116 



comparatively few, varying from half-an-incli to more than an inch in 

 length, and bearing on the average seven to nine flowers. Flowers 

 rather distant, diverging as they expand, so Us to give a lax character 

 to the spikelet, in lieu of the compact form which distinguishes it 

 before and afterwards. Glumes often nearly equal, the upper one the 

 larger, and distinctly three-veined. Outer palea seven-veined, four of 

 the veins indistinct ; the middle or dorsal one terminating below the 

 membranaceous bifid extremity of the palea, in a straight rough awn 

 about half the length of the latter. Inner palea with two green mar- 

 ginal fringed veins. The flowers have frequently a tinge of purple. 



Perennial. Flowers in June and July. 



It seems to be universally rejected by cattle, but pheasants are said 

 to be fond of the seeds. 



Two varieties are noticed by botanical collectors, one having the 

 culm or flowering stem smooth, as above described, the other both that 

 and the spikelets hairy. 



In habit this grass differs from most of the other Bromes, and the 

 authors of the 'British Flora' compare it to Brachypodium sylvaticum; 

 the resemblance is not, however, at all striking. 



Bromits asper. Hairy Wood Brome Grass. Plate XCVIII. 



Panicle drooping ; branches long, more or less divided. Spikelets 

 linear-lanceolate, drooping. Flowers remote, sub-cylindrical, longer 

 than the straight awn. Lower palea hairy, five- or seven-veined. 

 Leaf-sheaths hairy, the hairs pointing downwards. Leaves uniform. 



Bromus asper, Linrweus. E. B. 1172 ; ed. 2. 158. Generally 

 adopted. 



Not unfrequent in moist woods and thickets, but rarely intruding 

 upon more open ground. A large, coarse grass, with strong roughish 

 stems that often attain a height of five or six feet, far overtopping the 

 ferns and brambles among which they grow. Unlike those of the pre- 

 ceding species, the radical leaves are broad and flat, resembling those 

 of the stem, and, indeed, proportionally larger ; they are less copiously 

 hairy, and the hairs, especially on the sheaths, have a different direc- 

 tion, pointing downwards instead of upwards. The panicle is widely 

 spreading and drooping to one side ; the weight of the large spikelets, 

 and the length and slenderness of their supporting branches, causing 

 them to become pendulous after flowering. Spikelets comparatively 

 few, about an inch long, eight- or ten-flowered, much resembling those 

 of the last, and like them spreading with the expansion of the rather 

 distant flowers, but contracted both before and afterwards. Glumes 

 very unequal, the upper one longest, distinctly three-veined. Outer 

 palea hairy, five-veined, membranaceous and bifid at the apex, below 

 which the middle vein separates from it, and extends, in the form of a 

 straight rough awn, about half the length of the palea. Marginal veins 

 of the inner palea ciliated. 



Annual or biennial. Flowers in July. 



