598 THE GRASS TAMILT. 



In pastures and stony wastes, with nearly the same geographical range 

 as the slender F., but not extending so far north, and more common in 

 southern and eastern Europe. In Britain, scattered over the eastern and 

 central counties of England, but imknown in Scotland or Ireland. Fl. 

 summer. 



XXX. BROniE. BROMUS. 



Spikelets several-flowered, rather large, erect or drooping, in a branched, 

 loose, or compact panicle. Outer glumes unequal, usually keeled and awn- 

 less. Flowering glumes longer, rounded on the back, scarious at the edges, 

 with an awn inserted just below the notched or cleft summit. Palea ciliate 

 on the nerves. Ovaiy usually hairy, the style inserted on one side of the 

 summit. 



A considerable genus, widely spread over the northern hemisphere, chiefly 

 in the old world, with a few American or southern species. It is also a 

 natural one if made to include the tall £., referred by some to Fescue on 

 account of the glabrous ovary and more central style. 



Flowering glumes ohlong, turgid. Outer ones distinctly nerved ... 6. Field B. 

 Flowering glumes narrow-lanceolate. Outer ones obscurely nerved. 



Flowering glumes about 3 lines long. Ovary glabrous 7. Tall B. 



Flowering glumes 5 lines long or more. Ovary hairy. 

 Awns shorter or not longer than the glumes. Leaf-sheaths with 

 long hairs. 



Panicle loose and drooping 2. Hairy B. 



Panicle compact and erect 1. Upright B. 



Awns longer than the glumes. Leaves softly downy or glabrous. 



Panicle loose and drooping 3. Barren B. 



Panicle compact and erect. 



Spikelets, together with the awns, more than 3 inches long . . 4. Great B. 

 Spikelets with the awns not 2 inches long 5. Compact B. 



1. XTpright Brome. Bromus erectus, Huds. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 471.) 



An erect perennial, 2 feet high or more, with a slightly creeping root- 

 stock. Leaves narrower than in most Bromes, especially the radical ones, 

 with a few long hairs on their sheaths. Panicle about 3 to 5 inches long, 

 much more compact than in the barren B., the branches erect or nearly 

 so. Spikelets not numerous, J to 1^ inches long, containing 6 to 10 or 

 even more flowers. Flowering glumes lanceolate, with closely appressed 

 hairs on the back, the lateral nerves scarcely prominent, the awn straight, 

 and scarcely half its length. 



In fields and waste places, in temperate and southern Europe to the 

 Caucasus, extending northward into southern Scandinavia. In Britain, 

 chiefly in southern and eastern England, very local in Wales, Ireland, and 

 Scotland. Fl. summer. 



2. Hairy Brome. Bromus asper, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1172.) 

 An annual, or sometimes perennial, 3 to 5 or even 6 feet high. Leaves 

 ong and flat with long, spreading or reflexed hairs on their sheaths. 

 Panicle loose, with long, drooping branches, bearing a few loose spikelets, 

 each above an inch long, containing 6 to 10 or more flowers. Flowering 

 glumes nearly cylindrical, slightly hairy or glabrous, with a straight, fine 

 awn, shorter than the glume itscK. 



