FESTUCA. 247 



fects it considerably, and causes it to run into the fol- 

 lowing varieties : — 



F. Myurus, var. bromoides. The panicle is longer 

 and more slender, and the glumes shorter in comparison 

 to the awns. More starved-looking than the normal 

 type. 



F. Myurus, var. nana. The sheaths entirely envelope 

 the stem to the very base of the panicle. Still more 

 starved-looking. 



Dr. Parnell describes the F. Myurus as a handsome 

 grass in cornfields, where it grows two feet high, is 

 graceful in style, and of a pleasant green colour. These 

 are the best circumstances in which to see it, for in 

 waste places and on wall-tops its height varies only from 

 two to eight inches ! 



In Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy 

 it is as common as in England. 



It flowers the second week in June, and ripens its 

 seed in the middle of July. 



5. Pestuca unighimis, Soland. One-glumed Fescue. 



Boot annual ; stems about six inches high, slender, angu- 

 lar, leafy ; joints three, the two lower ones covered by the 

 sheaths, the upper exposed ; leaves small, awl-shaped, hairy 

 on the inner surface, smooth on the outer ; sheaths loose, 

 smooth, striated ; ligule very short ; panicle spike-like, one- 

 sided, about two inches long; spikelets crowded, their foot- 

 stalks erect, short, thickened at the top ; outer glumes un- 

 equal, the first so small as to be microscopic, the second 

 about five lines long ; the flowering glumes are shorter than 

 the second outer one, and are furnished with awns longer 

 than themselves ; palea thin, narrow, bifid, edged with a 

 thick rib of green, and fringed above. 



