GEAMINEiE. 593 



1. Curved Lepturus. Xjepturus incurvatus, Trin. 

 {Eottboellia, Eng. Bot. t. 760.) 



An annual, decumbent and much branclied at the base ; the flowering 

 stems curved upwards or erect, a few mches, or, when very luxuriant, 

 nearly a foot high, with short fine leaves, the uppermost one close under the 

 flowers. Spike 2 to 4 inches long, usually curved; the spikelets imbedded 

 as it were in tlie axis, which breaks off readily at every notch. Outer glumes 

 about 2 hnes long, stiff and pomted, with strong green ribs ; the flowering 

 glume and palea rather shorter, of a very dehcate transparent texture. 



In salt-marshes and maritime sands and pastures, on the western coasts 

 of Europe; abundant all round the Mediterranean, extending eastward to 

 the Caspian and northward to the Enghsh Channel. In Britain, it occurs 

 on the shores of England, Ireland, and southern Scotland, but is not gene- 

 rally common. Fl summer. 



XXIV. NARD. TARDUS. 



A single species, differing from all other genera of British Grasses in the 

 very simple structure of its spikelets. 



1. Common Nard. Nardus stricta, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 290. Matgrass.) 



A densely tufted, erect, wiry perennial, 6 inches to near a foot high. 

 Leaves fine, but very stiif and bristle-hke. Spikelets 1-flowered, sessile, 

 alternately arranged Ln 2 rows on one side of an erect, slendei', simple spike, 

 often assuming a purphsh hue. Each spikelet has a single narrow glume, 

 3 or 4 lines long, ending in a fine point, and enclosing a palea, 3 stamens, and 

 a simple style. 



On moors, heaths, and hiUy pastures, in northern and Arctic Europe and 

 Eussian Asia, and in the mountains of central and southern Europe to the 

 Caucasus. Common in Britain. Fl. summer. 



XXV. IiYMEGRASS. ELYMUS. 



Spikelets 2- to 4-flowered, awnless, sessile in pairs (or, in exotic species, 



3 or 4 together) in the notches of a simple spike. 



A small genus, spread over the temperate and cooler parts of the northern 

 hemisphere, differing from Barley in that all the spikelets contain more than 

 one flower. 



1. Sand Iiyme^ass. Eljrmus arenarius, Linn, 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1672. lyymegrass?) 

 A stiff, glaucous perennial, 2 to 4 feet high, with a long creeping root- 

 stock. Leaves stiff, rolled inwards on the edges, ending in a hard point. 

 Spike sometimes rather dense, 3 or 4 inches long, sometimes lengthening to 

 8 or 9 inches; with the spikelets in rather distant pairs, each containing 3 or 



4 flowers. Glumes lanceolate, stiff, downy or rarely glabrous ; the outer 

 ones 8 or 9 lines long, and very pointed; the flowering ones gradually shorter, 

 broader, and less pointed. 



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