198 BRITISH GRASSES. 



Genus XXV. ELYMUS. 



Gen. Char. Inflorescence spiked; spikelets with more 

 than one floret, sessile, not solitary ; outer glumes lanceo- 

 late ; flowering glume pointed and awned ; palea fringed ; 

 scales two, oblong, pointed, fringed ; filaments slender, very 

 short ; anthers oblong, more notched at the base than the 

 apex ; ovary turbinate ; styles two, short ; stigmas feathery; 

 seed narrow, convex at the back. 



Elymus arenarius, Linn. Sand Lyme-grass. 



Root perennial, strong, creeping extensively ; stems erect, 

 stiff, cylindrical, smooth, delicately ribbed, two to five feet 

 high ; leaves long, narrow, rigid, glaucous, pointed, spinous, 

 furrowed, rough within, smooth behind, rolled inwards on 

 the edges ; sheaths rather loose, smooth ; ligule short, 

 blunt ; spike erect, rather dense, three or four inches long, 

 and occasionally much longer ; rachis smooth, toothed alter- 

 nately on each side ; spikelets in pairs upon the teeth of the 

 rachis, containing three or four florets ; outer glumes nar- 

 row lanceolate, nearly equal, stiff, downy, or sometimes 

 smooth, three-ribbed ; flowering glume shorter, broader, 

 less pointed, five-ribbed, hairy ; palea ornamented by two 

 green marginal ribs ; footstalk of the florets hairy. 



The Lyme-grasses are of no agricultural value, but 

 they have other excellencies. Mr. Sinclair calls this 

 species " the Sugar-cane of Britain/ 5 because it contains 

 so much saccharine matter. If used for hay it would 

 be very nutritious, but probably too hard to please the 

 taste of the cattle. Its great excellence, which it shares 

 with the Sea Heed and the Sea Sedge, is as a fence 

 against the encroachments of the waves. Its strong 

 roots, with their long creeping shoots and interlacing 



