28 TRIANDRIA DIGYNIA. 



form, broad, the lower ones hairy ; stem 4 to 6 feet high. Hairy 

 Brome-grass. 



Hal. Moist woods. Wooded banks above the Union Bridge, 

 plentiful. July, Aug. 



3. B. sterilis, panicle drooping, mostly simple ; spikelets linear 

 lanceolate ; florets about 7, lanceolate, compressed, 7-ribbed, fur- 

 rowed, shorter than the straight awn ; leaves downy, narrow : 

 stem about 2 feet high. Barren Brome-grass. 



Hob. In hedges and by road sides. June, July. 



37. AVENA. 



1. A. fatua, panicle erect, compound; spikelets pendulous: 

 florets about 3, shorter than the calyx, bristly at the base, with 

 an oblique scar, all awned. Wild Oat. 



Hal. Corn fields 



" A detested weed 



That wildly grows in them, but yields a crop 

 As if it had been sow'd." 



June, July. 



The Wild Oat is seldom found but on clays and stiff gra- 

 vels ; on all loose soils, on dryish turnip land, on sandy 

 soils, and on fen and marsh land it is seldom seen. It is 

 very difficult to eradicate, since, in spring, it cannot be 

 sufficiently distinguished from the plants of other corn, to 

 be selected and weeded out ; and it has ripened and scat- 

 tered its seeds before the corn has arrived at maturity. 

 The twisted awn makes an excellent hygrometer. 



2. A. pulescens, panicle erect, nearly simple ; florets about 3, 

 longer than the calyx ; partial stalk-bearded ; leaves flat, downy ; 

 stem 14- or 2 feet high ; root somewhat creeping. Downy Oat. 

 grass. 



Hal. Dry limestone pastures, not uncommon in this neigh- 

 bourhood. Sea and river banks. June. I/. 



3. A. pratenriS) panicle erect, with very short simple branches ; 

 florets about 5, longer than the calyx ; partial stalk all over 

 hairy ; leaves involute, finely serrated, naked, with smooch 

 sheaths ; stem 12 or 18 inches high. Narrow-leaved Oat-grass. 



Hal. By pastures. Over the Burgesses' Cove : near Spit- 

 tal Gull-hole, Thomp. River banks. July. 11 



