87 



and following species of Sderoehloa. The latter grass, which it fi'e- 

 quently accompanies, is unquestionably a near ally, a slight difference 

 of habit excented. 



ScLBRocHLOA PKocuMBENs. Procumbent Hard Grass. Plate LXXI. 



Panicle more or less compact, ovate-lanceolate ; branches distichous, 

 rigid, rough. Spikelets linear-lanceolate, four- or five-flowered. Lower 

 palea obtuse, with an apiculus formed hj an extension of the middle 

 vein beyond the upper margin. Leaves flat, with inflated sheaths. 

 Root fibrous. 



Sclerochloa procumbens, Beauvois. Lindley. Babington. Glyoeria 

 procumbens, /SmiiA. Poa procumbens, Owriis. I!.B.bB2; ed. 2. 

 123. Hooker and ArnoU. Parnell. Bentham. Poa rupestris. 

 Withering. 



Frequent in saline marshes and on waste ground on the sea-coast of 

 southern England ; more rare in Scotland and Ireland. Stems procum- 

 bent, rarely when growing in water erect, rigid, round, smooth, six inches 

 to a foot or more in length. Leaves flat, rough on the upper surface, 

 sharply pointed. Sheaths inflated. Ligule oblong. Panicle about 

 two inches long, generally compact, lanceolate inclining to ovate : the 

 branches distichous, but directed to one side. Spikelets seldom more 

 than four-flowered, linear-lanceolate. Glumes obtuse, shorter than 

 the lower flower. Lower palea slightly hairy at the base, obtuse at the 

 summit, but having a mucro formed by the projecting extremity of the 

 middle vein ; upper palea rather shorter than the lower. Whole plant 

 usually glaucous. 

 • Annual. Flowers in July. 



T'his grass appears to be chiefly confined to the western shores of 

 Europe, from Spain to the mouth of the Elbe. 



SoLEROCHLOA RiGiDA. Wiry Hard Grass. Plate LXXII. 



Panicle erect, rigid, lanceolate, sometimes compact and spike-like ; 

 branches short, distichous, inclining to one side of the bordered rachis 

 (main stalk of the inflorescence). Spikelets linear-acute, seven- to 

 ten-flowered. Glumes acute, single-veined ; summit of the upper one 

 extending to the base of the third flower of its spikelet. Lower palea 

 obtuse, obscurely five- veined; the middle vein extending into a mucro. 



Sclerochloa rigida. Link. Lindley. Babington. Glyoeria rigida, 

 Smith. Poa rigida, -LmmoBMS. ^.5.1371; ed. 2. 124. Hooker 

 and Amott. Parnell. Bentham. Festuca rigida, Kunth. 



A very common grass on rocks, walls, and dry waste places and 

 hedge-banks, in a sandy and gravelly soil ; varying, according to 

 circumstances, from two to six or eight inches in height. Root fibrous. 

 Stems erect, or decumbent at the base, round, striated, slender, stifi' 



