102 



counties of England, and the south of Ireland ; the island of Anglesea 

 appears to be its most northern British habitat. On the continent of 

 southern Europe it occurs in inland situations ; but the Mediterranean 

 basin is the chief seat of the species, whence, gradually advancing along 

 the western coasts of the peninsula and France, it has reached our own. 

 It is an annual, or, according to some, biennial ; the latter term, how- 

 ever, conveys, especially in regard to grasses, an erroneous notion of 

 duration, as it applies to species whose seeds ripen suf&ciently early in 

 the summer to vegetate in autumn, the approach of winter alone pre- 

 venting the production of their flowers until the following year. The 

 slender, angular, smooth stems grow in tufts, varying from three or 

 four inches to a foot in height. Leaves few, narrow, usually so much 

 rolled inward as to appear thread-like. Inflorescence a simple, race- 

 mose panicle, two or three inches long; the spikelets of which, though 

 disposed in two rows, are unilateral, and often so closely set as to form 

 an apparent spike. Grlumes five- or six-flowered, more unequal than 

 in any other species of this genus ; the outer one, indeed, would appear 

 at first sight to be altogether absent, being an almost microscopic 

 scale, a circumstance that at once distinguishes it from F. sciuroides, 

 and its varieties, which nearly resemble the plant before us in general 

 outline. Inner glume long, narrow, much attenuated, pointed. Outer 

 palea terminating in a rough awn more than twice its own length, five- 

 veined : inner one very narrow, thin, two-viened. 



Flowers in June, and sometimes late in the autumn in mild dry 

 weather. 



A grass of no immediate value, "being rigid, dry, and innutritious. 

 Its natural office is that of a colonizer. 



Festuca sciuroides. Squirrel-tail Fescue Grass. Plate LXXXIII. 



Panicle erect, somewhat racemose, one-sided. Spikelets erect, about 

 five-flowered. Lower glume much smaller than the upper. Upper half 

 of the stem leafless. 



Festuca sciuroides, Koch. Babington, Manual. P. bromoides, Lin- 

 nceus. E. B. 1411 ; ed. 2. 144. Hooker. Parnell. F. myurus. 

 Bentliam. Vulpia bromoides, Lindley. Mygalurus bromoides, 

 Link. Loudon, Encycl. 64 ; Hort. Brit. 30. 



The grass thus designated is not of very frequent occurrence, though 

 occasionally found on dry sandy ground, waste places, and road-sides, 

 in various parts of the kingdom. Regarded as a separate species, its 

 continential distribution seems doubtfiil. With a habit similar to the 

 preceding, the slender stems are not at all angular ; and, though vari- 

 able in height, seldom exceed six or seven inches, the upper part being 

 leafless. The leaves, few in number, narrow, and more or less involute, 

 as in aU the plants of this section, afford no distinctive character. 

 Inflorescence erect ; the branches rather spreading when in full flower, 

 but contracted before, and afterwards, except the lowermost, which is 



