poa. 267 



branches are erect, though the stem is somewhat pro- 

 strate at the base; its leaves are short and rough both 

 above and below, and rolled in at the margins, and the 

 panicle is compact, the branches seldom spreading, and 

 never deflexed. 



It is found in the Isle of Wight, and on the coasts of 

 Hants and Dorset, growing in and about brackish 

 ditches. 



6. Poa rigida, Linn. Hard Poa. 



(Sclerochloa, Bab. Man.) 



Root annual, fibrous, tufted ; stems decumbent at first, 

 then erect, smooth, round, stiff, finely striated, about six 

 inches high, with three or four joints; leaves narrow, taper- 

 ing, rolled in, roughish on the upper surface, and smooth 

 on the under ; sheaths smooth, striated, upper one longer 

 than its leaf; ligule long, acute; panicle lanceolate, dense, 

 smooth, two-ranked, turning one way ; rachis bordered, 

 rough ; branches slightly spreading, rigid, undulating ; 

 spikelets cylindrical, narrow, compressed, containing seven 

 florets ; outer glumes unequal, acute ; flowering glumes 

 broad, sharp-pointed, the ribs near the margins are broad 

 and green, with a white line down their centre, the central 

 is toothed on the upper part, the other ribs are very faint ; 

 palea short and bordered with green. 



A minute species, often found on wall-tops and in 

 quarries. It is of very stiff habit, and always looks like 

 an old plant. In quarries among the Cotteswold Hills, 

 on venerable old walls in Devonshire, on the glorious 

 cliffs that bear the rush of the waters of the Atlantic on 

 the Cornish coast, and among sandstone rocks in Kent 

 we have found this compact little grass quite recently. 



