNIA. 69 



** Several spikes on each stem. 



3. E. angustif 'olium. Common Cotton-grass. Stem somewhat trian- 

 gular ; leaves linear ; channelled ; spike-stalks smooth ; hairs four times 



the length of the spike. Root creeping : stems from two to three feet 



high, jointed, and leafy : spikes generally four, of which one is sessile : 

 leaves very narrow, triangular, rough on the edges. Perennial : flowers 

 in April : grows on wet heaths, in peat bogs and ditches : common. Eng. 

 Bot. vol. viii. pi. 564. Eng. Fl. vol. i. p. 69. 93. 



4. E. polystdchion. Broad-leaved Cotton-grass. Stem round ; leaves 

 broadly linear, flat ; stalks of the spike smooth ; hairs three times the 



length of the spike. Root fibrous : stems two feet high, grooved, 



jointed, and leafy : leaves broader than in the last, with an acute 

 keel : spikes four or five, one sessile, brown, pendulous after flower- 

 ing. Perennial : flowers in June : grows on wet heaths and in peat 

 bogs : common in Scotland. Eng. Bot. vol. viii. pi. 563. Eng. Ft. 

 vol. i. p. 68. 94. 



5. E. pubiscens. Downy-stalked Cetton-grnss. Stem triangular above, 

 round below ; leaves flat, lance-shaped ; spike- stalks rough ; hairs twice 



the length of the spike. Smaller than the last : spikes numerous, 



black, their stalks downy : leaves broader and shorter than in the last. 

 Perennial : grows in bogs and marshes : common in Scotland ; rare in 

 England and Ireland. Eng. Bot. Suppl. pi. 2633. Eng. Fl. vol. i. 

 p. 69. 95. 



6. E. grdcile. Slender Mountain Cotton-grass. Stem triangular ; 

 leaves triangular, channelled, leafy ; fruit-stalks downy; hairs twice the 



length of the spike. Root creeping : stem a foot high : leaves linear, 



triangular, recurved : spikes three or four, nearly erect, longer than their 

 bractea, black. Perennial : flowers in July : found in boggy places on 

 Ben Lawers and the Clova mountains, by G. Don. North Wales. Eng. 

 Bot. vol. xxxiv. pi. 2402. Eng. Fl. vol. i. p. 70. 96. 



12. NA'RDUS. MAT-GUASS. 



Calyx none. Corolla of two lance-shaped pointed husks, the 

 >uter embracing the inner. Filaments hair-like ; anther oblong. 

 Jermen superior, oblong, small. Style thread-shaped, long ; stig- 

 ma feathery. Seed one, long and narrow, pointed at both ends, in- 

 vested with the husks. Name from nardos of the Greeks. 28. 

 1. N. stric'ta. Mat-grass. Spike slender, straight, the flowers pointing 



in one direction. Root consisting of very long, tough, downy fibres : 



stems numerous, about six inches high, wiry : leaves bristle-like : nu- 

 merous broad stiff sheaths around the base of the stems. This grass forms 

 dense tufts, and is of a pale greyish-green colour. Perennial : flowers 

 in June and July : grows on heaths, generally in sandy or gravelly soil : 

 abundant. Eng. Bot. pi. 290. Eng. Fl. vol. i. p. 70. 97. 



DIGYNIA. 



[This order contains all the British Grasses, excepting Nardus stricta 

 and Anthoxanthnm odoratum. The grasses, as every person must have 

 observed, form the basis of all our best pastures ; and in some places cer- 

 tain species, such as Festuca ovina and duriuscnla, exclude almost every 

 other plant. The great utility of these plants hardly requires to be 



G 



