eiASS II. OHDKR n.] anthoxanthum. 33 



ORDER II. 



DIGYN'IA. 2 Pistils. 



GENUS I. ANTHOXANTHUM. Vernal Grass. 



Nat. Ord. Gram'ineje. 



Gen. Char. Glumes of two unequal valves, containing one perfect 

 and two imperfect florets ; the middle floret perfect. Glumella of 

 two small awnless valves ; the two lateral florets each reduced to 

 a single-awned valve. — Name from av6o,-, a flower, or bloom, and 

 ^a,vQo<;, yellow ,' in allusion to the yellowish hue of the spikes. 



1. A. odora'tum, Linn. (Fig. 45.) sweet-scented Vernal Grass. Pani- 

 cle spiked, oblong ; florets upon short footstalks, and longer than 

 their awns, 

 English Botany, t. 647. — English Flora, vol. i. p. 37. — Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 300, — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 14. — Sinclair, Hor- 

 tus Gramineus Woburnensis, p. 134. 



Ste)n ten to eighteen inches high, smooth, slender, two or three 

 jointed. Leaves flat, slightly hairy, short, upper ones very short. Pa- 

 nicle spiked, erect, somewhat acute, becoming yellow with age, the 

 lower florets sometimes distant. Glumes unequal, sharp-pointed, and 

 as well as the footstalks slightly hairy ; the outer largest, with a 

 strong dorsal rib and two slighter on each side; the inner valve about 

 half the length, with a single dorsal rib. Imperfect florets awned, 

 obtuse, brown, hairy ; the inner with a straight aivn from the middle 

 of the back, the outer with a longer bent aicn from near the base. 

 Glumelles of the perfect floret very small, its valves membranous, 

 obtuse, equal. Stamens only two, slender, longer than the flumes. 

 Stigmas erect, long. Seed glossy, brown, obovate, attenuated at the 

 apex. 



Habitat. — Meadows and pastures, very common; most frequent in 

 gravelly situations. 



Perennial ; flowering in May and June. 



It is this grass which chiefly gives the peculiar and well-known 

 agreeable scent to new-made hay. The valves of the glumes are thickly 

 studded with small (when dry) pale-coloured dots, and are probably 

 the organs which secrete the volatile matter, the cause of the odour, 

 which is said to be benzoic acid. It is remarkable that the odour of 

 this plant is not given out while in a growing state, but when cut and 

 in the act of drying, it is the strongest. On account of the early and 

 late produce of this plant, it is valuable to farmers in theii* permanent 

 pasture lands, and it has been proposed to enrich them with it for the 



VOL. I. F 



