MEADOWS AND PASTURES 19 
agreeable scent to hay : its flavour is bitter and aromatic. Flower- 
ing from early May to July. 
Alopecurus pratensis, the Meadow Foxtail (fig. 36), comes next 
into flower. ‘The rootstock has very short stolons; leaves flat, 
rather broad, tapering above, with flattish ribs, pale green ; ligule 
truncate, scarcely as long as broad ; basal sheaths purplish-brown. 
Culms 2-3 ft. Panicle spike-like, cylindric, dense, 2-3 inches long, 
obtuse at both ends, pale green and'silky. Spikelets about } inch 
long, compressed, 1-flowered ; empty glumes united at the base, 
and the keel fringed with long, soft hairs ; . 
flowering glume with a bent dorsal awn 
twice its length; no palea. Perennial, 
flowering from middle of May to August. 
Bromus molizs, the Soft Brome (fig. 14), 
is a tufted annual or biennial. The culms 
are 1-2 feet high ; leaves flat, rather broadly 
linear-lanceolate, greyish-green. All parts 
of the plant are clothed with soft hairs. 
Panicle erect, rather compact, with short 
branches, some of which bear only one 
spikelet. Spikelets 4-$ inch long, conical 
above; greyish-green, 6- to 10-flowered ; 
glumesclosely imbricate, pubescent ; flower- 
ing ones broad, rounded on the back, and 
with the margin distinctly obtusely angular 
above the middle, notched at the tip, and 
with a sub-terminal, straight awn about 
their own length ; nerves of palea ciliated ; 
upper part of ovary hairy, and styles lat- 
eral. Flowering from the latter part of 
May to August. Starved states of 2B. 
mollis, with culms a few inches high, and 
only 2-3 spikelets, or even a solitary one, 
may often be seen in dry places. 
Poa pratensis, the Smooth Meadow-grass 
(fig. 7), has an extensively creeping root- x 
stock producing numerous stolons. Leaves \ 
flat, rather narrowly linear, keeled, but not : 
evidently ribbed, bright green; sheaths Se 14.— Bromus mollis: 
smooth ; ligule obliquely truncate. Culms, : 
1-2ft.,smooth. Panicle pyramidal and diffuse, with a slightly droop- 
ing apex, and often tinged with purple ; branches, 3-5 at each inser- 
tion. Spikelets 3 inch long, generally 4-flowered ; glumes all com- 
pressed, keeled and awnless, the dorsal nerve running up to, but not 
exceeding, the tip; flowering glumes webbed, with five distinct 
nerves, three of which are hairy. Perennial, flowering early June, 
July. Var. P. augustzfolta, found in woods and shady places, has 
longer narrow leaves. Var. P. strigosa has narrow and ultimately 
involute leaves, and the panicle is closed after flowering : wall-tops 
and stony places. 
