GEAMTKEiE. 



585 



subulate. Stems erect, 1 to 2 feet high, with a narrow, sleiader panicle, 

 always contracted except during the moment the flowers are expanded. 

 Glumes narrow, and more pointed than in the common A., the lowest always 

 longer than the second, the flowering one with a fine awn at its base, usually 

 sUghtly protruding beyond the outer glumes. Palea very minute. 



On dry heaths, in western Europe, from Spain and Portugal to Holland. 

 In Britain, only in the south-western covmties of England, extending east- 

 ward to Hampshire, and perhaps Sussex and Surrey. Fl. summer. 



4. Silky Agrostis. Agrostis Spica-venti, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 951. Apera, Bab. Man.) 



A rather tall, slender, and most elegant annual, with rather narrow, flat 

 leaves. Panicle long, and usually spreading, with very slender, hair-like 

 branches, and httle shining spikelets, scarcely a line long, without the awns. 

 Outer glumes narrow, very pointed, the second rather larger than the lowest 

 one. Flowering glume with a hair-like awn, 3 or 4 times as long as the 

 spikelet. Palea small, with a minute, almost microscopic appendage at its 

 base, which is the prolongation of the axis of the spikelet. 



In fields and sandy pastures, in Europe and Russian Asia, from the 

 Mediterranean to the Arctic regions. In Britain, confined to some of the 

 eastern counties of England. Fl. summer. The A. interrupta (Eng. Bot. 

 Suppl. t. 2951) is a shght variety, with the spikelets more crowded, in a 

 narrow panicle, with nearly erect branches. The anthers are also said to 

 be shorter, but that character is very variable. It is often found with the 

 common form passing gradually into it. 



XrV. IfflTGRASS. GASTRIDIUM. 



A single species, separated from Agrostis on accoimt of the smooth, 

 sliining, enlarged base of the outer glumes. 



1. Awned Nit^ass. Gastridium lendii^erum, Beauv. 



(Milium., Eng. Bot. t. 1107.) 



An elegant, erect annual, 6 to 8 inches high, vrith flat leaves. Panicle 

 contracted into a loose, tapering spike, 2 to 3 inches long, of a pale green, 

 shining with a satiny or silvery lustre. Spikelets very crowded. Outer 

 glumes near 2 lines long, narrow, and very pointed, with a short, very 

 shining enlargement at the base, the second glume shorter than the lowest. 

 Flowering glume very short, broad, and thin, often bearing below the 

 summit an awn about the length of the outer glume, but as often without 

 it. Palea nearly as long. 



In fields and waste places, especially near the sea, but occasionally also 

 inland along the valleys of large rivers. Very common in the Mediter- 

 ranean region, extending up western France to the English Channel. lu 

 Britain, only in southern England. Fl. summer. 



XY. IWARAM. PSAMMA. 



A single species, sometimes united with Smallreed, but more frequently 

 considered as a distinct genus, characterized by the inflorescence, the firmer 

 .consistence of the glumes, without any awn to the flowermg one. 



