268 



BRITISH GRASSES. 



Dr. Parnell says that hares and rabbits eat it with avi- 

 dity, and it certainly grows in places likely enough 



to court their notice. Its 

 closely-packed panicles and 

 tough stems, with their mo- 

 derate complement of taper- 

 ing leaves, soon feel the ef- 

 fect of sun and heat, and 

 gradually assume a reddish- 

 brown tint, but they do not 

 lose form, — that rigid stalk 

 has no thought of drooping ; 

 those erect leaves stand firm 

 through scorching sunshine 

 and withering frost. Look 

 at the tough little plant attentively, and you see that it 

 is of the indomitable texture that might be charred by 

 intense heat, but would never bend its head, nor allow 

 its leaves to hang limp. 



Its foreign homes are Germany, Switzerland, Italy, 

 and North Africa. 



It flowers in July and ripens its seed in August. 



7. Poa loliacea, Huds. Darnel Poa. 



(Triticum, Eng. Bot. ; Sclerochloa, Bab. Man.) 



Root annual, fibrous, tufted ; stems stiff, round, about six 

 inches high ; leaves short, pointed ; sheaths long ; panicle 

 spike-like ; spikelets sessile or nearly so, in two rows, alter- 

 nate on the rachis, but leaning in one direction, two or three 

 clustering together at the base sometimes, containing from 

 six to eight florets each, from nine to twelve spikelets in 

 each panicle ; outer glumes keeled, but without lateral ribs, 



