546 COMMON GRASSES OF THE FARM 



tufts, and is liable to die off in winter and become patchy in the 



second or third year after sowing. 



Soft Brome - Grass {Bromus mollis L.). — An annual or 

 1 biennial grass very com- 



mon on dry roadsides 

 and waste places and 

 growing about a foot 

 high. It has thin broad 

 leaves, the sheaths and 

 blades of which are soft 

 and downy ; the spikelets 

 are also covered with soft 

 hairs. 



This species and the 

 nearly allied ones Smooth 

 Brome-G-rass (B. racetnosus 

 L.) ; Field Brome-Grass 

 (B. arvensis L.), and Eye- 

 like Brome - Grass {B. 

 secalinus L.) are all trouble- 

 some weeds of pastures, 

 leys and corn-crops. 



Genus Brachypodium. 



Panicles spike-like, the 

 cylindrical spikelets have 

 very short stalks, and are 

 arranged on opposite sides 

 of the rachis. Each spike- 

 let possesses five or more 



Fiu.i84.—y4,PanicleofSoftBrome-Grass (natural floWCrS : empty glumCS 

 ^'!s,' Spikelet (twice natural sue). tWO : floWcring glume With 



a short terminal awn. A small genus of harsh perennial useless 

 grasses. There are two British species, namely : — 



