FESTUCA.] &RAMINEJE. '499 



Sandy shores, from Fife and Wigton southd. ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. 

 July-Aug. Green, smooth, glabrous. Root fibrous. Stems spreading and 

 erect, leafy. Leaves small, flat or involute ; sheaths smooth ; ligule oblong. 

 Spikes strict, 1-2J in. ; rachis stout, % terete, hardly flexuous, edges smooth . 

 Spikelets J in., sessile, erect, green ; fl. glumes broad, obtusely-keeled, 

 smooth ; lateral nerves strongest. DISTRIB. S. and W. Europe from France 

 to Dalmatia, N. Africa. 



41. BRO'MUS, L. BROME GBASS. 



Annual or perennial grasses. Spikelets subterete or laterally compressed, 

 panicled or racemed, 5-maiiy-fld. ; rachilla jointed between the fl. glumes. 

 Empty glumes 2, shorter than the lowest fl. glume, unequal, coriaceous, 

 acute, awnless ; lower smaller 1-5-nerved ; upper 3-9-nerved. Fl. glumes 

 convex or keeled, 5-9-nerved, tip entire or 2-fid, 1-3-awned, mid awn 

 often bent or twisted. Palea 2-fid, nerves ciliate. Scales entire. Stamen* 

 3, rarely 2. Ovary hairy at the top ; styles short, inserted below the top, 

 stigmas feathery. Fruit linear, grooved, oblong, adherent to the palea. 

 DISTRIB. Temp, and cold climates ; species 40. ETYM. Greek name for 

 Oat. 



SECTION 1. Festucoides, Coss. and Dur. Lower empty glume 1-nerved, 

 upper 3-nerved. Fl. glumes distant, narrow, convex below, keeled 

 and compressed above, 5 -nerved, awn terminal. Styles lateral on the 

 ovary. 



* Keels of palea pubescent. Fl. glumes spreading in flower, erect in fruit. 



1. B. as'per, Murr. ; leaves flat and sheaths hairy, panicle secund 

 nodding, fl. glumes 5-8 twice as long as the awn. B. ramo'sus, Huds. 



Damp woods, hedgebanks, &c., from Elgin and Mull southd. ; ascends to 

 1,200 ft. in Yorkshire ; Ireland ; fl. June-July. Annual or perennial. Boot 

 fibrous. Stem 2-6 ft., smooth. Leaves J-J in. diam., green, long, hairs 

 scattered, reflexed on the sheath ; ligule short. Panicle 3-5 in., lower 

 branches 2-6-nate, long, lax, capillary, and rachis scabrid. Spikelets 1 in., 

 narrow, glaucous green, rachilla scabrid ; empty glumes acuminate, hairy or 

 glabrous; fl. glumes with the awn in., diverging in flower, then erect, 

 more or less hairy, lateral nerves strong, tip 2-toothed ; awn variable in 

 length. DISTRIB. Europe, Siberia ; introd. in N. America. 



B. sero'tinus, Benek., has sheaths all with reflexed hairs, lower panicle 

 branches 2-nate, empty glumes unequal, fl. glume glabrous next the midrib. 

 B. BeneJcen'ii, Syme, has upper sheaths glabrate, lower panicle branches 

 3-6-nate, with a semilunar thickening at the base, empty glumes subequal, 

 fl. glume hairy all over. Near London, a doubtful native. 



2. B. erec'tus, Huds. ; leaves involute hairy, panicle erect narrow, fl. 

 glumes twice as long as the awn. 



Fields and waste places in dry soil, from Fife to Kent and Sussex; Ireland, 

 rare; fl. June-July. Perennial. Rootstock stout, creeping; stolons 0. 

 Stems 1-3 ft., rigid, smooth, bent below, then erect. Leaves narrow, rigid, 

 almost subulate, hairy ; hairs scattered on the upper sheaths, erect ; ligule 



K K 2 



