532 



CVII. GRAMINE^. 



\_Amm6phila. 



i - 



patent, florets crested secund, neuter florets consisting- of 1— 2 

 small hairy valves. E. B. t. 402, and t. 2160. f. 2. (under 

 Calamag. stricta): Farn. Gr. t. 9.-/3. variegafa, leaves varie- 

 gated with white lines. Parn. Gr. t. 82. Arundo colorata 

 Sm. Fl. Br. 



Sides of lakes and rivers, common. 1\., 7, 8, The var B ' 



frequent in gardens, and called riband-grass. Very different from 

 the last in general habit, but not in essential character. Panicle 

 large, 6—8 inches long, often brownish or purplish-green. Useful 



for securing river banks; its roots are creeping, andliere and there 

 tufted. 



tM 



Host Sea-reed. 



) 



Panicle spiked. Spikelets latevallj compressed. Glumes ne^ixly 

 equal, keeled, membranaceous, diverging, longer than the floret. 

 Ghmellas % subcoriaceous below, each with a tuft of short 

 silky hairs at the base ; outer one mucronu.late or with a very 

 short awn below the point. Neuter floret 1, rudimentary and 

 very minute, coriaceous, sessile, often obsolete.— Named from 

 afXfxoQ^ sand, and ^tXoc, a lover, • 



1: A. arunclindcea Host (common S.^ Marum^ or Matweed)-^ 

 panicle cylindrical acuminate, glumes acute, hairs one-third 

 the length of the floret. Arundo arenaria E. B. t. 520 : Parn. 

 Gr. t. 8. Psamma Beauv. 



Sandy sea-shores, frequent. 7}.. 7. — Boot much creeping. Leaves 

 long, narrow, rigid, involute, glaucous, Cubn 2—3 ft. high. Glw 

 mellas far more rigid than the glmnes ; the larger one with a small 

 sinus below the point.— Extensively grown in Norfolk and Holland 

 for preserving the banks of sand which protect these countries from ' 

 the inroads of the sea; and in Sussex for making beautiful table-mats 

 and basket work. 



7. Phleum Lin7i. 



Cat's-tail-grass. 



(Tab. VI. f. 6.) 



Panicle spiked. Spikelets laterally compressed. Glumes 

 nearly equal, parallel, acuminate or mucronate-arlstate, longer 

 than the floret. Glumellas 2, membranous, glahrons, awnless. 

 Caryopsis free.— Named from <p\eoc, or (PXeojq, formerly applied, 

 It IS supposed, to the Reed-mace {Typlia), to which our ^rass 

 bears some distant resemblance. ° 



1. P. pratense L. {common C. or Timothy -grass) ; panicle 

 cylindrical, glumes truncate mucronate-aristate ciliated at the 

 back at least twice as long as the awn, neuter floret wantin 

 E. B. t. 1076 : Parn. Gr. tt. 6, 77, 78. 



^ Meadows and pastures, very common. 1}.. 6—10. — Boot some- 

 times tuberous, and then the plant Is the P. nodosum Willd. Glumes, 

 as m all the species, extremely compressed, keeled with a dorsal green 





