234 



PAN 



THE UNVERSAL HERBAL; 



PAN 



2. Panicum Sericeum ; Silky Panic Grass. Spike round ; 

 involucres bristle-shaped, villose, one-flowered, the length 

 f the flowers ; leaves flat. This is an annual grass, native 

 of the West Indies. It flowers from June to September. 



3. Panicum Verticillatum ; Hough Panic Grass. Spike 

 whorled ; racemelets in fours ; involucrets one-flowered, two- 

 bristled ; culms diffused. Native of Europe, the Levant, and 

 Japan. In England, Mr. Ray describes it as having been 

 found between Putney and Rochampton, and beyond the neat 

 houses by the Thames' side. Mr. Curtis found it sparingly 

 in the gardeners' ground in Battersea fields, with the sixth 

 species, and flowering at the same time. Scheuchzer remarks, 

 that it is a troublesome weed in the gardens near Paris. 

 There are two varieties, one larger and one smaller. 



4. Panicum Helvorum; Pale-red Panic Grass. Spike 

 round ; involucrets one-flowered, in bundles, and bristly ; 

 seeds nerved. This is an annual grass, bearing a great resem- 

 blance to the next species, but in reality different ; culm six 

 feet high, branched; barren branches shorter; peduncles 

 scarcely streaked at the tip. Native of the East Indies. 



.5. Panicum Glaucum ; Glaucous, Panic Grass. Spike 

 round; involucrets two-flowered, in bundles, and hairy; 

 seeds waved and wrinkled. Root fibrous, annual ; culms a 

 loot high, erect, leafy, having four knots, grooved at the 

 top, even. It flowers in June and July. Native of the East 

 Indies, America; and several parts of Europe, as Italy, the 

 south of France, Germany, and Switzerland. 



6. Panicum Viride ; Green Panic Grass. Spike round ; 

 involucrets two-flowered, in bundles, and hairy ; seeds 

 nerved. Mr. Curtis remarks, that this species, to correspond 

 with its trivial name, should be always green, but that its 

 foliage is often red, and its spikes reddish-brown ; and that 

 the third species is the contrary, but the spike will always 

 distinguish them. Root annual ; culms from a foot to eighteen 

 inches in height, oblique, leafy, having three knots, streaked 

 at top, rugged. Sparrows are very fond of the seeds of this 

 plant, and indeed of the seeds of all the genus; so that 

 when cultivated in a garden, they require to be protected 

 from them. It flowers in July and August, and is an annual 

 grass, of no use in cultivation. Native of Germany, Carniola, 

 and England. With us it is not common, though the most 

 so of all the genus. It has been found in Battersea fields, 

 near London ; by Martha's chapel near Guildford, in Surry ; 

 and in the gravel pits by Chippenham park, Cambridgeshire, 

 and in the corn-fields adjoining. 



7. Panicum Germanicum ; German Panic Grass. Spike 

 compound, close ; spikelets glomerate ; involucrets bristle- 

 shaped, longer than the flower; rachis hirsute. This has been 

 confounded with the next species ; from which it is distinct, 

 in having the spike not interrupted at the base, smaller, and 

 ovate, in the height of the culm, in the shortness of the invo- 

 lucrets, and in having the rachis hirsute. It is annual, and 

 perishes soon after the seeds are ripe. There are three 

 varieties of it, with yellow, white, and purple grains. It has 

 been formerly cultivated for bread in some of the northern 

 countries, but is not so much esteemed as the next species ; 

 but nevertheless as it will ripen better in a cold climate, it is 

 generally cultivated where a better sort of grain will not suc- 

 ceed : yet neither of them are reckoned to afford so good nou- 

 rishment as Millet. Native of the southern parts of Europe. 

 The seeds of this and the following species may be sown in 

 the spring, at the same time as Barley is sown, and may be 

 managed exactly in the same way; but they should not be 

 sown too thick, for the seeds are very small, and the plants 

 grow stronger, and therefore require more room. This spe- 

 cies does not grow above three feet high, unless it be sown 



on very rich land, in which it will rise to four feet ; but the 

 leaves and stems are very large, and require to stand four 

 or five inches apart, otherwise they will grow up weak, and 

 come to little. These large-growing corns should be sown 

 in drills, at about eighteen inches apart, so that the ground 

 may be hoed between the rows, to keep them clear from 

 weeds; and the stirring of the ground will greatly improve 

 the corn, which will ripen in August, when it may be cut 

 down and dried, and should be housed. 



8. Panicum Italicum ; Italian Panic Grass. Spike com- 

 pound, with the base interrupted, nodding; spikelets glo- 

 merate; involucrets bristle-shaped, much longer than the 

 flower; rachis tomentose. Culm annual, a foot and half 

 high, round, thickish, upright, quite simple. It derives its 

 trivial name from being frequently cultivated in Italy and 

 other warm countries. It flowers in July and August. 

 Native of the East and West Indies, and Cochin-china. This 

 grows to a much larger size than the preceding species, and 

 produces much larger spikes ; so that it should be allowed 

 more room to grow, otherwise it will come to little. Culti- 

 vated like the preceding species. 



9. Panicum Setosum ; Bristly Panic Grass. Spike com- 

 pound ; spikelets panicle-fascicled ; bristles mixed with the 

 florets, and very long; peduncles almost smooth; height from 

 two to four feet. Culm simple, erect, round, smooth, leafy; 

 leaves half a foot long, lanceolate, flat, entire, pubescent; 

 sheaths embracing the culm, villose at the neck; pedicels 

 very short, smooth ; rachis flexuose, bristly. 



10. Panicum Lanceolatum; Spear-leaved Panic Grass. 

 Spikes alternate ; outer valve of the calices ciliate and awned; 

 leaves lanceolate. Culms simple, decumbent, leafy, rooting, 

 long. Native of the East Indies. 



11. Panicum Stagni; Pond Panic Grass. Spikes alter- 

 nate, directed one way ; calices two-flowered, awned, hispid. 

 Culms erect, three feet high, leafy ; leaves linear, flat, even, 

 rough at the edge, with the mouths of the sheaths hairy; 

 germen roundish-ovate, compressed. Native of ponds in the 

 East Indies. 



12. Panicum Crus Corvi; Crow-foot Panic Grass. Spikes 

 alternate, directed one way ; spikelets subdivided ; glumes 

 sometimes awned, hispid ; rachis three-cornered. Culm 

 annual, two feet high, suberect, manifold, jointed, leafy. 

 Though Loureiro describes it under the name of Crus Corvi, 

 he observes, that it is intermediate between that and Cms 

 Galli, and different from both. It flowers in July and August. 

 Native of the East Indies, Cochin-china, and Japan. 



13. Panicum CrusGalli; Thick-spiked Cock's-foot Panic 

 Grass. Spikes alternate and conjugate ; spikelets subdi- 

 vided ; glumes awned, hispid ; rachis five-cornered. Root 

 annual ; culms several, from one to two feet in height, thick, 

 at first procumbent or oblique, but finally almost upright ; 

 flowering branches leafy, naked at top, even ; joints thick- 

 ened, cylindrical, dusky. The third petal of the corolla 

 membranaceous, flat, acuminate, between the flat valve of 

 the calix and the inner valve of the corolla. The seeds being 

 large, and produced in plenty, are much esteemed by the 

 small birds. Native of Virginia, the Cape of Good Hope, 

 and several parts of Europe, as Sweden, Germany, Switzer- 

 land, the south of France, and England. It was found in 

 a garden between Deptford and Greenwich ; with a smooth 

 spike, in a lane near the neat house gardens ; with an awned 

 spike, by the rivulet side near Petersfield, Hampshire ; also 

 near Martha's Chapel in the neighbourhood of Guildford, 

 Surry; in a coppice near Purfleet; and in Battersea fields. 



14. Panicum Setigerum ; Bristle-bearing Panic Grass. 

 Spikes remote ; florets directed one way ; teeth of the rachis 



