ROMUS GiGANTEUS. TALL BrOME GRASS. 



BROMUS. Lin. Gen. PL Triandria Digynia. 



Cal. 2*valvis. Spicula oblonga, teres, diflicha : arifta infra apicem. 



Rail Syn. Gen. 27 ■. Herb^e graminifoli.-e flore imperfecto culmiferje. 



BROMUS giganteus panicula nutante, fpiculis quadrifloris : ariftis brevioribus, Lin.SyJl. Vegetab. 

 p. 103. Spec. Plant, p. 114. Fl. Suec. n. 34. 



BROMUS giganteus panicula raraofa nutante, ramis binatis, fpiculis fubquadrifloris arifta bre- 

 vioribus. Hudjon Ft. AngL p. 51. 



BROMUS glaber, locuftis quadrifloris nutantibus, ariftis longiffimis. Flatter, hiji. n. 1510. 



BROMUS giganteus. Scopoli Fl. Cam. n. 116. Var. 1. glabra et minor. 



GRAMEN bromoides aquaticum latifolium, panicula fparfa tenuiflime ariftata, Scheuchz. Agrojt. 

 p. 264. t. 5. Jig. 17. 



GRAMEN fylvaticum glabrum, panicula recurva. Va.UL Paris, p. 03. 



GRAMEN avenaceum glabrum, panicula e fpicis raris ftrigofis compofita, ariftis tenuiflimis, 

 Raii hiji. 1900. Syn. p. 415. Lightjoot Fl. Scot. p. 104. 



RADIX perennis, fibrofa. § ROOT perennial and fibrous. 



CULMUS tripedalis et ultra, erectus, laevis, geniculis | STALK three feet or more in height, upright, fmooth, 

 plerumque purpureis. <> the joints for the raoft part purple. 



FOLIA femunciam lata, laete viridia, laevia, inferne | LEAVES half an inch broad, of a bright-green colour, 

 nitida, bafi appendiculis ex fufco purpureis <> fmooth, {hining underneath, furnifhed at the 



utrinque, caulem amplexantibus inftrucla, | bafe on each fide with two purplifh-brown 



vagina inferne fcabriufcula, minime pilofa, $ appendages, which embrace the ftalk, Jheath 



fuperne glabra, membrana breviffima. | below a little rough to the touch, but not 



§ hairy, above fmooth, the membrane very fhort. 



PANICULA ampla, pedalis etiam, fparfa, ramis | PANICLE large, even a foot long, loofe, branches 

 plerumque binatis, nutantibus, fecundis, $ generally growing in pairs, all one way, 



fcabriufculis. <j> drooping, and roughifh. 



SPICULES ovato-lanceolatae, fubquinquiflorae, fern- § SPICULE ovato-lanceolate, containing about five 

 unciales, plerumque virides, laeves, ariftatae: j> flowers, half an inch in length, for the moft 



ylr^zalbae,fpiculispaulolongiores,flexuofae, % part green, fmooth, and bearded: Beards 



fcabrae. $ white, a little longer than the fpiculse, 



I crooked, and rough. 



CALYX: Gluma bivalvis, valvulis inaequalibus, fy CALYX : a Glume of two valves, the valves unequal, 

 acuminatis, viridibus, marginibus albidis, t pointed, green, with white edges, the large 



majorelineistribus,minoreunicafubdiaphana <> valve marked with three, and the fmall one 



notata, Jig. 1. | with one fomewhat tranfparent line, fig. 1. 



COROLLA: Gluma bivalvis, valvulis fubaequalibus, <> COROLLA : a Glume of two valves, the valves 

 viridibus, laevibus, margine albis, exteriore | nearly equal, green, fmooth, the edges white, 



majore, concava, obfolete trinervis, ariftata, <> the outer one largeft hollow, faintly three- 



arifta gluma longiore paulo infra apicem ex- | rib'd, and bearded, the beard longer than the 



ferta, interiore minore, planiufcula, albida, § glume, and proceeding from a little below 



Jig. 2, 3. $ the point, the interior one leaft, fomewhat 



^ flat and whitifh, fig. 2, 3. 



NECTARIUM : GlumuljE duae, accuminatae, ad | NECTARY: two fmall pointed Glumes at the bafe 

 bafin genninis, jig. 4. \ of the germen, fig. 4. 



STAMINA: Filamenta tria, capillaria, alba ; STAMINA : three capillary, white Filaments; 

 Anthers flavae, bifurcae, fig. 5. | Anthers yellow and forked, fig. 5. 



PISTILLUM: Germen obovatum, viride, nitidum; <<> PISTILLUM : Germen inverfely ovate, green and 



Sty,li duo, patentes, ad bafin ufque ramofi, ^ (hining; Styles two, fpreading and branch- 



fig. 6. auct. fig. 7. ^ ed quite to the bottom, fig. 6. magnified, 



I fiS- 7- 



SEMEN oblongum, ex nigro purpurafcens, intra <) SEED oblong, of a blackifh-purple colour, enclofed 



glumas adhaerentes, inclufum, fig. 8, 9. * within the glumes which adhere to it,yzg\ 8, 9. 



There is only one grafs for which this fpecies of Bromus is liable to be miftaken, and that is the Bromus 

 hirjutus already figured, they are both large grades, and grow in fimilar fituations, indeed frequently together: 

 they have been confounded by Scopoli, who makes the hirfutus a variety of the giganteus ; but the leaft 

 attention would have taught him, that they were materially different. 



The (heath of the lower leaves in the hirjutus is covered with long ftiff hairs, which are wanting in the 

 giganteus ; the leaves of \ht giganteus are gloffy on the under fide, and thofe of the ftalk, near their extremities, 

 appear as if a flack ligature had been tied round them ; but there is a chara6ter almoft peculiar to this grafs, 

 the bafe of the leaf is terminated by two fmall appendages, of a reddifli-brown colour, which ufually embrace 

 the ftalk, and will never fail to diftinguifh it from the hirfutus: the fpiculae alio, if no other diftinguiftnng 

 character were prefent, would be all-fufficient, being (horter by almoft one half, containing fewer flowers, 

 and having anftae or awns longer in proportion to the fpiculae and more crooked : we may add another cha- 

 racter which we have difcovered from cultivation, the giganteus is a perennial, whereas the hirjutus is only 

 an annual or biennial, a circumftance which we were not fufficiently apprized of when we defcribed that 

 plant. 



This grafs is frequent enough in the neighbourhood of London, in woods, and under hedges, efpecially 

 fuch as are accompanied by a wet ditch, nor is it uncommon by the fides of the Thames ; the lituation which 

 it affefts with us, is more agreeable to the name given it by Scheuchzer, than to the account delivered by 

 Linnaeus in his Species plantarum, where he fays, habitat in Europce Jylvis Jiccis : we very rarely or never 

 find it in meadows ; hence, though a productive grafs, there feems not much probability of its becoming a 

 good grafs for meadows or paftures. 



It flowers from July to September. 



