108 



BRITISH GRASSES. 



pointed, the second larger, oblong, smooth, and five-ribbed ; 

 the flowering glume like the second empty one ; floret of 

 two palese, the outer large, concave, three-ribbed, the inner 

 flattish and folded. Dr. Parnell describes the spikelets as 

 containing two florets, one barren and one fertile, but other 

 authors doubt the presence of the barren floret. The sta- 

 mens are three, the anthers dark purple in colour, and 

 notched at each end ; the ovary is small and oval ; the stig- 

 mas feathery ; the seed glossy. 



This Panick-grass is a native of the warmer parts of 



Europe, spreading into Rus- 

 sian Asia; it is a frequent 

 weed in cultivated and waste 

 ground, but does not grow 

 in sufficient abundance to be 

 accounted noxious, though 

 its harshness would make it 

 so if it became prevalent. 

 It is occasionally met with 

 in England in sandy fallow 

 ground about London and 

 Norwich. Its spike-like 

 panicle is not destitute of 

 beauty, and the numerous bristles interspersed among 

 its crowded spikelets give it a very distinctive appear- 

 ance, while their reversed teeth form a reliable specific 

 distinction. It grows from one to two feet high. The 

 general colour of the plant is a full green, but the spike- 

 lets are liable to receive a tinge of purple. Sometimes 

 the whorls of the panicle are rendered obvious by a dis- 

 tinct interruption between the lower whorls, in which 

 case the grass is easily distinguished at sight, but when 

 the whorls are crowded together it is necessary to draw 



