216 BRITISH GRASSES. 



an abundance of foliage, both from the roots and stems ; 

 it is perennial, and so is well suited for permanent pas- 

 ture as well as for meadows. Messrs. Wheeler recom- 

 mend it for lands on chalk, London clay, oolite, lias, red 

 sandstone, and carboniferous formations. 



L. perenne sempervirens does not yield so heavy a crop 

 as the last-named variety, nor is it so durable. But its 

 foliage is good and plentiful, it grows speedily, and is 

 very hardy. Its popular names are Evergreen Rye-grass 

 or Devon Eaver. 



L. perenne, var. submuticum, Short-awned Rye-grass, 

 has very large spikelets, the awns of the flowering glumes 

 being short ; thick strong stems, and heavy seeds. 



The foreign homes of the normal form of L. perenne 

 are Lapland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, Spain, 

 Portugal, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, North Africa, and 

 western Asia. 



2. Lolium temulentum 5 Linn. Darnel Lolium. 



Root annual, of a few downy fibres ; stem smooth below and 

 rough on the upper part, two feet high ; joints four, smooth ; 

 leaves lanceolate, spreading, ribbed, rough, of a lighter green 

 than those of the former species ; sheaths slightly roughish, 

 ribbed; ligule short, notched; spike erect, large; spikelets 

 sessile, arranged in two rows on the zigzag rough rachis, 

 containing four or five florets ; outer glume single, or with 

 a very rudimentary second one ; flowering glumes numerous, 

 ovate, swelling, ribbed, rough, each tipped with an awl- 

 shaped, whitish, erect awn, twice its own length, arising 

 from a little below the summit. 



This grass is pretty frequent both in hedgerows and 

 in arable land ; it is a noxious weed, and is the one evil 



