G18 GEAMINE.E. [TvltlCUm. 



3. H. maritimum, With. Sea-side Barley-grass. Spikes ovato- 

 oblong, cal_yx-glumes scabrous, the interior one of the lateral 

 florets semilanceolate, the rest subulate, culms decumbent leafy- 

 above, sheaths loose. E. B. t. 1205. Br. Fl. p. 555. Host. 

 Gram. Aiist. i. 27, t. 34. 



In Balt-maislies and pastures near the sea ; not uncommon. Fl. June, July. 

 ©■ 



E. Med. — In tlie marsh-meadows by Springfield, near Byde. [Brading 

 n):ushes and S. side of Brading harbour, A. G. More, Esq., Edrs.] 



W. Med. — On the embankment by Yarmouth mill, and at Norton. Abundant 

 in salt-marshes at Newtown. 



Root a tuft of whitish, flattened, wrinkled and downy fibres. Culms very nu- 

 merous, slender, leafy almost to the summit, rigid, quite smooth, about 6 or 8 

 inches hif>h, decumbent by their geniculate and tumid joints, and spreading in all 

 divectiuns in the form of dense roundish tufts, the terminal portion above the 

 superior articulation for the most part only erect or ascending. Leaves short, plane, 

 linear- or sublinear-lanceolate (the uppermost stem-leaf often almost triangular), 

 roughish at the edges, more or less pubescent, especially beneath, strongly ribbed 

 above, pale glaucous-green, with smooth-ribbed, greenish or purplish, slightly 

 timiid sheaths, divided spirally to the bottom. Ligule extremely short, truncate. 

 Spikes broader than in H. pratense, ovato-oblong, about 1-J inch or 2 inches in 

 length, pale glaucous-green, the awns often purplish. Florets 3, the intermediate 

 one perfect, sessile, the two lateral stipitate, imperfect. Glumes subulate, nearly 

 if not quite as scabrous as in H. pratense, white at the back, those of the interme- 

 diate floret not ciliated, the interior glume of the lateral florets, or that nearest 

 the central floret, much broader than the rest, with a wider niembranpus border, 

 which is expanded most on the inner side into a semilanceolate shape, varying in 

 degree but always very apparent. Palece lanceolate, smooth, much shorter than 

 the glumes, the outer one 5-ribbed, the two lateral ribs nearly marginal and more 

 faintly marked ; awned, the awn of the central floret as long as those of the glumes, 

 those of the lateral florets much shorter, all scabrous ; there is, besides, a bristle-like 

 awn arising from the base of the exterior valve of each floret in front between its 

 infolding maigins, about half the length of the paleae, usually ending in two or 

 three spinulose points ; superior and inner palea more or less acute or even sub- 

 aiistate, with two central green ribs, at which there is a strong reduplication of the 

 valve inwards, forming a groove partly embracing the ovary. Lateral florets 

 imperfect. 



This species much resembles LI. pratense, but is of more humble growth. The 

 lower half of one of the calyx-awns of the two outer or sterile florets being dilated, 

 or as it were winged unilaterally, is a beautiful mark of distinction between this 

 and our two other species of Hvrdeum. The awns or bristles of H. maritimum, 

 e^jiecially of the central floret, are rather larger than those of H. pratense, in which 

 that of the outer vahe ol'the valve of the corolla greatly overtops the rest. 



XXX. Teiticum, Linn. Wheat-grass. 



Spikelets solitary, transverse, the sides (not the backs) of the 

 glumes and florets directed to the rachis, compressed, many- 

 flowered. Glumes 2, opposite, nearly equal ; both have 3 or more 

 nerves or ribs. Glumellas 2, lanceolate, outer one acuminate or 

 awned at the summit, inner bifid at the point, minutely ciliated 

 on the ribs. Caryopsis free. 



There are two natural groups in this genus: 1st, the large annual species, 

 foreign to our country, which are cultivated so extensively as Bread-corn ; and, 

 !2mlly, the smaller perennial species, many of which are natives with us. These 



