144 DACTYllS. [class III. ouber ii. 



above the middle of the valve spreading : ijmer valve pale aud mem- 

 branous, with two lateral roughish ribs ; the apex bifid. Stiffinas pro- 

 truding, feathery. 



Habitat. — Dry meadows, pastures, and heathy places ; frequent. 



Perennial ; flowering in June and July. 



This grass will grow in almost all kinds of soil and situa- 

 tion, from the dry upland heath to the moist irrigated meadow ; it 

 prefers, however, a dry calcareous soil, where it is the most productive 

 and useful, and is always found a component of the grasses in the rich- 

 est meadow pastures : but it never is so productive when cultivated 

 alone, as when mixed with other grasses. The nutritive matter which 

 it contains is combined with a considerable proportion of bitter princi- 

 ple, which renders it very agreeable to cattle, especially in combinatiou 

 with other grasses containing a less quantity. 



GENUS XLII. DAC'TYLIS. Linn. Coch's-foot-grass. 



Gen. Char. Panicle loose or contracted; branches solitary, the lower 

 ones long, the upper very short. Spikelets clustered, three or four- 

 flowered. Glumes two, unequal. Glumelles two, lanceolate, 

 nearly equal ; the outer with a short awn.' — Name from ^aKrvXoe, 

 ii finger or foot. 



1. D. glomera'ta, Liinn. (Fig. 186.) rough Cock's-foot-grass.. Spikelets 

 in dense, globular tufts, turned to one side ; leaves flat, roughish. 



English Botany, t. 335.— English Flora, vol. i. p. 134.— Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 310. — Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 48. — Sinclair, Hort. 

 Gram. Woburn. p. 136. 



Root v.ith long stout fibres, tufted. Stem erect, or bent in the lower 

 part, from one to three feet high, rough, especially towards the top, 

 leafy, particularly in the lower part. Leaves linear, flat, with a tapering 

 point, dull green, striated, and roughish. Sheaths close, striated, 

 somewhat compressed and keeled, roughish. Ligula elongated, em- 

 bracing the stem, mostly torn. Inflorescence a large, one-sided panicle ; 

 its branches arising singly on alternate sides of the stem, rough and 

 angular, the lower long and mostly spreadina^, the upper short, each 

 bearing a dense ovate or globular tuft of crowded spikelets all turned 

 to one side. Spikelets three or four-flowered. Glumes unequal, mem- 

 branous, lanceolate, the point long, sometimes awned, smooth except 

 on the keel; the om^c;- keeled only ; the inner keeled, and with two 

 lateral ribs. Florets compressed, on short smooth footstalks. Glu- 

 mellcs equal : the outer valve lanceolate, cartilaginous, with a narrow, 

 pale, membranous margin, four lateral ribs, and a rough keel, termi- 

 nating between the bifid apex in a short awn; zji^jer valve membranous, 



