88 POLYPOGOK. [class Hi. ORDER II. 



English Flora, vol. i. p. 86. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 302. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 36. — Agros'tis pani'cea, English Botany, t. 

 1704. 



Root fibrous, branched. Stems several from the same root, erect, 

 about a foot high, smooth, leafy in the lower part. Leaves rather short, 

 especially the upper ones, acute, flat, striated, the margins and ribs 

 rough. Sheaths smooth, striated, the upper one slightly inflated. Li- 

 yula long, obtuse, ribbed, frequently torn. Inflorescence from one to 

 two inches long, lobed, pale and silky from the long shining awns. 

 Glumes very small, equal, shining from the white silky hairs with which 

 it is more or less clothed : the outer valve cleft at the extremity, the 

 aw^n arising from between the lobes ; the inner scarcely cleft, the awn 

 from the apex. Glumella much smaller than the glumes, external one 

 the largest, bifid, with a short rough awn from between the lobes ; in- 

 ternal smaller, awnless. Anthers small, as are also the styles and 

 stigmas. 



Habitat, — Rare. In moist pastures near the sea, in Hampshire and 

 Essex ; near Cley, Norfolk ; Guernsey. 



Annual ; flowering from July to August. 



2. P. littora' Us, Sm. {Fig. III.) perennial Beard-grass, Awn rough, 

 about the length of the somewhat acute valves of the glumes ; 

 root perennial, with creeping underground stems. 



English Flora, vol. i. p. 86. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 302. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 36. — Agros'tis littora'lis, English Botany, t, 

 1251. 



Root with branched underground stems. Stems branched, smooth, 

 procumbent, and bent at the joint, the lower ones sending out fibrous 

 radicles, erect in the upper part. Leaves striated, rough on the edges, 

 and also on both sides. Sheaths smooth, striated, scarcely inflated. 

 Ligula oblong, striated, decurrent. Inflorescences two or more inches 

 long, lobed, shining, purplish, dense, from the numerous small 

 crowded florets. Ghimes longer, more acuminated, less hairy, awn 

 much shorter, than in the foregoing species : the oxiter valve is cleft at 

 the extremity, with the awn arising from between the lobes ; the inner 

 tapering into its terminal awn. Glumella shorter than the glumes : 

 outer valve bifid at the apex, with a short rough awn arising from 

 between the teeth ; the inner awnless. Styles short. Stigmas feathery- 

 Seed small, ovate, enveloped in the glumella. 



Habitat. — Rare. In muddy salt marshes, near Cley, Norfolk ; in 

 Essex; and near Woolwich. 



Perennial ; flowering in July and August. 



This species " was long supposed peculiar to England, but it is now 

 found in Germany." — Hooker. It is a very distinct species, formerly 

 referred to the genus Agrostis. 



