80 



flowered. The silkiness of the middle vein of the lower palea seldom 

 extends more than half-way from its base. 



Perennial. Flowers in June and July. 



Owing to that general resemblance in aspect which is frequently 

 found to prevail among Grasses of the same genus, an inexperi- 

 enced collector is liable to confound this species with the following, 

 P pratensis, a mistake that simple comparison of the figures will 

 scarcely rectify. Hence the necessity of longer and more minute 

 description, in this and other instances, than might at first sight 

 appear essential. By careful attention to the features detailed, the 

 Biough and Smooth Meadow Grasses may be easily recognized ; 

 but the tyro will do well to recollect that there is no royal road to 

 knowledge. 



Though one of the commonest of European Grasses, as indicated 

 by the specific name, and distributed over the whole northern he- 

 misphere, from the latitude of the Mediterranean to the Arctic 

 Circle, Poa trivialis scarcely presents any tendency to the produc- 

 tion of varieties, so frequent among other species of this genus and 

 its allies ; a circumstance probably dependent upon its almost ex- 

 clusive preference for moist habitats, and apparent incapability of 

 subsisting long enough in any other to acquire a new or difi^erent 

 aspect through seed-propagation. 



The only variety hitherto noticed by botanists is figured by Dr. 

 Parnell, plate 35 of his ' Grasses of Great Britain,' under the 

 name of 



P. trivialis parviflora. Spikelets small, one- or two-flowered. 

 Stem generally smooth. 

 This form is not uncommon in moist shady woods, and, as ob- 

 served by Dr. Parnell, might, at the first view, be mistaken for the 

 slender narrow-leaved one of P. nemoralis, figured in his plate 36 

 of the same work, unless by careful attention to the character of 

 the ligule and lower palea. Though generally quoted as such, it 

 is not, strictly speaking, a variety, not being permanent, but 

 when planted in the garden returning to the normal condition of 

 its species. 



Agricultural writers in general extol this Grass highly for its 

 nutritive qualities and abundant produce ; and it is certain that 

 not any among our indigenous species are more generally liked by 

 sheep and cattle of all kinds. Its merits, however, have their 

 limits, and a moist rich soil is essential to their development. 

 Where this latter exists, no grass is better adapted for constituting 

 a leading portion of both permanent and alternate pasture ; but 

 when sown on dry exposed situations, according to Mr. Sinclair, 

 its produce is not only from the first inconsiderable, but yearly 

 diminishes, and ultimately, within four or five years, it dies off 

 altogether, a fact quite consistent with its natural predilection for 



