149 



Mr. Babington mentions a variety growing on the sands of the sea- 

 snore, Mordeum mwrmum p. armarium, having " the lower part of the 

 stems buried, lengthened, and rooting, thus appearing to creep." The 

 waU barley grass not unfrequently grows in such localities, but I have 

 not observed any very striking alteration of habit thus induced. A 

 specimen, however, was brought to me last summer, either from Cromer 

 or bcarborough, according with Mr. Babington's description above, or 

 possibly exceeding his plant in its tendency to the creeping habit ; as it 

 had the aspect of a perennial, it is worthy of farther inquiry by those 

 who may have the opportunity of so doing. 



HoBDEtJM MARiTiMUM. Sea-side Barley. Squirrel-tail Grass. Platje 

 OXXI V . 



Inner glume of the lateral spikelets dilated, semi-ovate, terminating 

 m a long rough awn ; the other glumes all setaceous, rough, (none of 

 them ciliated). Lateral spikelets imperfect. 



TIordeummsLntimnm, Withering. .B. 5. 1205 ; ed. 2. 124. Generally 

 adopted. 



Common in sandy pastures near the sea, round the English coast, 

 and that of Ireland, but scarcely extending to Scotland. It is the 

 smallest species of its genus, its stems rarely reaching the height of a 

 span ; they are smooth, glaucous, and procumbent at the base. Spike 

 one or two inches in length, somewhat four-sided, very compact. 

 Fertile flower of the central spikelets with an awn rather longer than 

 itself; its glumes setaceous or bristle-like, very brittle, and rough, as 

 are likewise the outer ones of the lateral barren spikelets, never ciliated. 

 Inner glumes of the latter dilated on one side below, so as to be of a 

 half oval form; and terminating in a long sub-unilateral avm. Lateral 

 spikelets pedunculated, central one sessile. 



Annual. Flowers in June and July. 



A useless grass, agriculturally considered, being equally destitute as 

 H. murinum of nutritive qualities ; while, unlike the latter, it is a most 

 troublesome and dangerous weed in maritime, meadow, and pasture 

 land, as, when mixed with hay, its brittle and strongly-barbed awns 

 pierce and irritate the gums of horses so as to induce severe inflam- 

 mation ; and in the days of equestrian travelling, one of the greatest 

 recommendations of an inn in the Isle of Thanet, where this grass 

 is very common, was that of having hay without any mixture of squirrel- 

 tail. 



This species does not seem to have attracted the attention of the 

 older botanists, having been probably confounded by them with the 

 wall barley grass. It appears to have a very local distribution, being 

 confined to the shores of the Mediterranean basin and the western 

 coast of Europe, along which latter it has not extended itself beyond 

 Jutland, and Forfarshire in Scotland. 



