226 



BRITISH GRASSES. 



sandy hedgebanks on roadsides. The sandy Kentish 

 soil, which nourished the jB. erectus, bore whole crops 



of B. sterilis, on the steep 

 hedgebanks on the sunny 

 side of the lane or highway. 

 There is no county in Eng- 

 land where it is scarce, and 

 its frequency may cause it to 

 be despised. But notwith- 

 standing its unpromising 

 name, and the absence of 

 nutritious qualities to re- 

 commend it to agricultur- 

 ists, the Barren Brome-grass 

 is a very handsome species. 

 The drooping panicle, arch- 

 ing branches, large bearded 

 spikelets, at first compact, 

 but spreading when theflower 

 is past, and exchanging their light green tint for a full 

 ruddy purple, and plentiful foliage, makes a truly elegant 

 spray for ornamental purposes. It flowers in June, and 

 ripens its seed in July. 



Its foreign homes are Lapland, Norway, Sweden, Ger- 

 many, France, Italy, and North Africa. 



4. Bromus maxinras, Desk Great Brome-grass. 



Eoot annual, fibrous ; stem upright, cylindrical, rather 

 downy, leafy, one to two feet high; joints four; sheaths 

 small, upper ones ribbed, lower ones pubescent ; ligule large, 

 ragged; leaves flat, pointed, downy on both sides, rather 

 rough on the margins; inflorescence racemed, upright; 

 rachis and branches downy; spikelets longer than their 



