AIRA. 



175 



time it might be taken for a miniature Iris, its pale 

 sheaths so envelope the buds of leaf and flower. By- 

 degrees the leaves become 

 developed, but in full growth 

 they are mere bristles, and 

 the minute, closely packed 

 panicle rises from the last 

 sheath. On steep hedge- 

 banks in the Wealden dis- 

 tricts of Kent, this tiny grass 

 grows in abundance, even in 

 April, overtopping the ad- 

 jacent miniature forest of 

 Cup-lichen, and in its turn 

 overtopped by the slender 

 fruit-stalks of the Hair-moss. In May its spikelets 

 open and let in the sweet sunshine upon the twin florets 

 cradled between their valves ; a few days more and the 

 bloom is gone; the glumes close again upon swelling 

 seed, which the next month ripens, and then the minute 

 plants have done their work. The sun of the dog-days 

 beats fiercely on the sandy hedgebank or sloping hill- 

 side, and the poor clusters of Air a pr&cox wither under 

 its influence, and yield up their evanescent life. It is a 

 frequent inhabitant of Scotch dykes along with Poa 

 riffida. Sheep and cows are fond of this grass, when it 

 grows in sufficient quantity to furnish them with a good 

 mouthful. Common throughout Europe and western 

 Asia ; generally distributed in Britain. 



5. Air a caryophyllea^ Linn. Silvery Air a. 

 Eoot annual, fibrous ; stems erect, round, smooth, ribbed, 



