ANTHOXANTHUM. 117 



of different length, one arising from the back of the one 

 glume, the other from the base of the opposite one ; palea 

 like a scale ; stamens two ; seed pointed at both ends, the 

 flowering glume continuing attached to it. 



Anthoxanthum odoratum, Linn. Sweet Vernal- 

 grass. 



Root perennial, fibrous ; stem slender, one to two feet 

 high, smooth, joints long and wide apart, the stem bending 

 at the joints; sheath somewhat hairy, ribbed; leaves flat, 

 narrowing to a sharp point, hairy both above and below and 

 rough at the edges, of a light green colour ; ligule hairy at 

 the base ; panicle simple, compact in flower but expanding 

 as far as the very short footstalks permit when in seed, ovate 

 in form, the branches short, beset with minute hairs, and 

 placed alternately on the rachis ; spikelets broadly lanceolate, 

 clustering ; first glume much pointed, small, second glume 

 double the length and also pointed, both hairy on the keels ; 

 flowering glumes shorter, equal in length, hiding within the 

 empty glumes, of oblong form and brownish tint, hairy, and 

 with awns of unequal length ; ovary oblong ; filaments long ; 

 anthers large, and cloven at each end, purple ; styles two, 

 long and bearing long feathery stigmas ; base of the leaves 

 hairy. 



This is a welcome grass, alike to the eye of the agri- 

 culturist and the botanist. Its early appearance seems 

 like a herald of coming summer. In April its pa- 

 nicles begin to develop their long tassels of bright sta- 

 mens, and, though there are only two to each floret, the 

 anthers being large, the panicle seems well furnished 

 with them. The flowering-heads are very prominent, 

 for the meadow grasses are still very short when the 

 culms of the Sweet Vernal-grass have attained their full 

 growth, and the only flowers that compete with it are 



