MILIUM.] GEAMINE^. 475 



M. effu'sum, L. ; leaves broad flat thin. 



Damp woods from Argyll and Elgin southd. ; ascends to 1,000 ft. in the Lake 

 District; Ireland ; fl. May- June. Perennial, pale green. Stems 2-4 ft., 

 tufted, erect, smooth, shining, leafy. Leaves ^-| in., linear-oblong, acute, 

 scabrid above ; sheaths smooth ; ligule long, truncate, torn. Panicle 5-10 

 in., very lax and slender; branches capillary, spreading or deflexed, in 

 remote whorls, few-fid. Empty glumes ^ in., elliptic-ovoid, obtuse, scabe- 

 rulous, edges hyaline ; fl. glume quite smooth, white* and polished when 

 ripe. DISTBIB. Europe (Arctic), N. and W. Asia, N. America. 



1O. PHLE'UM, L. CAT'S-TAIL GRASS. 



Spikelets in crowded spike-like panicles, 1-fld., with rarely a rudimentary 

 2d. Empty glumes exceeding the flowering, equal, much laterally com- 

 pressed, .keeled, awned, or mucronate. Fl. glume hyaline, awned or not, 

 3-5-nerved, toothed. Palea small. Scales 2, hyaline, toothed on the 

 outer margin. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous ; styles long, stigmas slender 

 feathery. Fruit compressed, enclosed in the fl. glume and palea. Dis- 

 TRIB. N. and S. temp, and Arctic regions ; species 10. ETYM. The old 

 Greek name. 



* Empty glumes truncate, tip scarious. Fl. glume %-nerved. 



1. P. praten'se, L. ; leaf-sheaths appressed, panicle cylindric, keel of 

 empty glumes hispid, awn rigid their length. Timothy-grass. 



Pastures, &c., N. to Shetland ; ascends to 1,400ft. in N. England ; (? native N. 

 of the Caled. Canal, Wats.} ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. June- Aug. 

 Perennial. Stems 6-18 in., tufted, ascending, smooth. Leaves short, flat ; 

 ligule long. Panicle 1-6 in., obtuse, green. Spikelets crowded, shortly 

 pedicelled ; empty glumes with a stout green keel, ciliate with stiff setse, 

 sides pale ; awns in., scabrid, rigid ; fl. glumes membranous, cuspidate, 

 5-nerved ; anthers oblong, yellow or purple. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, 

 Siberia, W. Asia ; introd. in N.America. An excellent fodder. Syme dis- 

 tinguishes two varieties. 



P.praten'se proper; stems erect rarely geniculate, spikes stout cylindric, 

 glumes greenish, keel dark. VAB. P. nodo'sum, L. ; stem recumbent geni- 

 culate, lower internodes swollen, leaves narrower, spike slender, glumes 

 pale, keel green. VAB. stolonifera, Bab., has copious stolons. 



2. P. alpi'num, L. ; upper sheaths inflated, panicle ovoid or oblong, 

 empty glumes equalling their rigid awn, keel hispid. 



By alpine springs and rills, Perth, Forfar, Aberdeen ; alt. 2,100 to 3,600 ft. ; 

 fl. July. Perennial. Stems 6-18 in., solitary, creeping below, smooth, 

 ascending, rigid. Leaves short, flat, spreading ; lower sheaths appressed ; 

 ligule short. Panicle -l| in., dull purple and green. Empty glumes as in 

 P. praten'se, but larger, in. including the awn. DISTKIB. " Arctic and 

 Alpine Europe and Asia, Himalaya, N. America, Fuegia. 



