42 DAC'TYLIS GLOMERA'TA EXAMINED. 



an oblong spike, called a spiket. The blossom 

 is composed of two petals, which are also called 

 valves; they are concave and sharp-pointed, the 

 lower one a little longer than the upper : there 

 are two nectaries, spear-shaped, and tapering to a 

 point ; three stamens, the filaments like hair, sup- 

 porting oblong anthers forked at each end: the 

 germen is egg-shaped, with two styles spreading 

 out, and feathered summits. In some species there 

 is one floret in each calyx ; in others four or five, 

 sometimes more. There are but two native species 

 of Dac'tylis; stric'ta, and glomera'ta. In our plant, 

 which is of the latter species, the flowers are dis- 

 posed in what are called Panicles ; and they all 

 point one way. In rainy seasons the florets some- 

 times become viviparous. This grass has been 

 much cultivated by farmers : if suifered to grow 

 tall, it is very coarse ; but when kept short, it 

 makes a valuable pasture for sheep, and grows very 

 fast. It was found by experiment in Norfolk, that 

 this plant shot up four inches in less than three 

 days. It grows at midsummer during droughts, 

 when almost every thing else is burnt up. 



The sweet-scented Vernal Grass, Anthoxan'thum 

 odora'tum, that smells so delightfully in new made 

 hay, is one of the native grasses. I will give you 

 a drawing of it (PLATE 6.), to show its general ap- 

 pearance. 



The ancient Romans used, on some occasions, 



