502 GRAMINE^E. [BROMUS. 



** Fl. ylume not longer than its palea 



B. ARVEN'SIS, L. ; leaves and sheaths hairy, panicle pyramidal effuse, 

 branches horizontal, fl. glumes imbricate equalling the straight awn. 



Casual from Fife soutbcl. ; fl. July- Aug. Root fibrous or creeping. Stem* 

 1-2 ft., smooth. Leaves | J in. broad, flat, short, hairy beneath ; sheaths 

 grooved, pubescent ; ligule obtuse. Panicle 4-8 in., 3-5 in. broad ; branches 

 5-7-nate, widespreading, very long, capillary, scaberulous, with a few spike- 

 lets towards the tips. Spikelets J in., lanceolate, compressed, green or dull 

 violet; rachilla smooth; empty glumes ovate-oblong, keel scabrid, upper 

 much the largest, acute or shortly awned ; fl. glumes T 3 ^ in., imbricate till 

 quite mature, then rather distant, oblong, 2-fid, strongly nerved ; awn 

 dark. DISTRIB. Europe. 



42. BRACHYPO'DIUM, JBeauv. 



Perennial grasses. Spikelets subsessile, distichous, terete, spiked, in- 

 serted broadside to the rachis, very many-fld. ; rachilla jointed between 

 the fl. glumes. Empty glumes 2, rarely 1, much shorter than the flowering, 

 straight. FL glumes densely imbricate ; awn terminal or 0, 7-9-nerved, 

 nerves converging to the tip. Palea with ciliate nerves. Scales 2, ovate. 

 Stamens 2-3. Ovary hairy at the top ; styles distant, stigmas feathery. 

 Fruit adhering to the palea. DISTRIB. Europe, temp. Asia, N. Africa ; 

 species 5 or 6. ETYM. ftpaxvs and TroSdv, from the subsessile spikelets. 



1. B. sylvat'icum, R. and S. ; root fibrous, leaves broad hirsute, spike 

 drooping, awn equalling its fl. glume. 



Copses, hedgerows, &c., N. to Orkney; ascends to 1,000 ft. in N. England ; 

 Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. June-July. Stems 1-3 ft., very slender, 

 terete, inclined, leafy. Leaves in. broad, flat, bright green, ciliate ; 

 sheaths terete ; ligule obtuse. Spike 2-6 in. ; rachis flattened, smooth, 

 slender. Spikelets 8-18, 1-2 in., ap pressed, linear, very shortly pedicelled, 

 hirsute or glabrate, green ; empty glumes cuspidate, strongly 3-5-nerved ; 

 fl. glumes 8-10, J in., linear-oblong, nerves strong, tip acuminate awned ; 

 palea ciliate at the tip, equalling the glume. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, 

 N.W. Himalaya. 



2. B. pinna' turn, Beauv. ; rootstock creeping, leaves narrow dnvolute, 

 spike erect, awn shorter than its fl. glume. 



Downs and hedgerows in chalky soil, from York to Devon and Kent ; absent 

 in Wales, Cambridge only in the E. counties ; fl. July. Glaucous. Stems 

 1-3 ft., very slender, terete, naked, smooth. Leaves rigid, almost glabrous, 

 involute, rarely flat ; ligule ciliate. S-pike 1-6 in. ; rachis flattened, smooth. 

 Spikelets f-l| in., erect, curved away from the rachis, glabrous or pubescent, 

 green and purplish ; empty and fl. glumes much as in B. sylvat'icum, but 

 glabrous or nearly so, and tips of the latter suddenly contracted into the 

 short awn. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, Siberia. 



