CLASS m. ORDEEII.] STIPA. — P0L5P0G0N. 87 



GENUS XXII. STITA. Linn. Feather-grass. 



Gen. Char. Panicle erect, simple, or branclied. Glumes o{ two nearly 

 equal valves, longer than the gluinella. Glnmella of two involute 

 valves, the external one bearing from its apex a long twisted awn, 

 jointed at the base, and finally separating at the joint. — Name 

 from crrvTrn, silkij ; from the glossy silk-like appearance of the 

 panicle. 



1. S. penna'fa, Linn. (Fig. 109.) common Feather-grass. Stems 

 erect, several from the same root, leaves rigid, narrow, involute, 

 striated, awn very long, feathery. 



English Botany, t. L356. — English Flora, vol. i. p. 1(?2.— Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 302. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 36. — Sinclair, Hort. 

 Gram. Woburn. p. 282, 



Root fibrous, bearing several stems from one to two feet high, erect. 

 Leaves very numerous, long, very narrow, rough, the edges so closely 

 rolled inwards as to become setaceous, dark-green. Sheaths very long, 

 and striated, especially the upper ones, which are dilated, and envelope 

 the panicle when young, but when in flower it rises above it. Ligula 

 oblong, obtuse. Inflorescence oiiew flowers. G/mwe^ lanceolate, thin, 

 acutely pointed; frequently by cultivation they are lengthened out 

 into a long, fine, slightly feathery awn. Glumella of two valves, nearly 

 of equal lengths, the external one largest, involute, and terminating in 

 a jointed awn, about a foot long, twisted at the lower part, elegantly 

 feathery in the upper, surrounded at the base with numerous short 

 rigid bristles, pointing upwards ; the inner much narrower, awnless, 

 involute at the edges. GlumeUules of two linear lanceolate scales. 

 Anthers linear. Stigmas feathery. Seed pointed at each end, enve- 

 loped by the hardened glumella. 



Habitat. — A very doubtful native; said to have been found, in Dil- 

 lenius's time, in a little vale called Long Sleadale, Westmoreland. 



Perennial ; flowering in June. 



GENUS XXIII. POLYPO'GON. Desfont. Beard-grass. 



Gen. Char. Panicle contracted, somewhat spiked. Glumes of two 

 equal awned valves. Glumella of two unequal valves, smaller 

 than the glumes, the outer largest, obtuse, awned at the extremity. 

 Name from ffoXuf, many, and Trwywv, a heard ; from the bearded 

 appearance of the panicle. 



1. P. Monspelien'sis, Desf. (Fig. 110.) annual Beard-grass. Awn 

 rough, thrice as long as the rough hairy valves of tlie glumes, root 

 fibrous, annual. 



