Hordettm.] GRAMINEjE. ■ 507 



pubescent, upper inflated ; ligule very short. Spike 1-2 in., stout, erect, 

 subterete, at length yellow-brown. Spikelets J in. without the awns, rather 

 spreading, rigid ; larger empty glume of mid. spikelet green with scarious 

 margins, shorter than the rigid awn ; fl. glume lanceolate, flattened, about 

 equalling the rigid awn. — Distrib. From Denmark southd., N. Africa. 



48. EL'YMUS, L. Lyme-Grass. 



Tall perennial grasses. Spikelets 2-3-nate, sessile, distichous, com- 

 pressed, spiked, inserted broadside to the rachis, 2-7 fld. Empty glumes 

 2, equalling or exceeding the flowering, equal, placed in front of the 

 spikelet. Fl. glumes 5-nerved, coriaceous, awned or not. Palea with 2 

 ciliate keels. Scales ovate, usually ciliate. Stamens 3. Ovary hirsute ; 

 stigmas sessile distant feathery. Fruit grooved, adnate to the fl. glume 

 and palea. — Distrib. N. temp, regions; species 20. — Etym. i\vco, the 

 fruit being rolled up in the palea. 



E. arena'rius, L. ; fl. glumes rigid acuminate, awn 0. 

 Sandy seashores, from Essex and N. Wales to Shetland ; Ireland ; Channel 

 Islands; fl. July. — Glaucous. Rootstock stout, creeping, stoloniferous. 

 Stems 3-6 ft., very stout, smooth, terete. Leaves rigid, strict, pungent, ^— § 

 in. diam. ; sheaths smooth, grooved ; ligule very short. Spike 6-12 in., 

 stout, strict; rachis flexuous, plano-convex, hirsute. Spikelets 1 in., 

 imbricate, appressed ; rachilla stout, pubescent ; empty glumes linear- 

 lanceolate, purplish ; fl. glumes 1-3, lanceolate, ciliate and hirsute, keeled 

 towards the cuspidate tip ; palea as long as the glume. — Distrib. Europe, 

 N. Asia, N. America. : 



Class III. ACOTYLE'DONES or CRYPTOGAMS. 



Order XC. fil ices. 



Perennial herbs (very rarely annual), sometimes shrubby or arborescent, 

 with fibrous roots, or creeping rootstocks. Leaves (fronds) tufted or alter- 

 nate on the rootstock, simple pinnatifid or 1-4-pinnate, usually circinate 

 in vernation ; petiole (stipes) sometimes jointed at the base and rachis, 

 grooved on the upper surface. Fructification of microscopic spores, con- 

 tained in usually minute capsules that are collected in masses (sori) on the 

 under surface or edge of the frond, or rarely on separate fronds or parts of 

 the frond, and are naked or covered with an involucre formed of or upon 

 the margin or back of the frond. Capsules membranous, sessile or stalked, 

 often mixed with jointed club-shaped hairs (imperfect capsules). Spores 

 usually obtusely 4-hedral. — Distrib. Chiefly humid temp, and trop. 

 regions ; genera 75 ; species 2,500. —Affinities. With Lycopodia! ceoz. 



