144 



FIG. 113. Briza media L. QUAKING-GRASS.— a, A spikelet; b, a flowering 

 glume; c, a palea. 



113. BRIZA Linn. Sp. PI. 70. 1753. Spikelets many-flowered, rounded- 

 ovate, or heart-shaped; rachilla articulated above the empty glumes and 

 between the florets; florets crowded, the uppermost usually imperfect. Glumes 

 membranaceous, with broad, scarious margins, strongly concave, rounded on 

 the back, and more or less ventricose; empty glumes 2, subequal, shorter than 

 the florets; floral glumes 3 to many-nerved, cordate at the base, awnless; palea 

 much smaller than its glume, obtuse, 2-keeled. Stamens 3. Styles short, dis- 

 tinct; stigmas plumose. Annuals or perennials, with flat or convolute leaves, 

 loosely-flowered and open, or narrow and spike-like panicles. 



Species 12, in Europe, North Africa, and the temperate regions of South 

 America, extending north into Mexico. 



