232 FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE RIVIERA 



A. Donax L. Car.ne de Provence (Plates III and XXXI). A tall bamboo- 

 like reed, 6-16 ft. or more high, with thick creeping root-stock. Stems ligneous, 

 averaging an inch thick. Leaves very broad. Ligule very short and briefly ciliate. 

 Panicle very long (1-2 ft.), oblong and dense. Glumes nearly equal ; inner one 

 as long as the floret. Fertile glume trifid. Also called roseaux. 



Damp, sandy places, sides of streams, etc., common on the littoral and often 

 planted. September-November. Much used for baskets, fences, etc. 



A. Pliniana Turra. Allied to the last, but less robust in all its parts. 

 Leaves smaller with two shorter auricles at base. Panicle i-i ft. long, stiff. 

 Lower flowers-glume smooth, and tapering into a bristle. 



Damp places on the littoral near Frejus and St. Raphael. September-October. 



PHRAQM1TES Adans. REED. 



Panicle diffuse. Glumes unequal, lower one much smaller. Flowers 1-6, 

 awnless, with silky hairs at base, lower ones imperfect. Fertile glumes acuminate, 

 upper one much longer than the lower. Pale very short. 



P. communis Trin. Common Reed. A stout grass, 4-12 ft. high, with 

 long creeping root-stock and numerous long leaves, often an inch broad. Panicle 

 4-18 in. long, much branched, purplish-brown. Spikelets very numerous, 

 narrow. Outermost glume lanceolate, concave and empty. 



Wet places, very common and somewhat variable. June-September. 



A large variety (P. gigantea Gay) sometimes considered a species, is found 

 at the Plage d'Hyeres and at Porquerolles. 



AMPELODESMOS Lk. 



Spikelets many-flowered, lowermost usually perfect. Outer glume rather 

 the smallest. Fertile glumes bifid. Seed crested. Panicle diffuse. 



A. tenax Lk. grows very rarely in thickets among the Lentisk, Cistus and 

 Calycotome near La Londe (Var) on the borders of the Pansard torrent. 



AMMOPHILA Host. 



Spikelets i-flowered, scattered, with an inferior rudiment. Glumes nearly 

 equal, membranous. Fertile glume rigid, 5-nerved, silky at base. Pale rigid, 

 2-nerved. 



A. arenaria Lk. = Psamma arenaria Beauv. Sea Maram. Root-stock 

 creeping, binding the shilling sands. Panicle cylindrical, thicker in the middle ; 

 straw coloured ; glumes and pale linear-lanceolate acute. Stem erect, stiff, 

 2-3 ft. high. Leaves rigid, involute, acute, glaucous. 



Sandy seashores. May-July. 



CALAMAGROSTIS Adans. SMALL REED. 



Panicle diffuse. Glumes nearly equal, lower rather longer. Flower i, with 

 silky hairs at its base. Fertile glume bifid, awned. 



C. argentea DC. = Lasiogrostis Calamagrostis Lk. An elegant 

 silvery grass, 2-3 ft. high, growing in dense masses, with long stiff involute 

 leaves and leafy stems. Ligule short and truncate. Panicle long, branched, 

 somewhat drooping, silvery and then fawn coloured. 



Rocky screes and arid banks in the lower mountains. June-August. 



C. epigeios Roth, grows rarely in rather damp, sandy places near Frejus, St. 

 Raphael, the Esterel, and Golfe Jouan. 



AGROSTIS L. BENT GRASS. 



Panicle loose. Glumes membranous, acute, unarmed ; upper smaller. 

 Flower i, with hairs at its base, no rudiment. Fertile glume hyaline ; dorsal 

 awns shorter than glumes, or o. Spikelets very small. 



The following occur : 



