232 HORTUS GJIAMINEUS WOBURNENSIS. 



the back, and largely ciliate on the edges. Poiret, Enc. 

 Meth. viii. p. 776. 



Obs. The florets are larger and more linear, or of a more equal 

 breadth throughout than those of Alopecurus pratensis ; awns 

 sometimes altogether wanting ; culm very tall in comparison 

 to that of the common foxtail ; but the reed-like leaves of the 

 A. arundinaceus distinguish it at first sight from the A. pra- 

 tensis. I received this species and the next following one, 

 from my friend Mr. Taunton. Poiret mentions that it is cul- 

 tivated in the Paris Gardens, but its native place of growth 

 is unknown. 



Experiments. At the time of flowering, 64 dr. of the grass 

 from a rich siliceous sandy loam, on a clayey subsoil, afforded 

 3 dr. 11 gr. of nutritive matter. 



The substance of the culms and leaves of this grass is coarser 

 than that of the Alopecurus pratensis ; and the root is so powerfully 

 creeping as to render its introduction into arable land a matter of 

 great caution. The produce and nutritive powers are very con- 

 siderable ; it is an early grass, producing culms at an early period 

 of the spring, and continuing to vegetate vigorously through the 

 summer and autumn. It cannot be recommended as a consti- 

 tuent of permanent pasture ; but as a grass to cultivate by itself, to 

 a certain extent, for green food, or for hay, it offers advantages in 

 the superior produce and nutritive powers above stated. It grows 

 stronger and attains to a greater height than the next species, but 

 owing to the roots spreading wide, being large, and requiring a 

 consequent greater supply of nourishment from the soil, the pro- 

 duce stands thinner, and proves less weighty, than the crops 

 afforded by the Alopecurus Tauntoniensis. 



It flowers in April or early in May, and continues to produce 

 flowering culms until the autumn. 



ALOPECURUS Tauntoniensis. Taunton's Meadow Foxtail- 

 grass. 



Specific character : Spike much panicled ; florets oblong ; calyx 

 ciliate on the back, on the edges nearly naked; culm upright, 

 ribbed ; root slightly creeping. 



Obs. This holds a middle station between the Alopecurus pra- 

 tensis and Alopecurus arundinaceus. The lanceolate, strong, 

 reed-like leaves, and powerful creeping root, of the Alopecurus 



