504 GR AMINE JE. [Aghopyru.m. 



2. A. re'pens, Beauv. ; rootstock creeping, rnchis of spike not brittle, 

 empty glumes 5-ribbed, fl. glumes 4-5 rigid cuspidate or acuminate rarely 

 awned. Tviticum, L. Couch or Quitch Grass. 



Fields and waste places, N. to Shetland ; ascends to 1,300 ft. in N. England ; 

 Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. June- Aug. — Excessively variable. Rootstock 

 stout, long, creeping, jointed. Steins 1-4 ft., bent and ascending, smooth, 

 glabrous. Leaves flat or involute, usually scabrid above and glabrous 

 beneath, sometimes hairy ; sheaths terete ; ligule very short. Spike 2-10 

 in., rigid, slender or robust, strict or curved, not nodding, rachis glabrous or 

 pubescent. Spikelets f-1 in., very rigid ; empty glumes acute obtuse or 

 notched, rigid short points or awns of variable length ; fl. glumes quite 

 similar, but nerved only at the tip. — Distrib. Europe, N. Africa, N. Asia, 

 Himalaya, N. America. — Triticum cani'num, var. bijlo'ra, Mitt. (T. jalpi'num, 

 Don MSS.), fouud on Ben Lawers, and said to want the creeping rootstock, 

 is (judging from the specimen) only A. re'pens. — There is no accordance 

 amongst specialists as to the limits of the forms of this plant and their 

 nomenclature. 



A. re'pens proper ; stems solitary hollow, leaves flaccid usually hairy, nerves 

 slender scabrid in one line, spikelets 3-7-fld., rachis slender. — Var. barba'ta 

 has empty glumes tapering subulate or awned, fl. glumes awned. — Var. 

 obtu'sa has empty glumes obliquely truncate, fl. glumes obtuse apiculate. 



Sub-sp. A. pun'gens, R. and S. ; stems densely tufted solid above, leaves firm 

 involute ribbed, ribs scabrid in one line, spikelets 5-12-fld., rachis with broad 

 internodes. Seashores and tidal rivers. — A. littora'le, Reichb. (Triticum, 

 Host.), has glumes acuminate, fl. glume mucronate or awned. — A. ppenan'- 

 thum, Gren. and Godr., is more glaucous, spike more compact, empty 

 glumes rounded obtuse, fl. glumes obtuse mucronate. 



Sub-sp. A. acu'tum:, R. and S. ; stems loosely tufted solid geniculate at tin- 

 base, leaves firm not so involute ribbed glabrous or hairy, ribs scabrid all 

 over, spike arching lax long, spikelets 5-8-rld., racbis with very broad intei- 

 nodes. Triticum acu'tum, DC. ; T. lax'um, Fries.— Sandy shores. — Interme- 

 diate between re'pens smdjlm'ceum. 



3. A. jun'cemn, Beauv. ; rootstock creeping, rachis of spike fragile, 

 spikelets large shining, empty glumes 5-11-ribbed, fl. glumes 4-10 obtuse 

 acute notched or truncate rarely mucronate. Triticum, L. 



Sandy seashores, local, Orkney to Devon and Kent; Ireland; Channel 

 Islands; fl. July-Aug — Often glaucous, rigid, forming large masses. 

 Rootstock stout; extensively creeping. Stems bent below, ascending, 

 smooth, sheathed at the base. Leaves coriaceous, involute, pubescent above, 

 glabrous beneath ; sheaths smooth, rather inflated ; ligule short. Spike 2- 

 4 in., stout, curved ; rachis very stout, smooth. Spikelets f-1 ^ in., distant, 

 very stout, pale, rigidly coriaceous, smooth, shining ; empty glumes strongly 

 or faintly nerved ; fl. glume obscurely so ; internodes of rachis much dilated 

 upwards. — Distrib. Europe, N. Africa, N. America ? 



45. LEPTU'RUS, Br. 



Slender grasses. Spikelets solitary, sessile, distichous, alternate in n 

 small spike, placed broadside to and in excavations of the jointed rachis. 



