THE GENERA AND THEIR SPECIES. 71 



will rise from the ring of roots around, and the only effectual 

 way is to turn the ground and drain off the water. In many 

 works it appears under the name of Deschampsia ca'spilosa. 



Variety — 

 A.alpina 24 in. Leaves short, glumes large, awn from 

 middle. 



lj. A. flexuosa. Heaths and hilly pastures throughout the 

 Northern Hemisphere and also in South America. June and 

 July. Root perennial, fibres whitish and woolly in sand. Stems 

 in loose tufts, compressed, slender, smooth, leafless above ; nodes 

 three. Radical leaves tufted, bristle-shaped, channelled or 

 folded, nearly smooth ; stem leaves narrow and rough. Sheaths 

 long, close, rough near tips, uppermost longer than leaf ; ligule 

 prominent, short, cleft. Panicle loose, flexuose, angular, roughish, 

 reddish. Spikelets glossy, florets two, red and white. Glumes 

 nearly equal, pointed, lanceolate, rib not reaching apex, edges 

 membranous, base purple. Outer palea equal in length to 

 glumes, hairy at base, four teeth at apex, four ribs, awned from 

 near base, awn bent and twisted ; inner palea as long as outer 

 palea, thin, pointed, edges fringed. 



Varieties — 

 A.montana 24 in. Glumes large and purple. 

 A. setacea 24 in. Stem leaves bristle-shaped. 



38. A. canescens. Sandy fields of East Anglia and the 

 Channel Islands, ranging through Europe and Northern Asia. 

 July and August. Stem slender, erect, often geniculate at 

 base, leafy below, with several nodes. Leaves tufted, bristle- 

 shaped, with short, rigid, grey hairs, glaucous. Sheaths ribbed, 

 rough, uppermost embracing base of panicle ; ligule lanceolate, 

 decurrent. Panicle rather dense, spreading only during flowering, 

 branches short, purplish. Spikelets numerous, crowded, small, 

 variegated, purple, white and green, florets two. Glumes unequal, 

 lanceolate, pointed, keel toothed. Outer palea shorter than 

 glumes, acute, thin, smooth, keeled, hairy at base, bifid, awned, 

 awn inserted at a little above the base, long, jointed, lower half 



