The Perennial Darnel, or Rye-grass (Lolium perenne), has 

 the glumes shorter than the florets, the palese very slightly 

 awned, and the foliage dark green and smooth. It is a valuable 

 Grass both for meadows and pastures. 



The Bearded Darnel (L. temulentum,^. 11), is distinguished 

 by having long glumes, and the awns longer than the palese ; it 

 grows to the height of two feet, and its leaves are rough. The 

 seeds of this Grass have a narcotic and deleterious quality, 

 which produces intoxication in beasts and birds, and brings on 

 convulsions. Christian says that when made into bread and 

 eaten, the effect is giddiness, delirium, and paralysis. A 

 farmer near Poictiers killed himself by insisting upon eating 

 Darnel-bread. His wife and servant, who had eaten of the 

 same at his command, escaped with only severe sickness. Old 

 Gerarde says, "The new bread wherein Darnel is causeth 

 drunkenness. Darnel hurteth the eies and maketh them dim, 

 if it happen in corne either for bread or drink ; which thicg 

 Ovid in his third booke hath mentioned, and hereupon it 

 seemeth that the old proverbe came, that such as are dim- 

 sighted should be said to eate of Darnel." 



The Short-awned Darnel is a grass of little account, the 

 palese little or at all awned, and the spikelets the length of the 

 glumes ; it is distinguished from the Bearded Darnel by its 

 smaller size, and the smoothness of its stem. 



The Hare's-tail-grass (Lagurus ovatus), is a pretty curious 

 plant ; its head is composed of single florets contained within 

 fringed glumes, each of which is surmounted by a feathery 

 awn. Our specimen is the gift of Mr. Ward, of Richmond, 

 who cultivates it in his scientific garden. It is a native of 

 Guernsey. 



The Reed family are characterised by having from three to 

 five flowers in each spike, the two glumes being sharp-pointed 

 and channelled, keeled, nearly equal, and as long as the florets. 

 There are two membranous palese, the lowermost split at the 

 end, and the split slightly haired. I suppose one of these 



