57 



AGROSTIS SETACEA. 



Curtis. Hooker and Arnott. Smith. Parnell. Knapp. 

 Babington. Lindley. Withering. 



plate XVII. — A. 



Agrostis alpina, Withering. Hull. 



" cajiina, var., Hudson. 



" mutubilis, Sibtiiorp. 



The Bristle-leaved Bent Grass. 



Agrostis — A Field. Setacea — Bristle-like. 



An interesting very local species, confined to the dry downs 

 of the south-west of England; being most abundant in Hamp- 

 shire, Devonshire, and Cornwall, on sandy heaths, where it 

 flourishes and finds food for flocks of sheep. 



It is a native of France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, 

 Portugal, Turkey, and Greece. 



Root perennial, tufted, and fibrous. Stem circular, rough, 

 and striated; carrying four or five very narrow rough leaves, 

 with striated sheaths, the uppermost considerably longer than 

 its leaf. Joints three. Leaves from the root long, setaceous, and 

 crowded. Inflorescence compound panicled, upright and compact 

 until in flower, then spreading. Spikelets small, acute, and 

 numerous, consisting of two almost equal-sized glumes, and one 

 floret shorter than the glumes. The floret consisting of two 

 unequal-sized palese, the exterior one four-ribbed, base hirsute, 

 summit jagged, having an awn as long again as the palea, 

 arising from slightly above the base, and being rough and slender. 

 Inner palea diminutive. Styles two. Stigmas feathery. Filaments 



L 



