GRASS FAMILY 



559 



I — 2 feet hieh. 





a foot high ; leaves numerous, niosth' radical, densely tufted, 

 finely subulate, involute, rough ; parade close, oblong, with short 

 branches •, ghnnes acute, the lowest longer than the second ; 

 ■fioweriiig-glume 4-ribbed, jagged at the top, with a fine bent and 

 twisted basal awn. — Dry heaths in the south ; rare. — Fl. June, July. 

 Perennial. 



T. A. caniiia (Brown Bent). — Stents ascendring 

 smooth, sometimes with runners; 

 leaves narrow, fiat, smooth : panicle 

 with long, slender branches, spread- 

 ing when in flower, purplish or 

 green ; glumes acute, the lowest 

 longer than the second ; ftcnvering- 

 glume 5-ribbed, jagged, with dorsal 

 awn from below the middle. — 

 Peaty heaths ; common. — Fl. July, 

 August. Perennial. 



3. A. alba (Fiorin-grass or Marsh 

 Bent). — An elegant but most 

 variable grass, nearly allied to the 

 preceding ; steins more or less 

 prostrate below, often with long 

 runners, 6 — 24 in. high, rough : 

 leaves with roughish sheaths and 

 long, acute ligules : panicle spread- 

 ing in flower, afterwards close ; 

 glumes nearly equal; fioiL-eriiig 

 glumes seldom awned. — Pastures; 

 common. — Fl. July — September. 

 Perennial. 



4. A. thuds (Fine Bent). — .A, 

 closely allied, very variable, but 

 generally smaller species, with 

 smooth stems and leaf-sheaths, 

 short, truncate ligules : panicle 

 spreading both in flower and fruit. 

 — Pastures ; common. — Fl. June — .September? Perennial. 



V A. nigra (Black Bent). — Another nearly allied but more 

 robust species, with runners ; rather rough kafrshfaths : long, trun- 

 cate ligules; panicle-branches sub-erect both in flower and fruit. — 

 Borders of fields. — Fl. July, Perennial. 



.^gr6?tis .Xlb.\ 



14. PoLVPuGON (Beard-grass ). — Spikelets .i-flowered, densely 

 crowded m a spike-like, cylindric, or branched panicle ; glumes 



