BROMUS. 233 



first- and last-named counties, and also in Herefordshire 

 It is pretty frequent, indeed, all over England, but more 

 scarce in Scotland. 



Flowers late in June and early in July. 



Its foreign homes are Germany and Denmark, and 

 most temperate countries of Europe. 



8. Bromus secalinus, Sir J. E. Smith. Rye-like 

 Brome-grass. 



Root annual, fibrous ; stems simple, round, smooth, and 

 leafy, about three feet high, striated ; joints five, somewhat 

 hairy ; leaves broadish, flat, pointed, ribbed, rough on the 

 edges and under surface, downy above ; sheaths furrowed, 

 but not rough ; panicle spreading, erect, somewhat drooping 

 in seed ; branches nearly simple, the lower ones placed in 

 clusters of three ; spikelets ovate-lanceolate, compressed, 

 seven- to ten-flowered, closed when young, but when in seed 

 so spreading that the rachis branch is seen all along the 

 spikelet, glossy, yellow-green ; outer glumes unequal, awn- 

 less, broad, acute, roughish, membranaceous at the edges, 

 toothed on the upper part of the keel, the inner seven- 

 ribbed, the outer three-ribbed ; flowering glumes roundish 

 or oval, smooth, rarely downy, flat, seven-ribbed, awned ; 

 awn rough, about the length of the glume ; palese linear, 

 oblong, toothed or fringed. 



This grass is a native of England, especially prevailing 

 in Norfolk, where it is a troublesome weed among corn ; 

 it flowers early in June, lifting its handsome panicle 

 above the tops of the young wheat or rye, and preparing 

 abundant seed to mix with that of the corn, the effect of 

 which is to impart a bitterness to the flour made from 

 such mixed grain. 



It is frequent throughout the British Isles, and also 



