Festuca.] GRAMINE^E. 499 



Sandy shores, from Fife and Wigton southd. ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. 

 July-Aug. — Green, smooth, glabrous. Root fibrous. Stems spreading and 

 erect, leafy. Leaves small, flat or involute ; sheaths smooth ; ligule oblong. 

 Spikes strict, 1-2 J in. ; rachis stout, |- terete, hardly flexuous, edges smooth. 

 Spikelets |-J in., sessile, erect, green ; fl. glumes broad, obtusely-keeled, 

 smooth ; lateral nerves strongest. — Distrib. S. and W. Europe from France 

 to Dalmatia, N. Africa. 



41. BRO'MUS, L. Brome Grass. 



Annual or perennial grasses. Spikelets subterete or laterally compressed, 

 panicled or racemed, 5-many-fld. ; rachilla jointed between the fl. glumes. 

 Empty glumes 2, shorter than the lowest fl. glume, unequal, coriaceous, 

 acute, awnless ; lower smaller 1-5-nerved ; upper 3-9-nerved. El. glumes 

 convex or keeled, 5-9-nerved, tip entire or 2-fid, 1-3-awned, mid awn 

 often bent or twisted. Palea 2-fid, nerves ciliate. Scales entire. Stamens 

 3, rarely 2. Ovary hairy at the top ; styles short, inserted below the top, 

 stigmas feathery. Fruit linear, grooved, oblong, adherent to the palea. — 

 Distrib. Temp, and cold climates ; species 40. — Etym. Greek name for 

 Oat. 



Section 1. Festucoides, Coss. and Bur. Lower empty glume 1-nerved, 

 upper 3-nerved. Fl. glumes distant, narrow, convex below, keeled 

 and compressed above, 5-nerved, awn terminal. Styles lateral on the 

 ovary. 



* Keels of palea pubescent. Fl. glumes spreading in flower, erect in fruit. 



1. B. as'per, Murr. ; leaves flat and sheaths hairy, panicle secund 

 nodding, fl. glumes 5-8 twice as long as the awn. B. ramo'sus, Huds. 



Damp woods, hedgebanks, &c, from Elgin and Mull southd. ; ascends to 

 1,200 ft. in Yorkshire ; Ireland ; fl. June-July. — Annual or perennial. Root 

 fibrous. Stem 2-6 ft., smooth. Leaves £-§ in. diam., green, long, hairs 

 scattered, reflexed on the sheath ; ligule short. Panicle 3-5 in., lower 

 branches 2-6-nate, long, lax, capillary, and rachis scabrid. Spikelets 1 in., 

 narrow, glaucous green, rachilla scabrid ; empty glumes acuminate, hairy or 

 glabrous ; fl. glumes with the awn £-§ in., diverging in flower, then erect, 

 more or less hairy, lateral nerves strong, tip 2-toothed ; awn variable in 

 length.— Distrib. Europe, Siberia; introd. in N. America. 



B. sero'tinus, Benek., has sheaths all with reflexed hairs, lower panicle 

 branches 2-nate, empty glumes unequal, fl. glume glabrous next the midrib. 

 — B. Beneken'ii, Syme, has upper sheaths glabrate, lower panicle branches 

 3-6-nate, with a semilunar thickening at the base, empty glumes subequal, 

 fl. glume hairy all over. Near London, a doubtful native. 



2. B. erec'tus, Huds. ; leaves involute hairy, panicle erect narrow, fl. 

 glumes twice as long as the awn. 



Fields and waste places in dry soil, from Fife to Kent and Sussex; Ireland, 

 rare ; fl. June-July. — Perennial. Rootstock stout, creeping ; stolons 0. 

 Stems 1-3 ft., rigid, smooth, bent below, then erect. Leaves narrow, rigid, 

 almost subulate, hairy ; hairs scattered on the upper sheaths, erect : ligule 



K K 2 



