478 



THE NATURE BOOK 



F ^ ^ I") r a n c h 1 e t s 



thrown from 

 the stem. In 

 colouring it is 

 not so attrac- 

 tive as the 

 Foxtail, yet 

 the cinnamon 

 anthers c o n - 

 trast prettily 

 \\ith the pale 

 green of the 

 glumes. 



One of the 

 grasses to ac- 

 centuate that 

 gleam and 

 flash when the 

 wind bends it 

 in sunshine is 

 the fine-stem- 

 med Crested 

 Dogstail {Cyn- 

 osiints crista- 

 tus). The plant 

 grows its radi- 

 cal blades in 

 tufted thick- 

 ness at the 

 root, and sends 

 up the wiry 

 stems in com- 

 petition with 

 the neighbour- 

 ing grasses, 

 though sometimes they are less than a 

 foot high. The fibre of them is distinctly 

 tough and polished like glass. There is 

 something of definite character in the 

 way the clusters of glumes lie alternately 

 right and left of the stem, giving the 

 spike a flattened appearance. The stem 

 itself bends to accommodate the clusters, 

 making a zigzag line to the top of the 

 spike — a length of one to three inches. 

 With the exception of the blade elabo- 

 rated from the sheath at the point where 

 it opens to free the flower stem, the 

 remainder are all radical. 



The species is variable in its habitat, 

 for althougli it has all the character of a 

 grass belonging to high pastures, yet I 

 have found it on the slopes of a water- 

 meadow, allieit high on the slope. The 

 passing of the water-flow over the roots 

 was probably a different condition alto- 



CATSTAIL. 



gether from that where they would re- 

 main waterlogged in it. On the high 

 land that is grazed during the year one 

 is familiar with the fine fringe of fawn- 

 coloured stems left standing in the autumn 

 and winter months by this and other 

 tough-fibred species. 



Holciis lanatns is one of the commonest 

 British grasses, and the common name of 

 Meadow Soft Grass defines its principal 

 characteristic. For the plant has a soft 

 down overlying it throughout, which 

 tinges the blades and stems and flowering 

 panicles with silvery grey. The blue-green 

 blades, velvety to the touch, have the 

 midrib clearly expressed beneath them. 

 In the early stage of growth the swollen 

 sheath enclosing the coming flower has 

 also the most beautifully soft clothing of 

 fine downy hair. On first emerging, the 

 spike shows a mass of silvery-green glumes 

 delicately 

 tipped with 

 pink; as 

 the panicle 

 expands its 

 s p i k e 1 e t s 

 this pink 

 flushes the 

 whole of the 

 glume ; and 

 finally, as 

 the grass 

 advances to 

 the dry 

 stage, passes 

 to the base, 

 showing the 

 tips now as 

 light fawn- 

 colour. 



The pink 

 flush in a 

 m e a s u re 

 never quite 

 deserts the 

 cellular for- 

 mation, for 

 we are well 

 acquainted 

 w i t h the 

 masses of 

 warm-toned 

 dry grass all 

 among the 

 gorse of the 



SWEET ANTHOXANTH. 



