CULTIVATED FIELDS 43 
cate at timie of flowering and quite separate from each other when 
in fruit, with the margins involute ; flowering glumes rounded on 
the back, notched at the tip, and with a variable awn sometimes 
as long as the flowering glume, at other times reduced to a mucro. 
Var. B. velutinus has the sheaths and spikelets downy. Annual 
or biennial, flowering in July. 
Lolium temulentum, the Annual ‘Darnel, is found throughout 
Britain, but is not frequent. Culms 2-3 ft. Leaves tapering from 
the base, rough on the upper side. The spike is similar to that of 
L. perenne, but the spikelets possess a well-marked character in 
the long empty glume which reaches as far as, or even exceeds, 
their apex ; flowering glumes terminating in an awn their own 
length. Z. arvense is a variety with the awn very short or absent. 
Annual, flowering during the summer months. 
L. ttalicum, Italian Rye-grass, is often met with on the borders 
of fields as an escape from cultivation. Culms tufted 2-3 ft. 
Leaves rather broad, yellowish-green ; sheaths terete. Spikelets 
diverging from the rachis, pale green, 8- to 10-flowered ; empty 
glume much shorter than the spikelet; flowering glumes with a 
long slender awn. Perennial or biennial. 
Bromus arvensis, the Taper Field Brome, is more plentiful in 
S.E. England than elsewhere. Culms 1-2 ft. ; leaves and sheaths 
hairy. Branches of the panicle very long, slender and widely 
spreading. Spikelets 4 inch long and about 8-flowered, lanceolate, 
tinged with purple; flowering glumes with a subterminal awn 
about half an inch long ; palea as long as the flowering glume. 
Annual or biennial, flowering July, August. 
Avena strigosa, the Bristle-pointed Oat, is rare in England, but 
frequent in the north of Scotland; sparingly distributed in Ireland. 
It has rather smaller spikelets than 4. fazva, all turned to one 
side and 2-flowered ; flowering glumes with a dorsal awn, and 
terminating in two long bristles; almost smooth, and ultimately 
dark-brown. Annual, flowering in July. 
Setaria viridis, the Green Bristle-grass, occurs chiefly in the 
S.E. counties of England, but casually as far north as Aberdeen. 
The inflorescence of the Bristle-grass is spikelike, and more or less 
cylindric. The spikelets are minute, dorsally compressed, awnless, 
and have long scabrid bristles on their pedicels ; they contain one 
perfect flower and one staminate. In the species under notice the 
culms are 4-6 inches high; leaves flat with scabrid margins ; 
sheaths with a ring of hairs at the mouth. Panicle about 14 inch 
long, usually pale green; the bristles, 3-6 to each spikelet, are 
covered with asperities pointing forward. Annual, July, August. 
Setaria verticillata, the Rough Bristle-grass, is very rare; 
Norfolk, Surrey and Middlesex are the only counties recorded for 
it. Culms 1-2 ft. Panicle about 2 inches long, interrupted in the 
lower part, purplish. Bristles usually two to each spikelet, with 
the asperities pointing backward, so that the panicle feels rough 
when drawn through the hand downwards, Annual, flowering 
July, August. 
