72 



very short. Outer or lower palea ovate-lanceolate, somewhat 

 pointed, diaphanous at the margin ; the keel-vein and two lateral 

 ones silky, with downy spaces between them. See the magnified 

 figures : a, the spikelet ; b, the separated webless flower. 



Perennial. Flowers from June to August. 



It is very frequently viviparous, the flowers being supplanted by 

 little leafy bulbs, one of which is exhibited on our plate. See the 

 observations on this subject in the Introduction, page xviii et seq. 



This is one of the most commonly distributed of all the alpine 

 grasses, being met with on all the great mountain-ranges of Eu- 

 rope, central and northern Asia, and North America, displaying 

 in different situations great diversity in general aspect, and thence 

 afibrding almost unlimited opportunity to the ardent discoverer 

 of new species for the exercise of his ingenuity in their fabrication. 



I have endeavoured to embody in the foregoing description of 

 the Alpine Meadow Grass, as well as in those of the rest of the 

 division it represents, all the leading characteristics by which the 

 more careful and discriminating authors consider themselves justi- 

 fied in maintaining their separation, and reserve further observations 

 to the close of the section. 



PoA ciEsiA. Grey Meadow Grass. Plate LIX. 



Panicle erect, more or less spreading or slender. Spikelets 

 ovate, two- to five- flowered; flowers rather acute, free (not con- 

 nected by a web) . Lower palea five-veined ; but with only three 

 of the veins silky. Uppermost leaf about the length of its sheath, 

 folded and slightly incurved, but tapering at the tip. " Upper- 

 most knot near to the base of the stem." Ligule obtuse. 



Poa csesia, Smith. E.B. 1719. Babington. Parnell, 40. p. 88? 

 Poa glaucayS, E. B. ed. 2. 133. P. nemoralis var., Hooker. 

 Bentham. P. alpina ?, Hooker and Arnott. 



Not unfrequent on the mountains of "Wales and Scotland, on 

 the former of which it certainly does not materially difi^r from 

 P. alpina. Scotch specimens I have only seen in the dry state. 

 Stems varying from six inches to a foot or more. Leaves rather 

 broad, not constantly glaucous, or only in very high and exposed 

 situations. Panicle perhaps generally larger and more spreading 

 than in the last-described, but not often so large as in the ' English 

 Botany ' figure. The lowest flower of each spikelet is described as 

 being longer than the larger glume ; but this feature is very equi- 

 vocal. The number of flowers contained by a spikelet varies, but 

 not more so than in P. alpina and many other grasses. Of the 

 five veins of the lower palea, the two intermediate ones are often 

 so indistinct as tcr be scarcely traceable, and in the upper flowers 

 their presence seems an exception. 



