THE GENERA AND THEIR SPECIES. 



137 



two or three, lower florets with a bract at base. Glumes nearly 

 equal, keeled, membranous. Outer palea rather larger than 

 glumes, toothed at apex, ribs five, aw r ned or pointed ; inner palea 

 narrow, cleft, margins involute and fringed. Anthers tipped with 

 purple. Seed obovate, greyish yellow. 



This is the most nutritious of the grasses of the moors. It is 

 more like a rush than a grass, and common enough in hill pastures 

 and other suitable places, often thriving amid bleak surroundings, 

 though a sharp, early frost will prevent its flowering for the year. 



Spartina. Plate xvi. HORDEsE. 



48. stricta 24 in. Cord Grass. Twin spikes. 



Salt marshes in estuaries of the south and east coasts of England, 

 and the coast of the North Atlantic. June to September. Root 

 perennial, creeping by jointed 

 suckers, tough, white fibres extend- 

 ing deeply from the crown. Stems 

 erect from a curved base, stout, 

 soft, sheathed almost throughout. 

 Leaves rigid, erect, flat, glabrous, 

 white at edges, upper surface chan- 

 nelled. Sheaths ribbed, smooth, 

 jointed to leaves, uppermost the 

 longest ; ligule a row of bristles. 

 Spikes in pairs, linear, erect, rigid. 

 Spikelets with one floret, numerous, 

 alternate, inserted in grooves along 

 two sides of a triangular stem. 

 Outer glume the smaller, awl- 

 shaped, placed in the thick stalk bearing the inner glume. Outer 

 palea obtuse, entire, hairy, dorsal rib spiny ; inner palea larger 

 than outer, glabrous, with two inconspicuous median ribs. 



Varieties — 



S. townsendii Rachis extending beyond spike, leaves 



jointed to sheaths. 



5. aliemiflora Rachis extending beyond spike, leaves 



continuous with sheaths, uppermost leaf 

 higher than spike ; spikes four or more. 



Spartina stricta. 

 Spikelet. For Floret see p. 50. 



