(0 



AVENA FATUA. 



Linnjeus. Smith. Hooker and Arnott. Parnell. Knait. 



WlLLDENOW. MARTTN. DoN. ScnRADER. 



Host. Leers. Eiirhart. Schrf.ber. Koch. Lindley. Withering. 



Hudson. BLunth. Hull. Eelhan. 

 Sibtiiorp. Arbot. "Winch. Macreight. Babington. Deakin. Ralfs. 



PLATE I,IX. 



The Wild Oat- Grass. 



Avcna — Oat. Fatua — Wild. 



Avena. Linnams. — The Oat-Grass bas a lax panicle aud laterally com- 

 pressed spikelets. Awns long and twisted. In this family is the Avena 

 satica, or Cultivated Oat, an introduced species. Amongst our indigenous 

 species are Avena fatua, A. slrigosa, A. pra/ensis, A. puhescens, A. flavescens, 

 and A. planiculmis ; the latter has only been collected by ouo botanist, Mr. 

 Murray, who discovered it at Glen Sannox, in the Isle of Arran. 



The Wild Oat-Grass is a common species in England and 

 Ireland, yet much rarer in Scotland. It chiefly grows in corn- 

 fields, and is a troublesome weed. 



The awns, from their extreme sensitiveness to the moisture 

 of the air, are manufactured into Hygrometers. The florets are 

 also occasionally used as artificial flies for trout-fishing. 



Native of France, Italy, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Lapland, 

 Asia, and Northern Africa. 



Stem upright, circular, and polished, having four or five flat, 

 linear, rough, minutely-ribbed leaves, with smooth striated 

 sheaths. Joints smooth. Inflorescence siniple-panieled. Panicle 

 spreading, and of large size. Hachis smooth, branches rough. 



