GEAMINEiE. 609 



12. 'Wood Poa. Poa nemoralis, Linn. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1265, P. ccesia, t. 1719, P. glauca, t. 1720, P. Parnelii, 

 Suppl. t. 2916, and P. Balfourii, Suppl. t. 2918.) 



A perennial, 1 to 2 feet high, tufted or slightly creeping at the base, erect, 

 but weaker and more slender than the two last, with narrower leaves, their 

 ligules very short. Panicle contracted or spreading, with slender branches. 

 Spikelels compressed, lanceolate or ovate, with 2 to 5 flowers in each, and 

 scarcely any woolly hairs on the axis. Flowering glumes rather more than 

 a line long, lanceolate, more pointed than in the two last species, with a line 

 of small silky hairs on each side and another on the keel. 



In woods and shady places, and on moist mountain rocks, throughout 

 Europe and Russian Asia from the Mediterranean to the Arctic regions. 

 Frequent in Britain. Fl. summer. A mountain variety, often distinguished 

 under the name of P. etesia, has the stems usually shorter, the panicle less 

 branched, and the spikelets rather longer, but it passes gradually into the 

 common form. 



13. 'Wavy Poa. Poa laxa, Hsenke. 

 {P.flexwosa, Eng. Bot. t. 1123. P. minor, Bab. Man.) 



A tufted or slightly creeping perennial, seldom a foot high, near the 

 alpine P., but more slender, with narrower and more numerous leaves. 

 Panicle loose, with few spreading branches. Spikelets rather larger than in 

 the alpine P., from 1 to 3 on each branch of the panicle, ovate, each with 3 

 or 4 flowers. Glumes about 2 hues long, more pointed than in most Poas. 



An alpine species, confined to high northern latitudes, or to great eleva- 

 tions in the mountains of Europe, Russian Asia, and North America. In 

 Britain, only on Ben Nevis and Loch-na-Gar, in Scotland, where it is 

 usually in a viviparous state, and then not easily distinguished from the 

 alpine P. I myself have seen no Scotch specimens that I could refer with 

 certainty to the tvavi/ P. 



14. Alpine Poa. Poa alpina, Linn. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1003.) 



Stems tufted, often swollen at the base, but not so much so as in the 

 bulbous P., 6 inches to a foot high. Leaves short, rather broad, mostly 

 radical or nearly so, and when perfect h*pe a short inflected point. Panicle 

 ovoid, about 2 inches long, rather spreading, with short but slender 

 branches. Spikelets crowded, ovate, 3- to 5-flowered. Flowering glumes 

 pointed and keeled ; the lateral nerves not prominent, with a few minute 

 silky hairs on the keel and edges, but with little or no wool at their base on 

 the axis of the spikelet. 



In alpine pastures, common in all the great mountain-ranges of Europe 

 and central and Russian Asia, and at high latitudes in North America. 

 Abundant on the higher mountains of Scotland, Ireland, and northern Eng- 

 land, and frequently in a viviparous state, the spikelets being converted into 

 leafy bulbs, Fl. summer. 



15. Bulbous Poa. Poa bulbosa, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1071.) 

 A low, tufted perennial, seldom above 6 inches high, and remarkable for 

 the bulbs formed by the swollen base of the stems and leaf-sheaths^ Leaves 



