48 BRITISH SPECIES 
linear, dull green ; sheaths greatly compressed; ligule truncate. 
Culms 13-2 feet, decumbent. Panicle somewhat unilateral with 
short branches, 2-3 at the lower insertions. Spikelets 4 inch or 
rather more in length, 4- to 8-flowered ; glumes compressed, keeled, | 
and awnless, the flowering ones slightly webbed, and with three 
faint hairy nerves. Perennial, floweringin July. Var. P. polynoda 
has the flowering glumes free, faintly 5-nerved ; dry stony places. 
Growing in sandy or chalky fields :— 
Bromus erectus, the Upright Perennial Brome, is found on dry 
pastures and wayside banks, and is not unfrequent in the S. and E. 
parts of England, although of rare occurrence elsewhere in Britain. 
Rootstock shortly creeping, densely tufted. 
Leaves long and extremely narrow, clothed 
with scattered hairs on both surfaces, mar- 
gins conspicuously fringed, culms 2 feet or 
more. Panicle branches 2-3 at each in- 
sertion, nearly erect, and most of them bear- 
ing a solitary spikelet. Spikelets an inch 
long, purplish and about 8-flowered ; empty 
glumes respectively 1- and 3-nerved, flower- 
ing ones faintly 7-nerved, with a subter- 
minal awn about half their length ; anthers 
large, orange-coloured. Perennial, flower- 
ing close of June, July. Var. B. villosus 
has the flowering glumes hairy all over. 
Brachypodium pinnatum, the Heath 
False Brome (Fig. 33), is not unfrequent 
on downs, heaths and dry pastures in the 
south and east of England, showing a de- 
cided partiality for chalky and limestone 
soils ; it is not known to occur in any other 
part of Britain. Rootstock creeping, 
stoloniferous. Leaves firm, ultimately in- 
. _ volute, clothed with very short hairs or 
See ee glabrous, margins not ciliate. Culms 1-2 
right, mouth of sheath en- ft. The inflorescence is similar to that of 
larged to show ligule. B. sylvaticum, but the spike is erect, and 
the awn is shorter than the flowering glume, 
sometimes indeed only a mucro. The spikelets are about an inch 
long and nearly erect, Perennial, flowering in July. 
Phleum phalaroides, the Purple-stemmed Catstail, is a rare 
species found in sandy and chalky fields in the eastern counties of 
England. Rootstock tufted, stoloniferous. Culms about a foot 
high. Panicle narrowly cylindric and dense, 2-4 inches long. 
Spikelets 4 inch long, 1-flowered, with a stalk-like rudiment ; empty 
glumes abruptly narrowed into a short, stiff awn, and the keel 
ciliated, with short distant hairs ; flowering glume minute, awnless. 
Perennial, flowering in July. 
Bromus madritensis, the Upright Annual Brome, is occasionally 
met with in dry sandy places in the southern half of England, 
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