546 



THE NATURE BOOK 



glumes shine a 

 polished silvery 

 green colour. 

 Although a very 

 variable species, 

 the closely com- 

 pacted glumes 

 and the glaucous 

 green colour 

 make it one easily 



WAY BENT 



to be recognised in one 

 or other of its forms. 

 It is an annual species, 

 flowering from May to 

 July, and varying from 

 one to two feet high 

 in general. 



The Barren Bromc 

 {Broinus sterilis), 

 another wayside grass, 

 although quite distinct 

 in appearance from the Soft Brome. 

 possesses the botanical characteristics 

 that place them in the same category. 

 One of these is, that the leaf-sheath splits 

 half-way down. The oat character is 

 seen more distinctly in B. sterilis— Bromus 

 being the Greek name for oats— since there 

 are the long fine stems of the spikelets and 

 the long awns extended from the glumes. 

 The panicle of the Barren Brome is 



variable in length, measuring from six to 

 sixteen inches. Bordering a grass lane in 

 shelter of the hedges, I have seen it a 

 very stately height, with long spraying 

 panicle tossing in the wind very grace- 

 full}-. It often springs up in patches at 

 the edges of the open field paths, which 

 is a fa\-ourite haunt of many of the grasses. 

 Perhaps as famihar as any is the 

 Avena fatiia, or Wild Oat, a stout grass 

 with smooth stems, but 

 with a minute growth 

 of hair at the nodes or 

 thickened notches. In 

 the setting of the loose 

 panicle, often as much 

 as ten inches long, with 

 the spikelets hanging 

 on unequal foot-stalks, 

 we see a close resem- 

 blance to the plan of 



FALSE OAT. 



the cultivated oat. 

 It is often found 

 in association 

 \\-ith wheat and 

 other crops, and 

 with the w i 1 d 

 poppy among the 

 roots. In among 

 the acres of tur- 

 nips or swedes, 



WALL BAKLEY. 



