Poa.^ TRIANDRIA— DIGYNIA. 41 



Sandy ground, principally near the sea. Near Dublin. FL July, Aug-. 

 !(.. — One foot high. Leaves linear, plane, not pungent. Lirjide short, 

 obtuse. Branches of the panicle singularly deflexed, slender. Spikelets 

 much shorter than in the last species. Glumes membranous, softer. 

 Crt/.-valves much smaller than the coi\, unequal, larger one obscurely 

 3-nerved.— Allied to the last, but very distinct. 



5. P. 2}rocumbe7is, Cnvt. {procumbent Sea 3Ieadow-grass); pani- 

 cle compact ovato-lanceolate disticho-secund (rigid), spikelets 

 linear lanceolate of about 4 florets which are 5-ribbed. E. Bol. 

 t. b'^'l. — Sclerochloa, Beauv. Lindl. 



Salt-marshes in various places, apparently not uncommon. Fl. June, 

 — Aug. 0. — Culms prociunbent, 6 — 8 inches long, glaucous. Leaves 

 linear, obtuse. Ligule short, very blunt. Panicle about 2 inches long, 

 branches patent, distichous, their spikelets secund. Ca/.-valves smaller 

 than the tioret, obtuse, strongly ribbed. Florets oblong, distant upon 

 the rachis. Inner valve of cor. membranous, bifid at the point. 



6. P. rigida, L. (Jiard Meadow-grass); panicle lanceolate dis- 

 ticlio- secund (rigid), spikelets linear acute of about 7 florets which 

 are almost ribless, root fibrous. E. Bot. t. 1371. — Sclerochloa^ 

 Beauv. Lindl. 



Walls, rocks, and dry barren soils, frequent. Fl. June. 0,— Whole 

 plant very rigid and wir}', 3 — 5 Jnches long, ascendent or erect. Leaves 

 rigid, linear, setaceous. Ligule oblong, jagged. Rachis angled, some- 

 times at once bearing the spikelets (when it much resembles Triticum 

 loliaceum), but more usually throwing out branches. Ca/.-valves nearly 

 as long as the cor., ribbed. Florets almost entirely ribless, linear-oblong, 

 rather distant, smooth, bluntish. 



7. P.compressa, h. (Jlat- stemmed Meadow-grass); panicle suh- 

 secund spreading (afterwards subcoarctate), spikelets oblong of 

 5 — 7 obtuse florets connected by a web culm compressed, root 

 creeping. E. Bot. t. 365. 



On walls, and in dry barren ground, frequent. Fl. June, July. II- — 

 One foot or more high, rather glaucous. Culms compressed, procum- 

 bent at the base. Leaves short, linear, acute. Ligule very short, blunt. 

 Panicle not much branched. Cal.-valves ribbed, acute. Valves of cor. 

 obtuse, outer one ver}' obsoletely ribbed ; tiie lower florets webbed at 

 the base. — Intermediate, as it were, between the present and the follow- 

 ing division. 



** Spikelets ovate or nearly so. (Poa, Sm.) 



8. P.alpina, L. (alpitie 3Ieadow-grass); panicle diffuse, spike- 

 lets ovate of 4 — 5 acute florets hairy below (but not webbed), 

 leaves broadly linear obtuse, ligule of the upper leaves oblong 

 acute, of the lower ones short obtuse. E. Bot.t. 1003. — ^. glo- 

 merata ; spikelets densely crowded. 



Extremely abundant on the lofty mountains of Scotland and Wales, 

 and very generally viviparous. — /3. Banks of the Esk, G. Do7i. Fl. 

 July, Aug. v.. — G — 12 inches high, nearly erect. Leaves short, linear, 

 obtuse, with a very small mucro. Spikelets rather large, close. Cal.- 

 valves ovato-lanceolate, much compressed ; dorsal rib scabrous, termi- 

 nating in a very short point or awn, with a short lateral rib or nerve at 



