GRASS FAMILY 



565 



i. H. mollis (Creeping Soft-grass). — Root-stock creeping; stems 

 about a foot high, hairy at the nodes, slender ; leaves rough, with 

 smooth sheaths; panicle 2— 3 in. long, rather loose, whitish; 

 upper glumes acute ; the awn of the flowering glume of the upper 

 flower rough, projecting beyond the glumes. — On light soil ; 

 abundant. — Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



2. H. landtus (Yorkshire Fog, Meadow Soft- 

 grass). — A similar plant, tufted, 1 — 2 feet high, 

 the whole plant clothed with a very short down, 

 giving it a pale soft appearance ; panicle pale 

 whitish or reddish ; upper glumes blunt ; awn 

 smooth, except at the tip, not projecting. — 

 Meadows ; abundant. — Fl. July, August. 

 Perennial. 



23. Tris£tum, of which T. flavescens (Yellow 

 Oat) is the only British species, has erect, 

 smooth stems, 1 — 2 feet high, with runners 

 radical leaves flat and hairy, with blunt ligules 

 panicle with slender, spreading branches ; spike 

 lets numerous, shining, yellowish, 3 — 4 -flowered 

 glumes very unequal ; flowering glumes with two 

 awned points and a short, twisted, bent, dorsal 

 awn between them. — Dry pastures; common. 

 (Name from the Latin tri, three, seta, bristle.) — 

 Fl. June — August. Perennial. 



24. Avena (Oat). — A genus closely allied to 

 the preceding, with panicles of large, 2- or 

 more-flowered spikelets ; glumes sub-equal ; 

 flowering glume 2-fid, with a long, twisted, bent, 

 terminal awn ; ovary hairy at the top ; fruit 

 adherent to the glume. (Name, the Classical 

 Latin name for the Oat.) 



1. A. pubescens (Downy Oat). — Stem creeping 

 below, 1 — 2 feet high ; radical leaves short, 

 downy, with acute ligules ; panicle nearly 



simple, lower branches in fives, bearing 2 — 4 sub-erect spikelets. — 

 Dry or chalky pastures ; common. — Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



2. A. pratensis (Narrow-leaved Perennial Oat). — A nearly allied 

 species, with runners ; stems rough, erect, 1 — 3 feet high ; leaves 

 smooth, glaucous, with ovate, acute ligules ; panicle racemose ; 

 spikelets erect, pale, shining, \ — f in. long, 3 — 4-flowered ; awn 

 twice as long as the flowering glume. — Dry pastures ; frequent. — 

 Fl. June — August. Perennial. 



TRIS&TUM PRATfiNSfe 



{Yellow Oat). 



