Poo.] LXXXIX. GRAMINE.E. 543 



those of west of Ireland, frequently in a viviparous state, the spikelets 

 being converted into leafv bulbs. PL. summer. 



15. P. bulbosa, Linn. (fig. 1250). Bulbous P. A low, tufted per- 

 ennial, seldom above 6 inches high, and remarkable for the bulbs formed 

 by the swollen base of the stems and leaf-sheaths. Leaves short, the 

 ligula of the upper ones prominent and acute. Panicle ovoid or oblong, 

 spike-like or scarcely spreading, not much above an inch long. Spikelets 

 ovate, 3- or 4-flowered. Flowering glumes about a line long or rather 

 more, pointed and keeled; the lateral nerves not prominent, with minute 

 silky hairs on the keel and edges, and a few short woolly ones at their 

 base on the axis of the spikelet. 



In dry waste places, on roadsides, &c., especially near the sea, in tem- 

 perate and southern Europe, and across Russian Asia, extending north- 

 wards into southern Scandinavia. In Britain, chiefly near the sea, and 

 only in the southern and eastern counties of England. Fl. spring. 



XXXVI. CATABEOSA. CATABROSE. 



A single species, closely allied to Poa, but the spikelets have usually 

 only 2 flowers, the glumes broad and truncate at the top or slightly 

 jagged. 



1. 0. aquatica, Beauv. (fig. 1251). Water <?. A glabrous, tender, 

 pale-green perennial ; the stems procumbent, and creeping or floating 

 at the base, rooting at the nodes, and often 2 or 3 feet long ; the flower- 

 ing branches erect. Leaves short, flat, and flaccid. Panicle 4 to 6 inches 

 long, consisting of many sets of half-whorled, unequal, slender, and 

 spreading branches. Spikelets 1 to near 2 lines long. Outermost glume 

 very short and small, the second larger, broad, and truncate at the top 

 like the flowering ones, but much shorter : these are scarious, and slightly 

 toothed or jagged at the top, with very prominent ribs. Paleas similar 

 but rather smaller, with only 2 ribs. 



In shallow pools and ditches, in Europe and temperate Asia, from 

 the Mediterranean to the Arctic regions, and in North America. 

 Generally, although thinly, scattered over Britain. Fl. early summer. 



XXXVII. MOLINIA. MOLINIA. 



A single species, very near Poa and Festuca, differing from the former 

 in the much more pointed glumes, from Festuca in the smaller and 

 rather less flattened spikelets. There is also, at the base of the palea 

 of the uppermost flower, a small, bristle-like appendage, being a con- 

 tinuation of the axis of the spikelet, and bearing sometimes the rudi- 

 ment of another flower, although less conspicuous than in Melica. This 

 rudimentary terminal flower, however, occasionally occurs in most of 

 the allied genera. 



1. M. ceerulea, Mcench. (fig. 1252). Purple M. A rather coarse, 

 stiff perennial, often 3 feet high, with the leaves chiefly radical, form- 

 ing large tufts, long and flat, rather stiff, and slightly hairy on the 

 upper side. Panicle narrow but loose, 6 inches to above a foot long, 

 green or purplish ; the branches erect or scarcely spreading. Spikeleti 



