42 BRITISH SPECIES 
hair-tuft ; flowering glume neariy as long as the empty ones ; hairs 
at its base only about half as long ; awn inserted below the middle 
of the flowering glume and scarcely exceeding its apex. The Irish 
variety, D. Hookeri, has the uppermost ligule acute, and the hairs 
are about three-fourths the length of the empty glumes. Perennial, 
flowering June, July. 
Deschampsia flexuosa, var. setacea, uliginosa or discolor, has 
leaves conduplicate (not solid), glaucous ; uppermost ligule long 
and acute, pedicel of upper flowering glume longer ; turfy bogs. 
Our fourth group consists of a dozen species, which, with one 
exception, are found only in 
woods, copses, and shrubby 
places, or by shady hedgerows. 
Hlolcus mollis, the Creeping 
Soft-grass, is perhaps the com- 
monest of our sylvan species, 
and is generally distributed 
throughout Britain; sometimes 
met with in open situations. 
Rootstock extensively creeping. 
Leaves flat, rather broadly 
linear-lanceolate, more or less 
hairy, with very uneven ribs 
and slightly rough margins ; 
basal sheaths white with red 
veins. Culms 1-1${t. Panicle 
with short, mostly paired 
branches, spreading when in 
flower. Spikelets nearly 4 inch 
long, greenish-white or marked 
with purple, 2-flowered; the 
lower flower perfect and its 
glume awnless, the upper sta- 
minate with a dorsal awn on 
Fic. 25. — Brachypodinm sylvaticum: ; , 
drooping spike ; 8 mouth of sheath enlarged its glume ? empty glumes nearly 
to show ligule. smooth but ciliated on the keel ; 
awn scabrid, considerably ex- 
ceeding the spikelet, ultimately kneed but not hooked. Perennial, 
flowering middle of July to autumn. 
Festuca gigantea, the Great Bearded Fescue, is fairly abundant 
and generally distributed. Rootstock tufted. Leaves large, flat, 
tapering, scabrid above and on the edges, smooth and shining 
beneath, bright green. Both leaves and sheaths are glabrous 
(without hairs); auricles prominent, purplish-brown. Culms 
2-5 ft. Panicle rather large, diffuse and drooping, the branches 
inserted in pairs. Spikelets $ inch long, narrow, tapering, pale 
green and glossy, about 5-flowered ; flowering glumes rounded on 
the back, with a bifid tip and a subterminal awn about twice their 
length. This grass has a Bromelike habit, but the glabrous ovary 
