Me l ic a C^eru l e a. Blue Melic-Grass. 



MELICA Lin. Gen. PL Triandria Digynia. 



CaL 2-valvis, 2-florus. Rudimentum floris inter flofculos. 



Raii Syn. Gen. 27. Herb-e graminifoli^e flore imperfecto culmifer^e. 



MELICA aerulea panicula coarclata floribus cylindricis. Lin. Syfl. Vegetab. p. 113. 



AIRA ccerulea foliis planis, panicula coarclata, floribus pedunculatis muticis convoluto fubulatis. 

 Lin. Sp. PL 95. FL Suec. n. 67. 



POA fpiculis fubulatis panicula rara contracts. FL Lapp. 29. 



AIRA ccerulea. Scopoli FL n. 91. 



GRAMEN arundinaceum enode minus fylvaticum. Bauh. Pin. 7. Scheuch • Agrojl. 209. 



GRAMEN pratenfe ferotinum, panicula longa purpurafcente. Raii hifl. 1288. Morifi hijl. 3. 

 /. 201. f. 8. t. 5. J. 22. 



GRAMEN pratenfe fpica Lavendulae. Merr. Pin. 5. Raii Syn. 404. Hudjon. FL Angl. ed. 2. 

 p. 33. Lightfoot FL Scot. p. 96. 



RADIX perennis, fibrofa, fibris craffis, albidis feu $ ROOT perennial, fibrous, thick, whitifh or brownifh, 

 fufcefcentibus, flexuofis, villolis. | crooked and villous. 



CULMUS pedalis, fefquipedalis, aut bipedalis, baft § STALK a foot, a foot and a half, or two feet 

 fub-bulbofus, ereclus, unico tantum nodo, | high, fomewhat bulbous at the bafe, upright, 



eoque prope baiin inftru£t.o, fuperne nudus, § having only one knot, and that near the 



las vis. I bafe, above naked and fmooth. 



FOLIA plerumque tria, aut quatuor, palmaria, et § LEAVES for the moft part three or four, about a 

 ultra, ex caeruleo virefcentia, latiufcula, | hand's-breadth in length, of a blueifh-green 



acuminata, rigidula, inferiora plana, fupe- $ colour, rather broad, long-pointed, ftiffilh, 



riora fubconvoluta, ad margines pilofa, <j> the lower ones flat, the upper ones fome- 



Membrana nulla, Vagina brevis, ftriata. | what rolled up, hairy at the edges, Membrane 



§ none, Sheath fhort and ftriated. 



FLORES paniculati. | FLOWERS growing in a panicle. 



PANICULA palmaris, et ultra, ramofa, ramis ap- <> PANICLE a hand's-breadth or more in length, 

 preffis, hinc fubfpicata. f branched, the branches doling together fo 



as to form a kind of fpike. 



SPICULE biflorae, triflorae, et quadriflorae, faepius Jjj SPICULE containing two, three, and four flowers, 

 vero triflorae, fig. 1, 2, 3, cum rudimento $ but moft commonly three, Jig. 1, 2, 3, with 



flofculi in plerifque, Jig. 4, 5, juniores com- | a rudiment of a flower in moft of them, 



preffs, adultae teretiufculae, obtufae, paulu- f fig. 4, 5, the young ones flattened, the full- 



lum divergentes. § grown ones roundifh, obtufe, flightly di- 



t verging. 



CALYX bivalvis, valvulae fubaequales, acutae, cari- <> CALYX compofed of two valves, the valves nearly 

 natae, ad margines purpurea, Jig. 6. | equal, pointed, keeled, the edges purple, 



$ fig- 6 - 



COROLLA bivalvis, valvulae fubaequales, exteriore J COROLLA compofed of two valves, the valves 

 majore, interiorem ample&ente, trinerve, <> nearly equal, the outer one, which is largeft, 



fubmucronata, ad margines purpurea, inte- | embracing the inner one, three-ribb'd, flightly 



riore binerve, pallidipre, obtufa, paulobre- $ pointed, the edges purple, the inner valve 



viore, Jig. 7. $ two-ribb'd, paler, obtufe, and a little fhorter, 



1 fig- 7- 



NECTARIUM : Squamul'^e duae, breviflimae, latae, <» NECTARY : two very fhort, broad, truncated, 

 truncatae, emarginatae, Jig. 8. f emarginate Scales, 7%. 8. 



STAMINA: Filamenta tria, capillaria; Anthers § STAMINA: three capillary Filaments; Anthers 

 bifurcae, purpureas, fig. 11. | forked at each end, and purple, Jig. 11. 



PISTILLUM : Germen minimum, glabrum, fub- $ PISTILLUM: Germen very minute, fmooth, and 

 ovatum ; Styli duo, ramofi, ad bafin ufque | fomewhat ovate; Styles two, branched 



purpurei, fig. 9, 10. $ down to the bottom, and purple, Jig. 9. 10. 



Our readers, on perufing the above defcription, will quickly perceive, that this grafs does not accord, in 

 every refpe6t, with the characters of a Melica ; it has, in general, too many flowers : yet, as the eflential part, 

 the rudimentum Jlofculi, is found in moji of the Spiculae, it cannot, perhaps, be more judicioufly arranged. 



Linnaeus, at different periods, appears to have entertained a different opinion of it: in his Flora Lapponica, 

 he confiders it as a Poa ; in his Species Plantarum and Flora Suecica, as an Aira ; and, laftly, in his Syjlana 

 Vegetabilium, makes it a Melica. 



If the Spiculae be examined when'the plant is young, they are certainly very Poa-like, being pointed, flattened, 

 and containing ufually from three to five flowers ; as they advance, their form alters, they become rounder, 

 and more like the flowers of the Aira aquatic a : if the rudimentum Jlofculi were wanting, it would be difficult 

 to. fay with which of the two genera it fhould be placed ; that being prefent, the difficulty vanifhes, and we 

 clafs it at once with the Melica. 



Two ftriking peculiarities diftinguifh this grafs : the ftalk has only one knot, and that near its bafe ; and 

 not only its ftamina, but its ftigmata alfo, are of a deep purple colour. 



Merret's name of Gramen Spica Lavendulae, is very expreffive of its appearance when in flower. 



It is a very common grafs on wet moors and heaths, and flowers from July to the end of September ; it 

 is harfh and late, and therefore does not feem at all adapted to agricultural purpofes ; it varies greatly in fize. 



Mr. Lightfoot, in his Flora Scotica, informs us, that in the Ifle of Side, the fifhermen make ropes for 

 their nets of this grafs, which they find by experience will bear the water well without rotting. Scheuchzer 

 fays, that befoms are fomelimes made of the draws. 



