' HASSOCK ' GRASS 



537 



This form when established on arable land is a troublesome 

 pest, only satisfactorily eradicated by hand-picking. 



Genus Deschampsia (Aira). 



Panicle spreading ; spikelets with two flowers and a rudimen- 

 tary third ; empty glumes keeled, unequal, blunt ; flowering 

 glume with a dorsal awn. 



Wavy Hair-Grass {Deschampsia flexuosa Tr'm.= Aira ^exuosa 

 L.). — A perennial grass, growing about 12 to 18 inches high, with 

 very narrow, almost solid, 

 leaves : common on dry 

 sandy heaths and pastures. 



The branches of the 

 rachis are often wavy or 

 flexuous, hence the name. 



The spikelets are pur- 

 plish or brownish green in 

 colour, and have a shining 

 silky appearance. 



This grass is of no agri- 

 cultural value, but its ' seeds ' 

 are often substituted for 

 those of golden oat-grass 

 or used in adulterating the 

 latter (see p. 665). 



Tufted Hair-Grass : ' Tus- 

 sock ' Grass ; ' Hassock ' 

 Grass (D. caspitosa Beauv. /^ 



= Aira caspitosa L.). 

 perennial resembling the 

 latter in colour of spikelets and several other particulars. Its 

 leaves are, however, flat, and of leathery texture; the awn of 

 the flowering glume is shorter than that of the preceding species, 

 and scarcely exceeds the length of the empty glumes. 



^ Fig. T-n.—A, Panicle of Wavy Hair-Grass 

 (natural size). 

 B^ Spikelet (twice natural size). 



