86 



slightly decumbent at the base, from a foot to eighteen inches in height, 

 smooth, rigid. Leaves flat, acute, roughish on the upper face. Ligule, 

 short, broad, abrupt. Panicle three to six inches long : the branches 

 long, slender, spreading when in flower ; arranged at the lower part in 

 somewhat unilateral distant whorls of four or five together, which ulti- 

 mately become rigidly deflexed or bent downwards, a character that 

 strikingly distinguishes this grass from S. maritima and others of the 

 genus. Spikelets linear, or approaching to elliptical, seldom more than 

 four- or five-flowered. G-lumes very unequal, shorter than the lower- 

 most flower of the spikelet. Lower palea five-veined, the middle vein 

 not extending to the summit. 



Perennial. Flowers in July and August. 



Most botanical authors seem to regard S. distans as a very near ally 

 of 8. maritima, and some incline to consider the two as varieties of 

 the same form. The great difference in habit seems decisive on this 

 point, and I have not observed any change produced under cultivation 

 which would tend to affect their allotment as separate species. 



In geographical distribution S. distans nearly accords with S. mari- 

 tima. 



The peculiarity of its inflorescence renders this species deserving a 

 place on rock-work, or in the alpine garden. 



ScLEKOCHLOA BoREEEi. Borrcr's Hard Grass. Plate LXX. 



Panicle erect, spreading when in flower ; branches half-verticillate. 

 Spikelets linear, four- to seven-flowered. Lower palea obsoletely five- 

 veined ; the middle vein extending beyond the summit as an apiculus 

 or mucro. Leaves flat. Koot fibrous, tufted. 



Sclerochloa Borreri, Babington. Grlyceria Borreri, Bahington in 

 E. B. Supp. 2797. Gr. conferta. Fries. Poa Borreri. Hooker 

 and Arnott. Parnell. 



Found in muddy salt marshes, and on the borders of ditches near the 

 sea, on the southern and south-eastern coasts of England. It was first 

 noticed as a native species by Mr. Borrer, near Gosport, but has since 

 been ascertained to be not unfrequent along the whole line of coast 

 from Dorsetshire to the Wash. Koot tufted, sending up several 

 smooth, compressed, more or less decumbent stems, six inches to a foot 

 in height. Leaves short, flat, or partly involute. Ligule short, scarcely 

 obtuse. Panicle two or three inches long, more or less compact or 

 spreading ; its branches when most expanding rather ascending than 

 deflexed._ Spikelets usually four-flowered. Glumes membranaceous at 

 the margins. Lower palea obscurely flve- veined, the middle vein termi- 

 nating beyond the apex in a short mucro ; upper palea with two fringed 

 or ciliated veins, rounded at the summit, or very slightly emarginate. 



Perennial. Flowers in July. It is sometimes described as annual, 

 but it survived three or four years in a garden. 



The authors of the ' British Flora ' remark that this plant is "obviously 

 intermediate between Boa distans and Poa jjrocumbens," the preceding 



