resemblance, on comparison, will be found merely superficial, but 

 is likely to mislead an inexperienced observer. The flowers of 

 Phleim have two palese, which are destitute of awn, the hairy ap- 

 pearance of the spike being due to the bristly points of the glumes ; 

 hence indeed it is, in most instances, rougher to the touch than 

 that of the Fox-tail grasses. 



The name is fronf the Greek alopex, a fox, and oura, a tail, in 

 allusion to the form of the inflorescence. 



Alopecubus pratbnsis. Meadow Fox-tail Grass. Plate IV. 



Stem erect, smooth. Inflorescence spicate, ovate-elongate, sub- 

 cylindrical. Glumes hairy, lanceolate, acute, connected below. 

 Awrr twice the length of the palea, arising from its base. 



Alopecurus pratensis, ijnw«M*. ^. 5. 759; ed. 3. 85. Generally 

 adopted. 



One of the most common of our meadow grasses. Its strong 

 fibrous roots take a firm hold of the soil, but the plants have 

 little or no tendency to extend themselves laterally by creeping. 

 The flowering stems vary in height, according to the character of 

 the soil, from one to three feet ; having the sheath of the upper- 

 most leaf usually much inflated. The ligule is very short and 

 obtuse. The spike, or spicate panicle, is of a light or yellowish- 

 green colour, with a tinge of grey owing to the silvery hue of the 

 long awns ; it varies in length from one to three inches. Anthers 

 yellow. In the magnified views of the flower, a represents the 

 two compressed ciliated glumes, united at the base ; b, the solitary 

 flower, with its single palea and long awn ; c, the pistil, with its 

 filiform stigmas and elongated style. 



This is almost universally regarded as one of the most valuable 

 of our indigenous grasses, " possessing," as observed by Martyn, 

 " the three great requisites of quantity, quality, and earliness in a 

 superior degree to any other." In regard to quantity, it has been 

 affirmed to yield more bulk and weight of hay than any other grass 

 hitherto subjected to experiment ; and, as the first crop may be 

 cut early, or about the middle of May, the latter math is un- 

 usually productive, exceeding in value, according to Sinclair, the 

 crop at the time of flowering, in the proportion of 24 to 13. 

 These remarks, however, are only applicable to it in favourable 

 situations, as, at Woburn, the produce was nearly three-fourths 

 greater from a clayey loam than from a sandy soil, and the grass 

 from the latter was of comparatively less value in the proportion of 

 4 to 6. A moderately stiff and moist soil seems necessary to elicit 

 the qualities that render the Meadow Fox-tail valuable ; in a poor 

 and dry one it becomes almost useless. 



