GRASS FAMILY 583 



11. F.eldtior (Sea Fescue) is a closely allied species, forming 

 large tufts, with stems 3 — 6 feet high, and a panicle, the branches 

 of which are in pairs, spread outwards both in flower and fruit, 

 and each bears 2 or more 5 — 6-flowered spikelets. — Banks near 

 the sea ; common. — Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



12. F. gigdntea (Giant Fescue). — A glabrous plant, 3 — 4 feet 

 high ; leaves very long, broad, flaccid, bright green, rough above, 

 with smooth sheaths ; panicle loose, with long, drooping branches 

 in pairs and rough, 3-angled rachis ; spikelets \ in. long, 3 — 6- 

 flowered, with slender, flexuous awn twice as long. — Shady places ; 

 common. — Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



41. Bromus (Brome-grass). — Leaf-sheath generally split half- 

 way down ; spikelets panicled or racemed, many-flowered ; lower 

 empty glume 1 -veined, upper 3 — 5-veined ; flowering glume 

 rounded at the back, with a long dorsal awn ; styles below the 

 hairy top of the ovary. (Name from the Greek bromos, 

 oats.) 



1. B. rambsus (Rough or Hairy Brome). — 2 — 6 feet high ; 

 leaves long, flat, with scattered reflexed hairs on the sheaths ; 

 panicle loose, with long, slender branches, 2 — 6 together, droop- 

 ing to one side ; spikelets glaucous, linear-lanceolate, above an 

 inch long, 5 — 10-flowered; flowering glume hairy, 5 — 7-ribbed, 

 with a straight, fine awn half as long as itself. — Damp woods ; 

 common. — Fl. July, August. Annual or Perennial. 



2. B. erectus (Upright Brome). — An erect plant, 2 — 3 feet high ; 

 leaves narrow, almost subulate ; sheaths hairy, with ascending 

 hairs ; panicle compact and erect, 3 — 5 in. long ; spikelets J — 1| in. 

 long, 6- or more-flowered, linear-lanceolate ; flowering glume hairy, 

 indistinctly 7-ribbed, twice as long as the awn. — Sandy fields ; 

 common. — Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



3. B. madritensis (Compact Brome). — Stem erect, seldom above a 

 foot high, smooth, leafy ; leaves narrow, flat, hairy ; panicle erect, 

 2 — 4 in. long, with few, erect, adpressed branches and rough 

 rachis and pedicels ; spikelets linear-lanceolate ; flowering glume 

 7-ribbed, with an awn as long as itself; stamens usually two. — 

 Dry places in the south ; rare. — Fl. June, July. Annual. 



4.* B. tectorum, an introduced plant, occurring as a casual in 

 cornfields, is closely allied to the preceding, but has a panicle* 

 drooping to cne side and the pale much shorter than the flowering 

 glume. 



5. B. rigidus (Great Brome). — A beautiful grass, 1 — 2 feet high, 

 pubescent ; panicle erect, lax, ultimately drooping, slightly 

 branched, 4 — 7 in. long ; spikelets with their awns 2 — 3 in. long, 



