PHA 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



PHA- 



277 



1 . Phalaris Canariensis ; Cultivated Canary Grass. Pani- 

 cle awnless, subovate, spike-shaped; calicine glumes boat- 

 shaped, entire; corolla four-valved, outer-valves lanceolate, 

 smooth, inner villose. Root annual; culm from a foot to 

 eighteen inches in height, upright, round, striated, swelling a 

 little at the joints, and at the lower ones often branching; 

 leaves almost half an inch in breadth, of a lively green, with 

 something of a glaucous hue. The lower part of the upper 

 leaf swells out like a spathe, completely involving and protect- 

 ing the head of the flowers while young. It is a native of the 

 Canary Islands; but is now found in a wild state in Britain, 

 Flanders, Hesse, Silesia, France, Italy, and Spain. It has 

 been observed in New's-wood, adjoining to Malvern in Wor- 

 cestershire; behind the observatory at Oxford; near New- 

 Cross, on the Maidstone road; by Deptford creek; and in 

 Charlton wood. It flowers from June to August; and is cul- 

 tivated for the sake of the seeds, which are the best food 

 f or the Canary, and other small birds. The cultivation of 

 this grass is chiefly confined to the isle of Thanet, where it 

 is esteemed a profitable crop ; and may be so, where there is 

 water carriage to London, for there is the principal demand 

 for it. Sow the seeds thin, on drills made a foot asunder; 

 when the plants come up, thin them where they are too close, 

 so as to leave them at nearly two inches' distance in the rows. 

 Hoe the ground three times in the intervals, to destroy the 

 weeds. Two gallons of seed is sufficient to sow an acre; and 

 if the seed be sown by a hopper, the spring of which is pro- 

 perly set, to let it out at equal distances, this will be the 

 best method of cultivating Canary Grass. As this seed is a 

 slow grower, it is liable to be overrun with weeds, for which 

 reason it should be sown after clover, on a gentle clay; but 

 on strong soils, a fallow is the best tilth. It is in general a 

 valuable crop ; and the chaff produces better, and a greater 

 quantity of horse meat, than any other. The seed should be 

 sown at the end of February, or beginning of March, in fur- 

 rows, twenty to the rod, and six gallons of seed to the acre. 

 The land must be dunged with fifty or sixty cart loads on 

 an acre. 



2. Phalaris Aquatica; Water Canary Grass. Panicle awn- 

 less, cylindrical, spike-shaped; calicine glumes boat-shaped, 

 somewhat toothletted ; corolla three-valved, inner valves vil- 

 lose, outer minute, awl-shaped. Root annual according to 

 Linneus ; perennial and bulbous, according to Desfontaines. 

 Culm reedy: from the swelling sheath of the upper leaf issues 

 one smooth, thick, spike-shaped panicle, of an oblong-ovate 

 form. Flowers in June and July. Native of Egypt. 



3. Phalaris Capensis; Cape Canary Grass. Panicle spiked, 

 ovate; glumes entire; culm jointed, decumbent ; annual. 

 Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



4. Phalaris Bulbosa; Bulbous Canary Grass. Panicle 

 awnless, cylindrical, spike-shaped; calicine glumes boat- 

 shaped, toothed ; corolla two-valved, smooth ; root bulbous ; 

 culm a foot high, swelling out at the base, commonly into 

 three round bulbs, one above another, the lower having fili- 

 form fibres at the bottom. Native of Spain, the Levant, and 

 Barbary; in which latter country the roots are not bulbous; 

 but that, in Grasses, does not make a specific distinction. 



5. Phalaris Nodosa ; Knobbed-rooted -Canary Grass. Pani- 

 cle oblong; leaves rigid. Native of the south of Europe. 



6. Phalaris Dentata; Tooth-keeled Canary-Grass. Spike 

 subpanicled, cylindric; glumes serrate; rulm jointed. This 



[' a handsome grass, and .very distinct from the other species 

 it first sight. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 

 7. Phalaris Phlnoides; Cats-tail Cdnnry Gnus. Panicle 

 learly cylindrical, spike-form; glumes, linear-lanceolate, 

 itnoothish, their inner margin abrupt. Stem simple; root 



fibrous, perennial, crowned with tuff.s of spreading glaucous 

 leaves, which endure the whole winter; culm simple, gene- 

 rally solitary, mostly leafy below, round, smooth, purple and 

 shining above, from ten to eighteen inches in height. -Native 

 of several parts of Europe, and Siberia. In England, it was 

 first observed in Cambridgeshire ; and afterwards on Chip- 

 penham Park wall, in the same county. It flowers in J une 

 and July. Some botanists rank this and the two next spe- 

 cies in the genus Phleum. 



8. Phalaris Arenaria; Sea Canary Grass. Panicle awn- 

 less, cylindrical, spike-form; calicine glumes keeled, quite 

 entire, ciliate ; culm branched. Root annual, fibrous, downy ; 

 stems several, dividing from the crown of the root, or a little 

 higher, as in wheat, sometimes bent in at the joints, clothed 

 with leaves, the edge of which is a little rough, their sheaths 

 long, inflated, striated, and smooth. Native of several parts 

 of Europe. In England, it is common on sandy coasts, and 

 in the adjoining fields: as at Yarmouth; on Newborough 

 sands; in the isle of Anglesea; on SwafFham and Newmarket 

 heaths ; and near Preston Pans, in Scotland. 



9. Phalaris Aspera; Rough Canary Grass. Panicle awn- 

 less, cylindrical, spike-form; calicine glumes keeled, gibbous 

 at top ; corolla two-valved, smooth; root annual, fibrous; 

 culms a span high, upright, branched, and sheathing at the 

 base. Native of several parts of Europe, as France, Italy, 

 and Sicily. In England, it occurs on Gogmagog-hills, New- 

 market heath, and near Bourn Bridge, in Cambridgeshire; 

 and in the meadows below King's Weston, near Bristol. 



10. Phalaris Utriculata ; Bladdery Canary Grass. Pani- 

 cle ovate, spike-form; calicine glumes boat-shaped, dilated 

 at the back; awn longer than the glumes; root annual, 

 fibrous; culms a foot high, several upright, decumbent be- 

 fore flowering time. It flowers in June and July. Native of 

 Italy. This species should be ranked in the genus Alopecurus. 



11. Phalaris Ppradoxa; Bristly-spiked Canary Grass. Pa- 

 nicle awnless, oblong, spike-form; calicine glumes boat- 

 shaped, one-toothed; corolla two-valved, smooth; lowest 

 florets end-bitten; root annual, fibrous.- Native of the Le- 

 vant and Barbary. 



12. Phalaris Hispida; Hairy-caliced Canary Grass. Spikes 

 digitate; glumes rugged; leaves ovate ; culms capillary, de- 

 cumbent, erect at top, jointed, smooth, branched, a foot high ; 

 spikes from three to six. Native of Japan. 



13. Phalaris Villosa. Panicles many-flowered; flowers 

 ovate, villose. Grows in the woods of Carolina. 



Phallus; a genus of Fungus. GENERIC CHARACTER. 

 Fungus even on the under surface; a net-work of cells on the 

 upper surface; seeds in the cells. The species are, 



1. Phallus Esculentus ; Esculent Morel. Pileus or cap 

 ovate, cellular; stipe or stem naked, wrinkled. This- stem is 

 hollow, naked, and white, one or two inches high, and from 

 half an inch to an inch in diameter. The cap is entirely 

 united to the stem, from the size of a pigeon's to that of a 

 swan's egg; with very large cells, angular like a honey-comb; 

 the colour off -the cap is pale yellow, or buff when young, 

 but becomes brown when old. There is a variety which is 

 small, and black, found on the sandy heaths of Norfolk. Mr. 

 Sowerby gathered plenty of the blackish Morels at Newington 

 in Surry, on an old garden ground, among sugar-baker's 

 rubbish. It is commonly found in woods, under hedges, and 

 among bushes^ in a loamy soil, and springs up in April arfd 

 May: it hag an airreeable smell. We are informed, that 

 Morels are observed to grow in the woods of Germany, in 

 the greatest plenty where rharcoal has been made. Hence, 

 the people who collected "thorn to sell, made fires in the 

 woods with heath, broom, &c. to obtain a more plentiful 



