ALOPECURUS. 



133 



capillary, united at the base ; the flowering glume enfolds 

 the seed, which is ovate. 



1. Alopecurus agrestis, Linn. Slender Foxtail. 



Root fibrous, small, annual ; stem from one to two feet 

 high, erect, leafy, naked in the upper part, and roughish ; 

 leaves rough above, flat, acute, striated; sheaths more or 

 less swollen, the upper one longer than its leaf; ligules lan- 

 ceolate and downy ; panicle simple, spike-like, about three 

 inches long, erect, slender, tapering, many-flowered, and 

 tinted with purple ; outer glumes nearly equal, acute, mem- 

 branaceous, united below the keels, varied with white and 

 green, the nerves prominent and hairy at the base, the keel 

 downy and awnless ; flowering glume smooth, ovate, oblong, 

 with two green ribs, awned, the awn twice as long as the 

 glume, rough, bent, and recurved when dry. Filaments 

 three, slender ; anthers cloven at each end ; styles short, 

 united ; stigmas long and downy. 



This grass is accounted 

 by farmers a troublesome 

 weed ; it springs up amongst 

 wheat and other cereal crops, 

 and goes by the name of 

 " Black Bent." It is often 

 to be seen on waysides and 

 in waste ground, though un- 

 doubtedly the best speci- 

 mens are to be found in 

 arable land. In the Isle of 

 Wight it grows among the 

 pasture grasses. The great 

 length and tapering form of 

 the panicle has procured for 

 it the name of " Mouse-tail " 



