146 



BRTTISH GRASSES. 



awned from the keel ; awns long, slender, rough with erect 

 bristles ; flowering glume half as long as the outer ones, 

 ovate, tipped with a small awn, reaching about as far as the 

 point of the outer glumes; palea slightly shorter, thin, 

 transparent, and awnless. 



The great length of the awns on the outer glumes, 

 and their delicate green tint gives a marked appearance 



to this grass. The stems 

 are sometimes bent at the 

 lower joints, and their height 

 is variable, but the spike- 

 like panicle, with its short, 

 crowded branches of florets 

 amid their crowd of rough 

 green awns, is an unvarying 

 feature. 



The Annual Beard- Grass 

 is an inhabitant of moist 

 maritime situations, it is 

 found along the coast of 

 Durham, and occurs again 

 along the south - eastern 

 coast, in Norfolk and in Essex, also on the southern 

 shore both of Hants and Kent. 



On the shores of the Mediterranean it occurs fre- 

 quently and in abundance, and its verdant spikes pro- 

 duce the ripe seed in August. It is not found at all in 

 Ireland or America, and is a rare plant in Scotland. 



The name is composed from two Greek words, signi- 

 fying many and beard, and refers to its abundant awns. 



In its foreign habitat it is by no means restricted to 

 the seacoast, though its preference is for maritime situ- 

 ations. 



