DESCHAMPSIA.] GRAMINE^E. 483 



stigmas feathery. Fruit grooved, included in the fl. glume "and palea, 

 free. DISTHIB. Temp, and cold regions ; species 20. ETYM. M. H. 

 Deschamps, a French chemist. 



1. D. flexuo'sa, Trin. ; leaves filiform terete solid, branches of panicle 

 spreading capillary, spikelets subterete, Ai'ra jlcxuo'sa, L. 



Dry woods, heaths, &<?,, N. to Shetland, ascends to 3,700 ft. in the Highlands ; 

 Ireland; Channel Islands; fl. Juue-Aug. Stems |-2 ft., erect, slender, 

 polished, naked above. Leaves short, curved, obtuse, grooved (not involute), 

 sheath of upper long ; ligule short, obtuse. Panicle 2-5 in. ; branches 

 2-3-nate. Spikelets in. ; purplish or yellow-brown, shining ; empty glumes 

 acuminate ; awn about ^ as loug as the spikelet, erect, then bent or twisted. 

 DISTRIB. Europe (Arctic), N. and "W. Asia, N. America, Fuegia. Often 

 viviparous. 



VAR. Ai'ra monta'na, Huds. ; subalpine, glumes larger more purple. YAR. 

 A. seta'cea, Huds. (uliyino'sa, Weihe) ; leaves capillary, upper fl. glume 

 longer pedicelled. 



2. D. csespito'sa, Beauv. ; leaves flat scabrid, branches of nodding 

 panicle flexuous, spikelets much compressed. Ai'ra ccespito'sa, L. ; A. 

 ma'jor, Syme. 



Wet meadows, woods, &c., N. to Shetland ; ascends to nearly 3,000 ft. in the 

 Highlands; Ireland; fl. June-July. Stems 2-4 ft., rather stout, leafy, 

 shining, smooth. Leaves coriaceous ; sheaths shining, smooth or rough, 

 upper very long ; ligule obtuse. Panicle 4-8 in., linear-oblong, spreading 

 in flower. Spikelets J in., very shining, fulvous or purplish ; empty glumes 

 narrow, obtuse, shorter than the flowering, keel scabrid or smooth, upper 

 obscurely 3-nerved ; fl. glumes 1-3 (3d always imperfect), silky at the base ; 

 awn short, inserted below the middle, variable in length. DISTRIB. N. and 

 S. temp., Arctic, and mountain regions. A variable grass. 



D. oaESPiTo'SA proper ; tall, leaves longer broader scabrid, branches of panicle 

 rough, awn inserted below the middle usually equalling the glume. 



Sub-sp. D. ALPI'NA, B. and S.; short, leaves narrower channelled smooth, 

 branches of panicle smooth, awn inserted at the middle shorter. Ai'ra lavi- 

 aa'ta, Sm. Usually viviparous. Wet rocks, Scotland; ascends to 4,100 ft.; 

 W. Ireland. 



23. HOL'CUS, L. 



Spikelets much laterally compressed, in open panicles, jointed on the 

 pedicel, 2-fld. ; lower flower 2-sexual, upper male ; rachilla shortly pro- 

 duced. Empty glumes 2, boat-shaped, subequal, keeled, lower 1 -nerved ; 

 upper larger, 3-nerved, notched, acute or shortly awned. FL glumes 

 shorter, 5-nerved, lower sessile, 2-sexual. avvnless ; upper pedicelled, male, 

 with a dorsal twisted awn. Palea 2-rierved, 3-toothed. Scales oblique, 

 acuminate. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous ; stigmas sessile feathery. Fruit 

 laterally compressed, enclosed in the fl. glume. DISTRIB. Europe, temp. 

 Asia, and N. and S. Africa ; species 8. ETYM. obscure. 



1. H. lana tus, L. ; softly tomentose, root fibrous, awn of the flowering 

 glume included, tip scabrous or smooth. 



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