126 THE GENERA AND THEIR SPECIES. 



Varieties — 



P. plicata. Sheath rough and furrowed ; outer palea 



twice as long as broad ; anthers three 

 times as long as broad. 



P. pedicellata. Sheath rough and furrowed ; anthers 



four times as long as broad. 



P. declinata. Sheath smooth ; anthers twice as long as 



broad ; plant small 



This grass is common in slow streams and pools, and is 

 noticeable for its graceful panicles and rich green colour. Its 

 stem is very fragile, and it is not easy to pull at it without breaking 

 it. Cattle feed on the herbage, and birds and trout on the seeds. 

 The long, slender, yellow seeds are the manna croup which is put 

 into soup and cooked for porridge 



81. maritime*. Salt marshes; ranging through the Northern 

 Hemisphere. June to August. Root perennial, tufted, creeping, 

 stoloniferous. Stem erect from a curved or geniculate base, rigid, 

 smooth. Leaves thickish, narrow, short, involute, compressed, 

 not keeled. Sheaths tumid, smooth, uppermost longer than leaf ; 

 ligule short, ovate blunt. Panicle erect or nearly so, rigid, 

 branched ; branches and rachis smooth. Spikelets few, linear, 

 cylindrical, turning to one side, florets four or more. Glumes 

 unequal, rounded on back, ribbed, inner one the larger, Outer 

 palea five-ribbed, long, pointed, edges involute, purplish ; inner 

 palea as long as outer palea, marginal ribs green. Anthers six 

 times as long as broad. 



Varieties — 



P. hispida Stem compressed, rachis furrowed on one 



side, branches bristly. 



P. de-flex a. Panicle branches deflexed in fruit. 



82. P. distans. Banks of estuaries and waste and sandy 

 ground ; ranging throughout the Northern Hemisphere. July 

 to October. Root perennial, fibrous, yellowish, not creeping. 



