164 



BRITISH. GRASSES. 



leafy, eighteen to twenty-four inches high ; joints smooth ; 

 leaves narrow, acute, roughish, two or three on each stem ; 

 sheaths smooth, striated ; Hgule minute ; panicle compound, 

 narrow, compact, from three to five inches long ; branches 

 of the rachis compound, rough ; spikelets smaller than those 

 of the Purple Smallreed, numerous, crowding ; outer glumes 

 broadish, nearly equal, membranaceous, not ribbed, roughish 

 on the back ; flowering glume as long as the other glumes, 

 ovate, jagged at the summit, and surrounded by long silky 

 white hairs, all shorter than itself, awned ; awn arising from 

 below the centre of the flowering glume, thin, straight, not 

 longer than the floret ; palea much shorter than the flower- 

 ing glume, thin and transparent, at the base there is an 

 appendage like a minute bristle, accompanied by a tuft of 

 long hairs, about two-thirds the length of the flowering 

 glume. 



The foliage of this species is stiffer and less elegant 



than that of either of the 

 preceding species ; it is alto- 

 gether a smaller plant than 

 they, and requires moister 

 situations, affecting bogs and 

 marshes. It has recently 

 been found (according to 

 Mr. Bentham) on moors in 

 Cheshire, but it is very rare 

 in England. Mr. Don found 

 it near Forfar. 



Its foreign homes are 

 North Europe and North 

 America. It flowers late in June, and ripens its seed 

 in July. 



This Smallreed grows freely in the Botanic Gardens 

 of Edinburgh, though scarcely attaining its average 



