28 



compactness ; in the more luxuriant form two inches or more in 

 length, and conspicuously branched ; in smaller specimens scarcely 

 an inch long and spike-like. Glumes hairy, rough, linear or nearly 

 equal in breadth throughout, bifid rather than notched at the some- 

 what obtuse summit : their awns, generally, three times as long, 

 but occasionally not more than twice, rough with minute points 

 or bristles. 



Annual. Flowers in July and August. 



The peculiar pale, hairy, or rather silky, inflorescence of this 

 beautiful grass renders it very ornamental, and well deserving of a 

 place in the flower-garden j but its seeds do not appear to ripen in 

 any abundance, and in some seasons I have known them fail al- 

 together; a fact which may account for its sparing distribution 

 here in the wild state. It is said to be very abundant in some of 

 the warmer parts of Europe, which is in a degree corroborated by 

 the specific name. 



PoiiYPOGON LiTTORALis. Perennial Beard Grass. Plate XXIV. 



Inflorescence closely lobed or branched. Glumes tapering up- 

 wards, nearly smooth ; the awns scarcely exceeding them in 

 length. 



Polypogon littoralis. Smith. E. B. ed. 3. 92. Generally adopted 

 by modern British botanists. Agrostis littoralis, E. B. 1251. 



Muddy salt-marshes are its favourite habitats, though it may be 

 sometimes met with in drier situations. It is found accompanying 

 P. monspeliensis in a few of its localities, on the coasts of Norfolk 

 and Essex, as well as near the powder-magazine by the banks of 

 the Thames about four miles below Woolwich, but must be con- 

 sidered more rare. Flowering stems often several from the same 

 root, decumbent below, and rooting occasionally at the lower joints, 

 which then send up tufts of leaves, that constitute the basis of the 

 next year's vegetation. The fertile stems vary from a few inches 

 to a foot or more in height. The inflorescence, more or less com- 

 pact but obviously paniculate, has usually a purplish or reddish 

 tinge, very different from the pale hue of that of the preceding 

 species. Glumes more lanceolate than linear, though certainly 

 not acute as sometimes described ; they are hairy at the lower part 

 of the keel, but nearly smooth above, and the awn, rarely exceeding, 

 is often scarcely equal to them in length. The paleee are truncated, 

 and bifid or notched at the apex. 



Perennial. Flowers in July. 



Notwithstanding the very striking differences between this and 

 P. monspeliensis, some of our earlier botanists seem to have con- 



