366 



PO A 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



PO A 



simple, upright, round, smooth, a span in height; joints 

 bearded. Native of Japan. 



20. Poa Pilosa; Hairy Meadow Grass. Panicle spread- 

 ing, strict; primary ramifications hairy. Height fourteen and 

 sixteen inches; branchlets or peduncles very slender. Native 

 of Italy about Bologna. 



21. Poa Palustris; Marsh Meadow Grass. Panicle dif- 

 fused; spikelet subtriflorous, pubescent; leaves rugged under- 

 neath. Root perennial, creeping; culm from a foot to two 

 feet in height, sometimes, but seldom, three feet; at first 

 decumbent, then erect, weak, round, rooting at the four or 

 five lower joints by white capillary fibres, between the joints 

 involved in green, white; and brownish sheaths, putting out 

 at almost every rooting joint a lateral shoot, rendering the 

 culm as it were dichotomous; the joints are very close near 

 the base, but very remote in the upper part of the culm. 

 Krocker distinguishes this from the sixth species, by its 

 creeping dichotomous culm; its creeping root; its thinner, 

 longer, and more diffused panicle; and its wider, longer, 

 and rugged leaves : and from the seventh species also, by its 

 culm and leaves; its longer, as well as wider, panicle; and 

 larger spikelets. Native of Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, 

 and Germany. 



22. Poa Glutinosa; Clammy Meadow Grass. Panicle 

 spreading, strict; spikelets seven to nine flowered, some- 

 what hirsute, glutinous. Culm simple; leaves somewhat hairy; 

 calicine valves acute, keeled, minute. Annual. Native of 

 Jamaica, in dry sand. 



23. Poa Prolifera; Proliferous Meadow Grass. Panicle 

 spreading, strict; spikelets many-flowered, (sixteen to twenty.) 

 Culm very much branched, knobbed, proliferous at the joints, 

 as if it were with the origin of a younger plant. Native of 

 the Caribbee Islands, St. Lucia and Guadaloupe. 



24. Poa Amabilis; Indian Meadow Grass. Panicle 

 spreading; spikelets eighteen-flowered, linear. Native of the 

 East Indies. 



25. Poa Eragrostis; Spreading Meadow Grass. Panicle 

 spreading; pedicels flexuose; spikelets serrate, ten-flowered; 

 glumes three-nerved. A very elegant grass, with numerous 

 stems, from one to two feet high, quite smooth. Though an 

 annual, it throws out several inclined culms on a fibrous 

 root, thus forming a dark green turf. When the spikelets 

 of the upper panicle are ripe, the seeds fall immediately, and 

 successively those of the middle and base of the culm. This 

 quick falling of the seeds, is the reason why we may often 

 observe the young flowers withering at the base, whilst those 

 in the middle are in the state of full expansion, and the upper 

 ones falling present ripe seeds, of an uncommon fineness, 

 though accompanied by the inner glume, and often by both. 

 Native of Greece, Switzerland, Dauphiny, Spain, and Italy, 

 on walls; and also of Barbary and Siberia. 



26. Poa Badensis; Baden Meadow Grass. Panicle 

 crowded, ovate; spikelets eleven-flowered, distich, ovate, 

 pubescent at the base. This Grass forms a turf; culm quite 

 simple ; corollas nerveless, acute, pubescent at the base, of 

 a dusky violet colour, with a membranaceous margin. Native 

 of Baden; on the rocks by the hot baths in Lower Austria; 

 and Mansfeldt. Perennial. 



27. Poa Cynosuroides; Bipinnate Meadow Grass. Pani- 

 cle strict, pyramidal; peduncles spreading very much; 

 spikelets hanging down, distich. Culms of the same size as 

 those of Wheat, simple; raceme simple, a foot long, com- 

 posed of alternate, quite simple, equal peduncles, longitu- 

 dinally pinnate on both sides from the base to the tip. 

 Native of Egypt and the East Indies. 



28. Poa Unioloides; Uniola-like Meadow Grass. Panicle 



almost erect; spikelets ten-flowered, or thereabouts, OTate; 

 lower calices many-valved. This is a middle Grass, between 

 Poa Briza and Uniola. Native of the East Indies. 



29. Poa Racemosa: Racemed Meadow Grass. Panicle 

 squeezed close; spikelets ovate, nine-flowered; peduncles 

 very short. Native of the Cape. 



30. Poa Cyperoides; Cyperus-like Meadow Grass. Pa . 

 nicies, spike glomerate; spikelets eleven-flowered. Culm 

 branched; leaves awl-shaped. Native of the Cape. 



31. Poa Verticillata; Whorled Meadow Grass. Panicle 

 spreading, capillary, flexuose; spikelets eleven-flowered, 

 linear-subulate. Annual. Native of Spain, where it flowers 

 ra July. 



32. Poa Atrovireus. Smooth: culm erect; leaves some- 

 what rigid; sheath shorter than the internodes; panicles 

 spreading; spikeletg flat, linear; flowers loosely panicled; 

 peduncles long, capillary, angular, flexuose, rough, branched, 

 solitary, in twos or threes. Native of Barbary. 



33. Poa Abyssinica; Smooth Upright Meadow Grass. 

 Panicle capillary, loose, erect; spikelets four-flowered, even, 

 linear-lanceolate; leaves smooth, somewhat convoluted. Root 

 annual ; culm slender, a little compressed, branched, pro- 

 cumbent at bottom, bent in at the knots; stigmas purple: 

 the whole plant is very smooth. It is from the grain of this 

 plant that the common bread in Abyssinia is prepared ; that 

 made from wheat being used only by the superior ranks. 

 The flour of the best kind of Tefl'is, according to Mr. Bruce, 

 as -white as that of wheat, and is very light, and easily 

 digested; other kinds are of a browner and coarser quality; 

 but that which grows on light ground is most esteemed. 

 The manner of making the Teff bread is, by taking a broad 

 earthen jar, and having made the flour into a lump with 

 water, they put it into the jar, and let it stand at some dis- 

 tance from the fire until it begins to ferment or turn sour, 

 and then bake it into cakes of a circular form, and about 

 two feet in diameter : it is of a spungy soft quality, and a 

 hot disagreeable sourish taste. From the same bread, by 

 being well toasted, and infused in water for some days, is 

 prepared the common beer of that conntry, which is called 

 by the name of Bouza. It flowers in August and September, 

 and is a native of Abyssinia. 



34. Poa Capillaris ; Hqir-panicled Meadow Grass. Pani- 

 cle loose, spreading very much, capillary ; leaves hairy. 

 Culm very much branched, and from six inches to two feet 

 in length, decumbent at the base, prostrate, filiform. Com- 

 mon in the West Indies, Virginia, and Canada. This Grass 

 abounds in the meadows round Montreal. It is very slender, 

 grows very close, and succeeds even on the driest hills ; but 

 is not rich in foliage, the slender stalk only being chiefly 

 used for hay. 



35. Poa Japonica; Japanese Meadow Grass. Panicle 

 spreading, capillary; spikelets seven-flowered, and leaves 

 smooth; culm branched. It differs from the preceding spe- 

 cies in the number of flowers, all smooth; in the smoothness 

 of the leaves, not hairy even at the base ; and in the upright- 

 ness and superior height of the culm. Native of Japan. 



36. Poa Malabarica; Malabar Meadow Grass. Branches 

 of the panicle quite simple; flowers sessile or pedicelled; 

 seeds distant; culm creeping. Native of the East Indies, in 

 sandy ground. 



37. Poa Chinensis; Chinese Meadow Grass. Branches 

 of the panicle quite simple; flowers sessile; seeds imbricate. 

 Culm erect; leaves hairy, especially at the sheaths. It varies 

 with two, three, and four flowered calices; as well as in 

 height. Native of China. 



38. Poa Punctata; Dotted-flowered Meadow Grass. Pa- 



