CLASS III. OHD£R II. J 



POA. 117 



striated, and rougliish. Ligiila sliort, obtuse. Inflorescence an erect 

 panicle, varying in length from one to three inches, according to the 

 situation of its growth ; spreading when in flower, but rather close both 

 before and after. Spikelets ovate, oblong. Glumes nearly equal, 

 ovate, acute, each three-ribbed, the dorsal one roughish. Florets from 

 five to seven, the lower ones connected at the base, and partly up the 

 keel and edges of the glumelles, by a soft, fine white web of some 

 length : the outer valve of the glumelles ovate, acute, with a strong 

 dorsal and four rather indistinct lateral ribs; inner valve with two 

 lateral, roughish ribs, bifid at the apex ; the margins membranous, in- 

 flexed. Anthers small. Stigmas densely feathery. 



Habitat. — On walls, rocks, and dry, waste places ; frequent. 



Perennial ; flowering from June to August. 



For purposes of cultivation, this grass is of little utility, although it 

 contains a considerable proportion of nutritive matter; the quantity of 

 herbage which it produces is too scanty in comparison with many other 

 valuable grasses, so as to render it scarcely worthy the attention of the 

 farmer. 



** Spikelets ovate. 



8. P. alpi'na, Linn. (Fig. 146 ) alpine 3Ieado2v-grass. Panicle loose, 

 spreading ; glumes nearly equal ; florets four or five, hairy at the 

 base ; leaves broadly linear, obtuse ; lignite of the upper leaves 

 oblong, acute, — of the lower short, obtuse. 



English Botany, t. 1003. — English Flora, vol. i. p. 122. — Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 316. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 45. — Sinclair, Hort. 

 Gram. Woburn. p 301. 



/3. glomera'ta; spikelets densely crowded. Z). Z)oh, Hooker's Flora 

 Scotica, vol. i. p. 34. 



Root fibrous. Stem erect, from six to twelve inches high, sometimes 

 bent at the base, and branched and leafy, naked above, round, smooth, 

 finely striated, mostly purplish. Leaves smooth, sometimes roughish 

 on the edges and upper side ; the lower numerous, tufted, linear, flat, 

 striated, rather short, obtuse, with a fine bristle point ; their sheaths 

 short; the ligulce short, obtuse : upper leaves much shorter, narrower; 

 the margins inflexed ; the sheaths much longer; the ligulse lanceolate, 

 mostly torn. Inflorescence an erect, loose, spreading panicle; its 

 branches smooth, mostly in pairs. Spikelets ovate, rather large. Flo- 

 rets mostly four, sometimes five. Glumes ovate, lanceolate, green or 

 purplish, with a strong keel, terminating in a short point or awn, and 

 two lateral ribs ; the margins membranous. Glumelles green or pur- 

 plish : outer valve ovate, lanceolate; the keel roughish at the apex, 

 silky at the base; the margins thin and membranous: inner valve 

 with two lateral ribs, finely fringed ; the apex notched; the margins 

 membranous, inflexed. Anthers rather large. Stigmas fcatlicry. 



