GRASS FAMILY 



559 



a foot high ; leaves numerous, mostly radical, densely tufted, 

 finely subulate, involute, rough ; panicle close, oblong, with short 

 branches ; glumes acute, the lowest longer than the second j 

 ■flowering-glume 4-ribbed, jagged at the top, with a fine bent and 

 twisted basal awn. — Dry heaths in the south ; rare. — Fl. June, July. 

 Perennial. 



2. A. canina (Brown Bent). — Stems ascending, 1 — 2 feet high, 

 smooth, sometimes with runners; 



leaves narrow, flat, smooth ; panicle 

 with long, slender branches, spread- 

 ing when in flower, purplish or 

 green; glumes acute, the lowest 

 longer than the second ; flowering- 

 glume 5-ribbed, jagged, with dorsal 

 awn from below the middle. — 

 Peaty heaths ; common. — Fl. July, 

 August. Perennial. 



3. A. alba (Fiorin-grass or Marsh 

 Bent). — An elegant but most 

 variable grass, nearly allied to the 

 preceding ; stems more or less 

 prostrate below, often with long 

 runners, 6 — 24 in. high, rough ; 

 leaves with roughish sheaths and 

 long, acute ligules ; panicle spread- 

 ing in flower, afterwards close; 

 glumes nearly equal ; flowering 

 glumes seldom awned. — Pastures; 

 common. — Fl. July — September. 

 Perennial. 



4. A, tenuis (Fine Bent). — A 

 closely allied, very variable, but 

 generally smaller species, with 

 smooth stems and leaf-sheaths, 

 short, truncate ligules; panicle 

 spreading both in flower and fruit. 

 — Pastures ; common. — Fl. June — September. Perennial. 



5. A. nigra (Black Bent). — Another nearly allied but more 

 robust species, with runners ; rather rough leaf-sheaths ; long, trun- 

 cate ligules ; panicle-branches sub-erect both in flower and fruit. — 

 Borders of fields. — Fl. July. Perennial. 



14. Polyp6gon (Beard-grass). — Spikelets i-flowered, densely 

 crowded in a spike-like, cylindric, or branched panicle ; glumes 



agr6stis Alba 

 (Fiorin-grass, Marsh Bent). 



