AGROSTIS. 155 



4. Agrostis Spica-venti, Linn. Silky Agrostis. 



(Apera, Babington.) 

 Root annual, fibrous; stems erect, slender, from one to 

 two feet, leafy ; joints smooth ; leaves narrow, pointed, 

 spreading, rough, striated ; sheaths roughish ; ligule long, 

 tapering, jagged ; panicle compound, loose, spreading, lean- 

 ing to one side, silky ; branches compound, delicately slen- 

 der, frequently subdivided, rough, placed in clusters on 

 alternate sides of the rachis, which is smooth and glossy ; 

 spikelets numerous, minute, glittering ; outer glumes nar- 

 row, acute, the upper one largest; flowering glume ovate, 

 lanceolate, rather rough, three-ribbed, but the ribs some- 

 what indistinct, with a tuft of hairs at the base, awned ; 

 awns rising from near the apex of the flowering glume, hair- 

 like, rough, slender, three or four times as long as the whole 

 spikelet; palea narrow, rather shorter than the flowering 

 glume, and like it, bifid at the summit, awnless, and with a 

 minute appendage at the base, so small as to be almost 

 microscopic ; filaments long ; anthers long, extending be- 

 yond the glumes ; seeds smooth. 



This is one of our most elegant native grasses, and is 

 deservedly sought after as an ornament to the flower- 

 garden. Its widely spreading panicles contain a crowd 

 of glittering spikelets so lightly hung on hair-like foot- 

 stalks that they quiver in the lightest breeze, and present 

 ever-changing surfaces of glittering straw or brown to 

 the sunlight. The habit of bending to one side adds to 

 the grace of the panicle, giving it a feathery expression, 

 and the narrow foliage with its full green tint heightens 

 by contrast the sparkling beauty of the florets. 



In sandy ground, along field-borders or in pastures, 

 this beautiful grass is by no means uncommon. We 

 find it throughout the northern and eastern counties of 



