GRASS FAMII.T. 357 



hard for a meadow grass ; of many varfeties, introduced from Europe ; spikdets 

 4- 8-flowOTed; lower palet either pointless or short-awned. 2^ 



T. vulgdire, Wheat. Spilce dense, somewhat 4-sided; the spikelets 

 Qi-owded, 4 r 5-flowered, tua:gid ; glumes ventricose, blunt ; palet either awued 

 or awnless ; grain free. ® 



T. Sp^lta, Spelt. A grain rarely cult, in this country ; spike flat, the 

 rhacliis fragile, breaking up at the joints ; grain enclosed in the palets. ® 



Sec^Ie cere^e. Eye. Tall ; spike as in wheat ; spikelets with only 2 per- 

 fect flowers ; glumes a little distant, bristly towards the base ; lower palet ven- 

 tricose, long awned ; grain brown. 



-I- ■<- +- Glumes 6 at each joinf, in front of the 3 spikdets, Jbrming an involucre. 



H6rdeuin vulg&re. Common Barley, from the Old World : spike 

 dense, the 3 spikelets at each joint of the rhachis all with a fertile flower, its 

 lower palet longrawned. ® , , , 



H. distichum, Two-kowed Barley, from Tartary : only one spifcelet 

 at each joint of the rhachis \vith a fertile flower,^the two lateral spikelets being 

 reduced to sterile rudiments, the flowers therefore two-rowed in the.spike. ® 



-1- 1- -1- -I- SpildelelS in a contracted panicle or seeming spike, or if spiked some- 

 what on one side of the rhachis : each with a single per feet flower, its palets 

 of coriaceous or' cartilaginous texture : hy the sidle of it are either one Or two 

 thin palets of a sterile usually neutral flower. 



SetkviSb, Foxtail-Grass. Spikelets in clusters on the branches of the 

 contracted spike-like panicle or seeming spike, these continued beyond them 

 into awn-like rough bristles ; but no awns from the spikelets themselves. 

 Weeds, or the last one cult. ; all from Old World ; fl. late summer. ® 



S. glatica, Common Foxtail : in all stubble and cultivated grounds ; low ; 

 spike tawny yellow, dense ; long bristles 6 - 11 in a cluster, rough upwards (as 

 also all the following) ; palets of perfect flower wrinkled crosswise. 



S. viridis, Geebbt Foxtail or Bottle-Grass ; has less dense and green 

 spike, fewer bristles, and palets of perfect flower striate lengthwise. 



S. It^lica, or GeemAnica, Italian Millet, Bengal Grabs, &c. Cult, 

 for fodder, 3°- 5" high, with rather large leaves, a compound or interrupted so- 

 called spike, which is evidently a contracted panicle, sometimes 6' - 9' long and 

 nodding when ripe ; bristles short and few in a cluster ; palets of the fertile 

 flower smooth. 



P4nicum (Digit&ria) sanguiii&,le, Finger-Grass or Cbab-Grass. 

 Chiefly a weed in cult, fields in late summer and autumn, but useful in thin 

 grounds S. for hay; herbage reddish; spikes 4-15, slender, digitate, nearly 

 1-sided ; spikelets seemingly 1-flowered with 3 glumes ; no awns. ® 



P. CruS-g^Ui, Cock's-foot P., or Barnyard-Gkass. Common weedy 

 grass, of moist barnyards and low rich grounds : coarse, with rather broad leaves, 

 and numerous seeming spikes along the naked summit of the flowering stems, 

 often forming a sort of panicle ; spikelets containing one fertile and one sterile 

 flower, the lower palet of the latter bearing a coarse rough awn. ® 



P capill^e, Witch Grass of stubble and corn-fields in autumn, having 

 a very open capillary panicle, would be sought under another division; it is a 

 mere weed. ® 



B. Stems not hollow, pithy. 



8 1. Spikelets clustered or scaUereil in an ample panicle, each with one perfect and 

 one neutral or staminate flower. 

 * Without silky-down : glumes, ^c. russet-brown, coriaceous. 



S6rehUin vuleire, Indian Millet, Dcrra, or Docra, &o., from Africa 

 or Indm- the var. c^knuum, Guinea Corn, has densely contracted panicle, 

 and iscuit. for the grain. Var. saccharXtum, Sweet Sorghum, Chinese 

 Sugar-Cane, Impheb, &c., cult, for the syrup of the stem ; and Broom-ookn. 

 for the well-known corn-brooms. ® 



