SPARTINA. 



193 



ribbed, numerous on the stem, the uppermost longer than 

 its leaf; ligule short, blunt, torn; inflorescence twin spikes, 

 both linear, erect, and stiff; spikelets long and narrow, 

 flattened at one side, and arranged in order along the outer 

 side of each rachis ; rachis rough ; outer glumes unequal, 

 hairy, the outer one the smaller ; flowering glume shorter 

 than the palea, hairy, and without lateral ribs ; the palea 

 with two delicate ribs. 



The name Spartina is formed from Spartum, a hard 

 kind of Spanish grass which 

 is used to make cordage; 

 hence this, which resembles 

 it in toughness, is called both 

 by the botanical and English 

 name. 



This is a low-growing 

 grass, seldom exceeding a 

 foot in height ; it is too stiff 

 to be attractive, and has the 

 added disadvantage of a dis- 

 agreeable odour. It grows 

 in muddy salt-marshes, and 

 flourishes in many such lo- 

 calities about Clevedon and 

 Weston-super-Mare, though 

 its principal habitat is the 

 east coast of England ; the muddy ground about the 

 mouths of rivers suits it well. It is not known in Scot- 

 land or Ireland, but is indigenous in France and Italy. 



It flowers in August and ripens its seed in September. 



Var. alterniflora is of larger growth than the normal 

 form, and Dr. Parnell and others, after much careful 

 examination, erect it into a separate species. It has a 



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