121 



but unwholesome, as the seeds of this and other brome grasses of the 

 section have a narcotic quality approaching that of the Darnel, see 

 Lolium temulentum. This effect has been long known in Sweden, in 

 the southern provinces of which it is so common among the rye, that it 

 was supposed to be a degenerate form of that grain, an idea that still 

 prevails among the imeducated country people in some parts of 

 England. The panicles are employed in the south of Sweden for 

 dyeing green. 



Bromds veltjtinus. Downy Rye Brome Grass. Plate CIII. 



Panicle spreading, nearly simple. Spikelets ovate, lanceolate, 

 downy ; ten- to fifteen flowered. Flowers compactly imbricated, ellip- 

 tical, about the length of their awns. 



Bromus velatinus, Smith. E. B. ed. 2. 152. B. multiflorus, E. B. 

 1884. Bromus seoalinus var. velutinus, Parnell. Hooker and 

 Arnott. Serrafalcus secalinus var., Bahington 



First noticed in Britain, by Sir J. B. Smith, between Edinburgh 

 and Newhaven ; and since by other botanists, growing occasionally 

 among corn in Surrey and elsewhere. Though generally now regarded 

 as an accidental variety of the last species, its habit is so different as 

 to render the contrast between them very striking. The spikelets are 

 much more compact, broadly lanceolate, and consisting of a greater 

 number of flowers ; which latter are conspicuously downy, and do not 

 separate eventually so as to show the raohis when in fruit, as do those 

 of the normal B. secalinus. The value of such features is unimportant 

 in distinguishing species, but the claim to be so considered, is about 

 equal between it and its alleged type. 



Annual. In flower in a wheat field, between Brixton and Tulse-MU, 

 Surrey, about the end of June. 



Bkomds commutatus. Tumid Field Brome Grass. Plate CIV. 



Panicle loose, slightly drooping, more or less branched. Spikelets 

 linear, or oblong-lanceolate, smooth. Flowers loosely imbricated, 

 about as long as the straight awn. Leaves and sheaths hairy. 



Bromus commutatus. Schroder. Parnell. Hooker amd Arnott. B. 

 pratensis, E. B. 920. B. racemosus, E. B. ed. 2. 154*. Serra- 

 falcus commutatus, Babington. 



Frequent in corn-fields and waste places by road-sides, varying 

 much in the height of its stems according to situation and the vege- 

 tation among which it grows. Stems smooth, finely striated. Leaves 

 sharply pointed, soft and downy above, rough at the edges. Inflo- 

 rescence more or less drooping ; the panicle branches frequently much 

 divided in large specimens, and spreading loosely, but in smaller 



