37 



LAGURUS OVATUS. 



LlNNiEUS. HOOKEE AND AeNOTT. KoCH. KuNTH. SmITH. BaBINGTON. 

 LiNDLET. KnAPP. ' WITHERING. PaENELL. 



WiLLDENow. Dickson. Scheadee. Host. Schebbee. Hull. 



PLATE XI. — A. 



Alopecwros genuina, Mokison. 



" spied rotundiore, Moeison. 



The Hare^s-tail Grass. 



Lagurus — Hare's-tail, (from tlie Greek.) Ovatv^ — Egg-shaped. 



Lagueus. Linncens. — Panicle spiked. Spikelets laterally compressed. 

 Glumes fringed throughout, terminating in a lengthy subulate point. Glu- 

 meUas two in number, membranaceous in texture, the exterior one terminating 

 in two long bristles. Only one British example, and this confined to a 

 portion of Guernsey. The name is derived from the Greek, and signifies 

 a hare's tail, from the downy feel and appearance of the panicle. 



One of the rarest and most beautiful of our British. Grasses, 

 growing in sandy exposed situations in the north and west of 

 Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. It was first discovered 

 there by Mr. Gosselin. Miss Guille informs me that it is 

 abundant near the sea-shore. Sir J. E. Smith, in his "British 

 Flora," remarks that Lagurus ovatus serves to decorate flower- 

 pots in winter, like the Stipa pennata, and the foreign Briza 

 maxima; there are, however, a number of other species which, 

 when placed in a vase in a bunch, produce a pleasing efiect. 



Root annual, composed of seven or eight woolly fibres. Stem 

 upright, circular, smooth, with three or four joints. Leaves 

 four or five in number, with tumid, very downy sheaths. 

 Ligule bold, obtuse, and encircling the stem. Leaves flat. 



