Milium.] QRAM1NE&. 475 



M. effu'sum, L. ; leaves broad flat thin. 



Damp woods from Argyll and Elgin southd. ; ascends to 1,000 ft. in the Lake 

 District ; Ireland ; fl. May-June. — Perennial, pale green. Stems 2-4 ft., 

 tufted, erect, smooth, shining, leafy. Leaves ^-§ in., linear-oblong, acute, 

 scabrid above ; sheaths smooth ; ligule long, truncate, torn. Panicle 5-10 

 in., very lax and slender; branches capillary, spreading or deflexed, in 

 remote whorls, few-fld. Empty glumes -^ in., ellipti?-ovoid, obtuse, scabe- 

 rulous, edges hyaline ; fl. glume quite smooth, white and polished when 

 ripe. — Distrib. Europe (Arctic;, N. and W. Asia, N. America. 



lO. PHLE'UM, L. Cat's-tail Grass. 



Spikelets in crowded spike-like panicles, 1-fld., with rarely a rudimentary 

 2d. Empty glumes exceeding the flowering, equal, much laterally com- 

 pressed, keeled, awned, or niucronate. EL glume hyaline, awned or not, 

 3-5-nerved, toothed. Palea small. Scales 2, hyaline, toothed on the 

 outer margin. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous ; styles long, stigmas slender 

 feather)'. Fruit compressed, enclosed in the fl. glume and palea. — Dis- 

 trib. N. and S. temp, and Arctic regions ; species 10. — Etym. The old 

 Greek name. 



* Empty glumes truncate, tip scarious. Fl. glume 3-nerved. 



1. P. praten'se, L. ; leaf-sheaths appressed, panicle cylindric, keel of 

 empty glumes hispid, awn rigid \ their length. Timothy -grass. 



Pastures, &c, N. to Shetland ; ascends to 1,400 ft. in N. England ; (? native N. 

 of the Caled. Canal, Wats.) ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. June-Aug. — 

 Perennial. Stems 6-18 in., tufted, ascending, smooth. Leaves short, flat ; 

 ligule long. Panicle 1-6 in., obtuse, green. Spikelets crowded, shortly 

 pedicelled ; empty glumes with a stout green keel, ciliate with stiff setae, 

 sides pale ; awns | in., scabrid, rigid ; fl. glumes membranous, cuspidate, 

 5-neryed ; anthers oblong, yellow or purple.— Distrib. Europe, N. Africa, 

 Siberia, W. Asia ; introd. in N.America. — An excellent fodder. Syme dis- 

 tinguishes two varieties. 



P. praten'se proper ; stems erect rarely geniculate, spikes stout cylindric, 

 glumes greenish, keel dark. — Var. P. nodo'sum, L. ; stem recumbent geni- 

 culate, lower internodes swollen, leaves narrower, spike slender, glumes 

 pale, keel green. — Var. stolonifera, Bab., has copious stolons. 



2. P. alpi'num, L. ; upper sheaths inflated, panicle ovoid or oblong, 

 empty glumes equalling their rigid awn, keel hispid. 



By alpine springs and rills, Perth, Forfar, Aberdeen; alt. 2,100 to 3,600 ft. ; 

 fl. July.— Perennial. Stems 6-18 in., solitary, creeping below, smooth, 

 ascending, rigid. Leaves short, flat, spreading; lower sheaths appressed ; 

 ligule short. Panicle *-l£ in., dull purple and green. Empty glumes as in 

 P. praten'se, but larger, | in. including the awn.— Distrib. * Arctic and 

 Alpine Europe and Asia, Himalaya, N. America, Fuegia. 



