GRASSES 



OF 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



Genus 1. ANTHOXANTHUM. Vernal Grass. 



Generic Chaeacter. Inflorescence more or less compact. Spike- 

 lets with two unequal glumes, three-flowered ; the middle flower 

 perfect, with two stamens and two small awnless paleae ; the two 

 lateral ones rudimentary, each consisting of a single awned 

 palea. 



The three-flowered character of the spikelets in this genus is not 

 very evident, as the scales, representing individually the two 

 lateral flowers, would probably appear to the unscientific observer 

 as outer appendages of the central one. The latter was, indeed, 

 described by botanists of a comparatively late date as having a 

 double corolla. The modern reading of the inflorescence is un- 

 doubtedly correct, but it is apt to mislead the uninitiated. 



The genus is a small one, and only a single species is indigenous 

 to the British Islands. The name, from the Greek anthos, a flower, 

 and xanthos, yellow, was adopted in reference to the yellowish hue 

 of the inflorescence compared with that of other European grasses. 



Anthoxanthum odoratum. Sweet-scentedVernal Grass. Plate T. 



Inflorescence spike-like, ovate-oblong, compound. Glumes longer 

 than the awns. 



Anthoxanthum odoratum, Linnams. Generally adopted. E. B. 647. ; 

 ed. 3. 114. 



A very common grass in meadows and pastures, whence, indeed, 

 it is rarely absent, though chiefly abounding in those upon a moist 

 rich soil. It is among the earliest of its tribe in flowering, and 

 from this circumstance acquired the English name of Spring-Grass. 

 The leaves are short, and so scantily produced as to contribute 

 little to the general crop of hay. The flowering-stems, slender and 

 wiry, vary much in their height according to situation, oh open 



B 



