THE GENERA VXD THEIR SPECIES. 133 



tufted, slightly creeping, rootstock thick, fibres smooth. Stem 

 tufted, often swollen at base, leafy below, smooth, striated ; 

 nodes two, upper not hidden. Leaves short, folded in bud, 

 linear, mucronate, rough above and on edges, riblcss, with median 

 lines ; radical leaves tufted. Sheaths long, smooth, lax, almost 

 entire, uppermost longer than leaf ; ligule of upper leaves long 

 and pointed. Panicle ovate, short, spreading when in flower, 

 branches angular, smooth, mostly in pairs. Spikelets broad, 

 glossy, florets three or more. Glumes equal, ovate, concave, 

 ribs three, not webbed. Outer palea pointed, ribs three, hairy 

 below, lateral ribs indistinct ; inner palea short, edges green and 

 fringed. 



This is the broad-leaved hill grass of the Highland shepherds. 

 Its produce is equal to Meadow Foxtail and more nutritive. 

 In the Scottish mountains, where it is frequently viviparous, the 

 pastures of it were in many cases formed by transplantation or 

 by sowing seed after burning the heather, the seed being tramped 

 in by sheep driven over the ground. As the spikelets are a favour- 

 ite food of snails, the seed is not easy to obtain, and hence the 

 laborious operation of bringing the young plants from a distance. 



93. P. bulbosa. Among the sands of East and South of 

 England, ranging through Europe and Russian Asia. April and 

 May, Root perennial, somewhat creeping, bulbous, the bulbs 

 being enlarged leaf bases. Stem erect, slender, smooth, often 

 geniculate at base, purplish. Radical leaves numerous, tufted, 

 narrow, wavy, pointed ; stem leaves folded in bud, few, distant, 

 linear, small, thin, ribless with median lines. Sheaths tumid, 

 ribbed, smooth, uppermost below middle of stem and longer 

 than its leaf ; ligule long, decurrent, pointed. Panicle small, 

 compact, spreading in flower, branches alternate, mostly in pairs, 

 tumid, and cartilaginous at base ; rachis angular and wavy. 

 Spikelets ovate, compressed, webbed, florets three or four. 

 Glumes equal, pointed, concave, with three ribs, keeled, webbed. 

 Outer palea longer than glumes, erect, straight, with five indistinct 

 ribs, keel clothed with white hairs ; inner palea shorter than 

 outer palea, white margined with green and fringed. 



K 



