LAGURUS OVATUS. 37 



LAGURUS OVATUS. 



LINN.EUS. HOOKER AND ARNOTT. KOCH. KUNTH. SMITH. BABINGTON. 

 LINDLEY. KNAPP. WITHERING. PARNELL. 



WlLLDENOW. DlCKSON. ScHRADER. HOOKER. ScHREBER. HULL. 



PLATE XI. A. 



Alopecuros genuina, MORISON. 



spied rotundiore, MORISON. 



The Hare's- tail Grass. 

 Lagurus Hare's-tail (from the Greek). Ovatus Egg-shaped. 



LAGURUS. Linnaus. Panicle spiked. Spikelets laterally compressed. 

 Glumes fringed throughout, terminating in a lengthy subulate point. Glu- 

 mellas two in number, membranaceous in texture, the exterior one terminating 

 in two long bristles. Only one British example, and this confined to a 

 portion of Guernsey. The name is derived from the Greek, and signifies 

 a hare's tail, from the downy feel and appearance of the panicle. 



ONE of the rarest and most beautiful of our British Grasses, growing 

 in sandy exposed situations in the north and west of Guernsey, 

 one of the Channel Islands. It was first discovered there by Mr. 

 Gosselin. Miss Guille informs me that it is abundant near the sea- 

 shore. Sir J. B. Smith, in his "British Flora," remarks that Lagurus 

 ovatus serves to decorate flower-pots in winter, like the Stipa pennata, 

 and the foreign Briza maxima; there are, however, a number of other 

 species which, when placed in a vase in a bunch, produce a pleasing 

 effect. 



Root annual, composed of seven or eight woolly fibres. Stem 

 upright, circular, smooth, with three or four joints. Leaves four or 

 five in number, with tumid, very downy sheaths. Ligule bold, obtuse, 

 and encircling the stem. Leaves flat, lanceolate in shape, short, pointed, 



