a 



ALOPECURUS AGEESTIS. 



LlNNJEUS. WlLLDENOW. SMITH. MaRTYN. HOOKER AND AsNOTT. LeERS. 



Knapp. Schradee. Scheeber. Ehrhabt. Sinclair. 



PLATE IV. 

 Alopecurus myosuriodes, Hudson. Curtis. 



The Slender Fox-tail Grass. 



Alopecurus — Fox-tail. Agreslis — A field. 



A useless agricultural Grass, indeed cattle refuse to feed upon 

 it; when once it takes possession of a field it is difficult to 

 eradicate, and causes much trouble to farmers when growing 

 amongst wheat. It is perhaps better known under the name 

 of "Black-bent." Where it flourishes it proclaims that the land 

 is in a poor condition, for it grows most luxuriantly when the 

 land is in that state. 



It appears almost confined to England, as it is rare and local 

 in Scotland. Unknown in Ireland. It is common in the south 

 of Europe, but does not extend north of latitude 56°. It has 

 not been found in America. 



In England it is found in Devonshire, Somersetshire, Sussex, 

 Surrey, Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, Bedford, 

 Oxford, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Worces- 

 tershire, Cheshire, Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland. 



Fields and way-sides. 



Panicle upright, slender, attenuated, compact, two or three 

 inches long, deposited in short branches all round the rachis. 

 Spikelets oval, consisting of one awned floret of an equal length 

 with the calyx; compressed and numerous. Calyx consisting of 



