33 



above described. The flower-stems, decumbent below, rise to the 

 height of a foot or eighteen inches, terminating in a rather lax, 

 rough panicle four or five inches in length, the single-flowered 

 spikelets of which being stalked, and expanding at the time of 

 flowering, renders the appearance of the inflorescence very light 

 and elegant; this is the state represented in our figure, but it after- 

 wards becomes more compact. The glumes, at a, are only rough 

 on the lower part of the keel. The flowers vary much in colour, 

 according to circumstances of soil and situation, assuming different 

 shades of brownish purple and green. The jointed awn is some- 

 times scarcely higher than the palea, in other instances it will exceed 

 the glumes ; the flgure of a flower at h shows it of a medium length. 



Perennial. Flowers from the end of June to August. 



The genus Trichodium, to which this species is referred by some 

 botanists, was separated from Agrostis by Schrader, on account of 

 the absence of the inner palea : such appendage is, however, seldom 

 altogether absent, though generally only traceable as a minute 

 point ; and this circumstance, associated with its small development 

 and even occasional abortion in other species of Agrostis, renders 

 the separation useless. Dr. Lindley, in his later and most valuable 

 work, 'The Vegetable Kingdom,' adopts this view, recording Tri- 

 chodium only as a synonym of Agrostis. 



Rather to be regarded as a troublesome weed than as a grass of 

 any agricultural value. It vegetates early, but the produce is too 

 trifling to render that of any account, while during the first sum- 

 mer droughts the tufts of slender involute leaves assume a parched 

 and withered appearance that denies all promise for the future. 



Agrostis setacea. Bristle-leaved Bent Grass. Plate XXIX. 



Panicle slender, oblong; its branches short, few-flowered. Glumes 

 unequal, lanceolate, acute, rough on the keel. Outer palea erose at 

 the summit, four-veined, the lateral veins terminating in short setse; 

 with a knee- bent twisted awn, arising from near the base, and about 

 twice the length of the palea. Inner palea very small. Leaves 

 setaceous ; sheaths rough ; ligula oblong, acute. 



Agrostis setacea, Curtis. E. B. 1188 ; ed. 2. 97. Chiefly adopted. 

 Trichodium setaceum, Michaux. Roemer. Lindley. Loudon, 

 Hart. Brit. 2Q;.Encyc. 56. 



Found, almost exclusively, on dry heaths and downs in the south- 

 western counties of England from Cornwall to Hampshire, especially 

 toward the sea-coast ; a circumstance indicating its probable migra- 

 tion thither from the south-western parts of Europe. In Spain 

 and Portugal it is a very common grass, and its original transport 

 from the shores of the latter country is farther countenanced by 



