41 



quently growing to a considerable length, especially in running 

 water. Panicle large and handsome in luxuriant specimens, con- 

 sisting of several^ alternately disposed series of semi-whorls of from 

 five to three branches each. The short lower glume is always 

 distinctly one-veined, but the veining of the upper one is often ob- 

 scure : the broad blunt terminations of these, and of the palea; 

 likewise, contribute to render the generally two-flowered spikelets 

 peculiarly compact in their oval outline. In the magnified figure 

 a, the form, proportion, and veining of the glumes is shown ; in b, 

 a spikelet of two flowers, one being expanded. 



Perennial. Flowers in June and July. 



A small variety of this species is occasionally met with, growing 

 in sand on the sea-shore, chiefly on the western side of the island. 

 It is often not more than two or three inches high. The spikelets 

 are only one-flowered. 



The panicle of the Water Whorl Grass has, when growing ex- 

 posed to the sun, a beautifully variegated appearance, the glumes 

 being tinged with purple or pink, and the paleee brownish-green 

 with white or very pale green extremities, the whole contrasting 

 well with the yellow or orange-coloured anthers. 



Being an aquatic plant, it is of course in a great measure beyond 

 the limit of cultivation for hay or pasture; but all cattle, cows 

 especially, seem to relish it exceedingly ; indeed, I have often seen 

 the latter standing midway in the pools, in which it grows floating, 

 in order to feed upon its sweet succulent shoots and foliage. Geese, 

 ducks, and other water-fowl are equally fond of it ; hence its intro- 

 duction into decoys for wild birds of the kind has long been prac- 

 tised, by throwing the floating stems into the water with weights 

 attached to them. 



Genus 17. AIRA. Hair Grass. 



Gen. Char. Inflorescence paniculate, more or less spreading. 

 Spikelets stalked, laterally compressed, two-flowered, rarely 

 three- or one-flowered. Glumes two, nearly equal, scarcely 

 shorter than the spikelet. Palese two, membranaceous, often 

 hairy at the base ; lower one bifid or toothed at the apex, 

 awned at the back. Fruit glabrous. 



The Enghsh name of these grasses refers to the slender leaves 

 characterizing most of the species, which are numerous and widely 

 distributed, generally in dry open situations, of which they some- 

 times constitute the principal vegetation. The British species are 

 regarded rather as weeds than as of any utility in an agricultural 

 point of view. The larger kinds are too coarse and wiry to form 



G 



