106 BRITISH GRASSES. 



nell describes it as very hairy in the West Indies, New 

 Orleans, and on the banks of the Mississippi, but very 

 smooth in Germany, especially in the neighbourhood of 

 the hot springs. It is distinguished from the next spe- 

 cies (P. glabrum) by the unequal size of the second and 

 third glumes. 



2. Panicum glabrum, Gaud. Glabrous Panicum. 



(Digitaria humifusa, Eng. Bot.) 



Hoot annual, fibrous ; stems decumbent at first and then 

 ascending, branched, smooth, striated, glossy, having about 

 three joints all situated near to the root and hidden by the 

 sheaths ; leaves short and rather broad, hairy at the edges ; 

 ligule of upper sheath obtuse, and sometimes hairy at the 

 base ; panicle digitate ; spikes long and narrow, few in 

 number; spikelets in twos or threes, all stalked and flat- 

 tened afc the back, but the stalks of unequal length ; the 

 outermost glume is minute and scale-like, as in the last 

 species, but the next two are of equal size, downy, five- 

 ribbed, and of a full violet colour ; the flowering glume is of 

 the same size and form as the second and third empty 

 glumes, both it and the palea are finely ribbed and shining, 

 and invest the seed in the same manner as those of the last 

 species ; the stamens are three in number, a little longer 

 than the flowering glume ; the anthers short, violet, cloven 

 at each end ; the styles are very slender, the stigmas fea- 

 thery, and violet. 



This grass is less attractive than the last, being of 

 lower growth, and having fewer spikes in its panicle, 

 never more than four, and sometimes only two. It has 

 established itself in the south of England, but is really 

 a native of France, Holland, Belgium, Prussia, and as 

 far north as southern Scandinavia. It is distinguished 



