556 



CVII. GRAMINEiE. 



[ Cynosunis. 



Panicles secund. Spihehts of S — 4 florets, thickly clustered on the 

 branches, clusters ovate : branches sometimes long distant and spread- 

 ing, sometimes short and approximated, when the whole panicle 

 resembles a single cluster. Glumes membranaceous, smaller than the 

 lowermost /orei^, lanceolate, acuminate, unequal, glabrous, scabrous at 

 the back, more or less obliquely keeled. Outer glumella subcartilagi, 

 nous, lanceolate, much compressed, scabrous, 5-ribbed, ciliated at the 

 keel, with a short awn close to the point. Said to be advantageously 

 cultivated for cattle. 



30. Cynosurus Linn. 



Dog's-tail-grass. (Tab. VIII. f. 27.) 



Panicle spiked, unilateral. Spihelets with 2—5 perfect j/?(;re;f5, 

 distichous, "vvith a pectinated bractea or involucre (an abortive 

 spikelet) at its base. Glumes 2, equal, membranaceous, much 

 shorter than the spikelet, 1 -nerved, keeled, shortly awned. 

 GZzir/zeZ/a5 2, membranaceous, linear-lanceolate; outer awned 

 below the extremity or mucronate, faintly 5-nerved. — Named 

 from KVix)v^ a dog^ and ovpa^ a tail; from the shape of its spike. 



1. C. cristdtus L. (crested D.) ; raceme in a linear spike 

 florets with a very short awn. E. B. t. 316 : Parn. Gr.l, 28. 



Dry pastures, frequent. 1^1. 

 Leaves narrow, linear, acuminate. 



7. — Stem 1 — Ij foot high, slender. 

 Raceme secund. htvolucres beau- 

 tifully pectinated, one at the base of each spikelet, their divisions 

 linear, acute, greenish, subglumaceous, a little curved, rough. Spikes 

 iQts 3 — 5-flo\vered. Glumes lanceolate, nearly equal, membranaceous, 

 rough at the keel, as long as the floret. Outer glumella lanceolate, 

 obscurely nerved, green, scabrous, especially at the keel, tei'minatlng 

 in a short rough awn ; inner one white, bifid, pubescent at the angles 

 of the fold 



A valuable agricultural grass. 



2. C. 



echinatus L. (tough J>.): raceme in an ovate spike, 

 florets with awns as long as the glumellas. E. B. t. 1333: 

 Parn. Or. t. 28, 129. 



Sandy sea-shores of the extreme 

 Sussex, Field at Hough-End, 2 m. 

 and Jersey. ©. 7- 



south of England, as Kent and 

 south of Manchester. Guernsey 



31. Festuca Linn. Fescue-grass. (Tab. VIIL f 28.) 



Panicle lax or coarctate. Spihelets many-flowered, more or 

 less laterally compressed, without a bractea on the base. Glumes 

 2, unequal, membranaceous, usually keeled, much shorter than 

 the spikelet. Glumellas 2, lanceolate; outer rounded on the 

 back, acuminate or awned at or close to the summit, the lateral 

 nerves slightly converging and disappearing below the summit; 

 inner minutely ciliated at the ribs. Styles terminal. Caryopsis 

 glabrous, free.— ISTame of uncertain origin; the Romans applied 

 it in vai^ious ways, and among others to a grass. 



S 



n 



H 



