640 FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
immature flowers, There are three stamens and a smooth ovary, with 
long styles and feathery stigmas. They are natives of the Tropical and 
Temperate Regions. 
Of the two species of Phalaris cultivated, one, P. 
arundinacea, is a native, found on the margins of lakes 
and rivers. The natural green of the broad, flat, reed-like leaves becomes 
more or less reduced in the cultivated variety to longitudinal stripes of 
green upon a ground of pinkish white or creamy white. The other 
is a South European species, whose fruit is the familiar Canary seed so 
popular as a food for the smaller cage-birds. 
PHALARIS ARUNDINACEA (Reed-like). Stems 3 to 6 feet 
high, from a creeping rootstock, stout and erect. Leaves 
lance-shaped, $ inch broad. Spikelets oval, purplish, in a short-branched 
elongated panicle; July and August. Perennial. The var. variegata, 
with leaves alternately striped green and white, is well known in gardens 
under the names of Ribbon Grass and Lady’s Garters. Plate 301. 
P. CANARIENSIS (Canary). Canary Grass. Stems 1 to 3 feet high, 
erect, somewhat rough. Leaves flat, glaucous, upper sheaths inflated. 
Spikelets round, in a compact oval or nearly cylindrical panicle; empty 
glumes with broad wings and green keel; July. Annual. 
Either of these plants will do well in almost any 
arden soil. P. arundinacea forms large masses by means 
of its creeping rootstocks. Propagation of this species is readily effected 
by dividing the mass. P. canariensis is raised from seed sown in the 
border in spring. Its flower-panicles are very distinct among grasses, 
and are useful for interspersing among cut flowers; for which 
purpose the leafy stems of Ribbon Grass are much in request. A 
well-established clump will bear considerable cutting in this way. 
Description of Phalaris arundinacea, var. variegata, the Ribbon 
Plate 301. Grass; upper part of stems, with flower panicle. Fig. 1 
is a spikelet removed; 2 is the same, with the two empty glumes 
separated. 
History. 
Principal Species. 
Cultivation, 
QUAKING GRASS 
Natural Order GRAMINEZ. Genus Briza 
Briza (Greek, brizo, to be drowsy: in allusion to the nodding of its 
heads). A genus of about ten species of hardy ornamental grasses, with 
many-flowered, drooping, oval or heart-shaped spikelets in loose panicles. 
The flowering glumes sheathe or overlap each other, and are boat-shaped. 
ae 
ee 
