562 GRAMfNEiE 



large, 1 -flowered, much comprt Sed laterally ; rachilla long, silky ; 

 glumes sub-equal, awnless ; flowering glume shorter, 5-nerved, with 

 a minute sub-terminal awn. (Name from the Greek ammos, sand, 

 philo, I love.) 



1. A.arendria (Sea Marram, Murram or Matgrass, Sea-reed). — 

 Root-stock creeping ; stems erect, stiff, 2 — 4 feet high ; leaves long, 

 stiff, erect, glaucous above, polished below, with very long, torn 

 ligules; -panicle cylindric, straw-coloured, 3 — 6 in. long, acute; 

 glumes acute ; flowering glume 3 times as long as the hairs. — Sand- 

 dunes; frequent. Its value as a sand-binder cannot be overrated. 

 At the end of the 18th century a large district near Moray Firth 

 was destroyed by drifting sand owing to the wanton destruction of 

 Marram. — Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



2. A. bdltica, distinguished by its vertical root-stock; looser, 

 less cylindric, purplish panicle ; lanceolate, acuminate glumes ; and 

 flowering glume twice as long as the hairs; occurs on Ross 

 Links and Holy Isle, Northumberland.— Fl. July — September. 

 Perennial. 



19. LAGtJRUS (Hare's-tail grass), of which L. ovdtus is the only 

 species, is a very ornamental grass, with numerous, stout, pubes- 

 cent stems 6 — 12 in. high; short leaves hoary with soft down, 

 with rather swollen sheaths; and spikelets closely crowded into 

 an ovate, softly hairy, whitish head, 1 — 1| in. long, the glumes 

 being densely clothed with soft hairs. — Sandy places in Guernsey. 

 (Name from the Greek lagos, hare, oura, tail.) — Fl. June, July. 

 Annual. 



20. Aira (Hair-grass). — Spikelets 2-flowered, laterally com- 

 pressed, in a loose panicle ; glumes nearly equal, not awned ; 

 flowering glume 2-fid, with a twisted dorsal awn from below the 

 middle ; ovary glabrous ; fruit furrowed on the back. (Name, 

 the Greek name for some grass.) 



1. A. ccespitosa (Tufted Hair-grass). — Forming large dense tufts ; 

 stems 2 — 4 feet high ; leaves flat and rough ; panicle 6 — 8 in. long, 

 very elegant, with slender, spreading, rough branches ; spikelets 

 £ in. long, much compressed, silver-grey or purplish, 2-flowered ; 

 flowering glume with a short, fine, hair-like, straight, sub-basal awn. 

 — Moist places ; abundant, indicating that pasture requires under- 

 draining. — Fl. June — August. Perennial. 



2. A. alpina (Alpine Hair-grass). — An allied but smaller species, 

 6 — 12 in. high, with channelled involute leaves; closer panicle 

 with smooth branches ; and a bent awn from above the middle of 

 the flowering glume. — Wet rocks, Scotland and west of Ireland ; 

 rare. — Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



