272 HALF-HOURS IN THE GREEN LANES. 



be found in abundance in July or August under our 

 hedges, or indeed in any shady place. The Brome 

 Grass (Bromux] also is a genus which includes many 

 ornamental grasses that are both widely spread and 

 abundant in this country. All the species bear a 

 strong resemblance to each other, although the 

 generic type is very marked and distinct. One 

 species the Barren Brome (Bromus sterilis, Fig. 206) 

 P. l)0 - may be found on almost every piece 



of waste ground, or along the hedge- 

 banks of our lanes and road-sides. 

 Common though it is, we have few 

 native grasses that can compare with 

 it for elegance and grace. To judge 

 correctly of its pretensions to beauty, 

 you should see it, not where it so fre- 



Kioret o"r/fofc. W^ g rows > on the ^edge-banks of 

 our dusty roads, but along some 

 grass-grown tree-shaded, country lane. There it 

 will grow to the height of over two feet, will have 

 soft, downy leaves, and spikelets seated on long 

 slender pedicels which droop in the most graceful of 

 curves. Each spikelet contains about seven compressed 

 flowers, whose long, slender awns give to the whole 

 plant a light and feathery appearance which greatly 

 enhances its beauty. Along the dusty roads, the 

 sterile Brome grass possesses a great capacity 

 for collecting dust, and in such situations the plant 

 is often an invisible green. One of the flowering 

 glumes is represented at l> in Fig. 206. Another 



