144 



BRITISH GRASSES. 



and a very long one on its back ; palea shorter than the 

 flowering glume and with a pair of awns on its apex, but 

 smaller than those on the flowering glume ; scales lanceo- 

 late, blunt, tumid at the base ; ovary oblong ; styles short ; 

 stigmas long ; filaments hair-like ; anthers oblong, pendu- 

 lous, notched at each end. 



Lagurus ovatns, Linn. Ovate "Hare's-tail. 



Root annual, fibrous, fibres downy ; stem solitary, erect, 

 downy; leaves short, broadish, tapering, very downy; 

 sheaths long and somewhat swollen ; inflorescence spiked ; 

 spikelets crowded, one-flowered, outer glumes narrow, 

 pointed, very hairy ; flowering glume shorter, thin, termi- 

 nating in two Jong points or awns, and bearing a long awn 

 on its back ; palea resembling the flowering glume, and like 

 it, terminating in two teeth or awns, but in every way 

 smaller ; anthers long, notched at each end ; seed obovate, 

 enveloped in the glumes. 



The Hare's-tail grass is, like the last, a native of sandy 



ground in maritime situa- 

 tions ; it raises its short, 

 woolly spike, fitly likened to 

 a hare's tail, early in the 

 summer; its stem varies in 

 height, we have seen speci- 

 mens from the coast of 

 France above a foot high, 

 the spikes more than an 

 inch long, but it is more 

 usual to find them of a 

 smaller size. The head is 

 erect at first, but soon bends 

 to one side, from the action 

 of the wind and its own 



