Ill] VEGETATIVE CHARACTERS 69 



** Annual, \dth thin dry leaves. 



Hordeiim murinum, L. (Wall Barley). Coarse tufts; 

 leaves small, narrow, hairy or scabrid. Sheaths sparsely 

 hispid, or very downy, inflated. Roads, &;c. A useless weed. 



H. maritwmmj With, is a sea-side form, smaller and more 

 glaucous. Sheaths hairy. 



(/3) Leaf-blades not eared at the base. 



* Sheaths of radical leaves veined with red-purple. 



Holcus lanatus, L. (Yorkshire Fog). A useless weed, 

 but very common in pasture and hay ; forming tussocks, 

 greyish-green, softly hairy (tomentose). Blades with 

 roundish ridges. Ligule short and obtuse. Sheath some- 

 what keeled, with trace of collar ledge. It is said to have 

 a bitter taste (Fig. 15). 



Ligule pilose. Tufted hairs along the broad rounded ridges, and 

 on the lower surface and prominent keel. 



The much rarer If. mollis, L. is not so long-haired, except on the 

 nodes, and is more creeping and slender in habit. It is a " twitch." 



The Hordeums present several points of difficulty to beginners. 

 The dififerences between the species are given above. JI. maritimum 

 has narrower and thicker leaves than the rest. 



Bromes are most likely to be confounded with Hordeums, but 

 they have entire sheaths and no ears (see p. 43). 



For distinctions between H. murinum and Loliuni see p. 49. 

 H. sylvaticum and Bromus asper (p. 44). 



** No conspicuously red-veined sheaths. 



t Ligule absent, or a tuft of hairs. 



Molinia ccerulea, Moench. (Purple Molinia). Tussocks, 

 with tough stringy roots. Leaves narrowed below, and 

 tapering above to a long point, ridges obsolete ; very thin 



