THE GENERA AND THEIR SPECIES. 69 



This is of no value as an agricultural grass. There is a variety 

 known as A . fascicularis, the shoots of which with leaves in tufts 

 run along over the rest of the herbage in autumn, and are left 

 alone by the cattle who eat the grasses around. It is common 

 on poor light soils that have been long under pasture. Another 

 variety, A . capillaris, grows in detached patches on heaths and 

 moors. 



28. A.setacea. Heaths, ranging through Western Europe, 

 south of the Thames. July and August. Root perennial, tufted, 

 fibres long, woody and downy. Stem erect, slender, striated, 

 frequently rough ; nodes three in number. Radical leaves like 

 bristles, stem leaves prominently ridged, rough, narrow, glaucous . 

 Sheaths long, striated, rough, uppermost longer than leaf, colour- 

 less ; ligule rather short. Panicle close or spreading in short, 

 slender half-whorled branches, rough and angular. Spikelets 

 pointed, small, purple. Glumes nearly equal, outer the longer, 

 lanceolate, toothed on keel. Outer palea shorter than glumes, 

 ribbed, edges folded, toothed at apex, hairy at base, long awn 

 from base and a short awn from each tooth of the apex ; inner 

 palea minute, with a tuft of hairs at base. Anthers purple and 

 prominent. 



29. A . spica-venti. Sandy fields, maritime counties of 

 England from Yorkshire to Hampshire, its range being from 

 Southern Europe and Temperate Asia to the Arctic Circle. July 

 and August. Root annual, fibres thick and whorled. Stems 

 erect, unbranched, slender, leafy ; nodes near base, Leaves flat, 

 ribbed, ridges prominent, narrow, pointed, rough beneath, spread- 

 ing. Sheaths long, smooth, ribbed, colourless ; ligule long, 

 tapering, jagged. Panicle compound, spreading, one-sided, silky ; 

 branches alternate, angular and rough. Spikelets minute, 

 glittering. Glumes unequal, outer the larger, narrow, pointed. 

 Outer palea lanceolate, 3 -ribbed, punctate, hairy at base, notched 

 at apex, near which rises a very long straight awn ; inner palea 

 narrow, a tuft of hair on each side, notched at apex, awnless. 



Variety — 



A. inUrrupta 36 in. Panicle not spreading, spikelets crowded, 



F 



