494 GRAMINEJE. [Poa. 



Spikelets Jq in. broad, green and purplish-brown ; empty glumes ovate, acute, 

 keel scabrid ; fl. glumes also broad, acute. — Distrib. Europe, N. Africa, 

 Siberia. — Very near P. alpi'na, but differing in locality, habit, and the close 

 ovate panicle. 



39. GLYCE'RIA, Br. Manna Grass. 



Perennial tall grasses ; leaf sheaths entire. Spikelets linear, subterete, in 

 effuse or contracted panicles, many-fid., branches in J- whorls ; rachilla 

 jointed between the fl. glumes. Empty glumes 2, shorter than the lowest 

 flowering, 1-5-nerved, unequal, membranous, convex, awnless ; upper 

 larger. Fl. glumes caducous, cartilaginous, convex, not keeled, tip obtuse 

 usually scarious ; nerves 3-9 evanescent upwards. Palea 2-fid, nerves 

 ciliate. Scales fleshy, truncate. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous ; styles 

 terminal, short or 0, stigmas feathery. Fruit oblong, enveloped and 

 sometimes adnate to the fl. glume, channelled. — Distrib. Temp, and 

 cold climates ; species 30. — Etym. yAutcep6s, in allusion to the sweet 

 grain. 



Section 1. Hydrochloa. Scales fleshy truncate or 0. Fruit thick 

 obtuse, hardly compressed., furrow very narrow or 0. 



1. G. aquat'ica, Sm. ; panicle much branched, spikelets oblong, fl. 

 glumes 5-9 entire. G. spectab'ilis, Koch. 



Watery places, from Elgin and Mull southd. ; Ireland; Channel Islands; fl. 

 July-Aug. — Rootstock stout, extensively creeping. Stems 2-6 ft., stout, 

 smooth, striate. Leaves 1-2 ft., §-§ in. broad, flat, suberect, acute ; sheaths 

 smooth ; ligule short. Panicle 6-12 in. Spikelets J in., yellow-green and 

 purple ; glumes scabrid ; empty short, shining ; flowering rigid, obtuse ; 

 nerves strong. — Distrib. Europe, Siberia, Himalaya, N. America. 



2. G. flu'itans, Br. ; panicle subsimple, spikelets linear, fl. glumes 

 7-20. 



Watery places, N. to Shetland; ascends to 1,600 ft. in Yorkshire; Ireland : 

 Channel Islands ; fl. July-Aug. — Rootstock stout, widely creeping. Stem 1-3 

 ft., stout,branched, terete, floating or creeping, smooth. Leaves J-§ in. broad, 

 flat, acute, short, or the upper long and floating ; sheaths long, compressed ; 

 ligule broad, acute. Panicle 1-2 ft., simple or branched ; rachis 3-gonous ; 

 branches remote, smooth. Spikelets f-2 in., erect, green or tips purplish ; 

 empty glumes unequal, tips torn ; fl. glumes scabrid, tips often ragged. — 

 Distrib. Europe, N. Africa, W. Siberia, Himalaya, N. America.— A very 

 variable plant. 



Var. G. plica'ta, Fr., has divaricate fruiting spikelets, and fl. glumes twice as 

 long as broad. — Var. G. pedicella'ta, Towns., has broader blunter leaves, 

 with rough furrowed sheaths, 3-toothed fl. glumes, not exceeding the palea 

 (it never fruits). — Var. G. declina'ta, Brebiss, is a dwarf form with smooth 

 sheaths, few-fid. spikelets, and the palea longer than the 3-toothed fl. glume. 

 Hampshire and Scilly Islands. 



Section 2. Atropis, Rupr. (gen.). Scales slender, distinct. Fruit 

 thick, dorsally compressed, ventrally hollow or broadly furrowed. 



