UPLANDS, HEATHS AND MOORS 25 
land ; it is distributed all over Britain. Rootstock tufted ; leaves 
flat, firm, rather short, tapering above, with scarcely perceptible 
ribs, rough margins, dull glaucous green; ligule short and trun- 
cate. Culms about a foot high. Panicle deltoid or pyramidal, 
lax, with capillary spreading branches. Spikelets pendent, $ to + 
inch long, subtriangular, or broadly ovate and compressed, tinged 
with brown or purple, 6- or 7-flowered ; glumes very closely im- 
bricate, broad, deeply concave or saccate, rounded on the back, 
obtuse at the tip, and awnless; empty glumes smaller than the 
lowest flowering ones. Perennial, flowering middle of June, July. 
Deschampsia flexuosa, the Wavy Hair-grass, is generally distri- 
buted throughout Britain on dry heaths and in upland pastures 
and copses, always growing in abun- 
dance. Rootstock rather densely 
tufted, producing numerous leaves, 
which are setaceous and solid, usually 
curved, smooth, dark-green. Culms 
1% ft., reddish-purple. Panicle with 
slender, spreading, wavy branches, 
which are mostly in pairs and triply- 
forked. Spikelets $ inch long, pur- 
plish-brown and glossy, 2-flowered ; 
flowering glumes with a tuft of hairs 
at the base, a truncate and toothed 
or jagged tip, and a bent and twisted 
awn inserted near the base, and ex- 
ceeding their length by one half. 
Perennial, flowering in July. 
Triodia decumbens, the Decumbent 
Heath-grass, is found in the same 
habitats as D. flexuosa and is widely 
distributed, though not very common. 
Rootstock tufted, aoe pa de- ‘i 
cumbent and compressed. eaves ry oes 
narrow, stiff, and often involute, eur’; Wiargeh“the “upper 9 spike 
glaucous above ; sheaths hairy ; let, the lower a flowering glume with 
ligule, a ring of hairs. Culms about ‘#5 Palea and Hower. 
a fet high. The panicle rarely ; 
bears more than 5 or 6 spikelets, which are shortly pedicelled, 
about } inch long, green, tinged with violet, 3- or 4-flowered ; 
glumes awnless, the empty ones nearly equal, large, and enclosing 
all the flowering ones ; the latter have a tuft of hairs at the base, 
are rounded on the back, and 3-toothed at the apex. Perennial, 
flowering latter part of July. 
Molinia cerulea, the Purple Melic, is frequent on wet moors all 
over Britain. Its leafy tufts are closely matted, and the basal part 
is somewhat swollen, not compressed. Leaves flat and finely 
tapering, with long scattered hairs near the base ; sheaths smooth, 
with a few hairs in place of ligule. Culms wiry, 1-2 ft. with a 
single node near the base. Panicle long and narrow, the branches 
