yrs 4 
_ Digraphis.] LXXXIX. GRAMINEZ. 513 
1. D. arundinacea, Trin. (fig. 1169). Reed-grass.—A perennial, 2 
to 3 feet high, with rather broad, long leaves, the lower ones forming 
a dense tuft at its base. Spikelets very numerous, in a panicle 6 to 
8 inches long, rather compact, but not closely imbricated nor spike-like 
as in Phalaris, the lower branches often spreading. Outer glumes about 
2 lines long, lanceolate and pointed, but not awned, keeled but not 
winged, pale-green or whitish with green nerves, the intermediate 
empty ones reduced to minute linear hairy scales. Flowering glumes 
smooth and shining, and, as in Phalaris, hardened round the seed. 
Phalaris arundinacea, Linn. 
On fiver-banks and in marshes, in Europe, Asia, and North America, 
extending from the Mediterranean to the Arctic regions. Common 
in Britain. Fl. summer. A variety with variegated leaves is often 
cultivated in gardens under the name of Striped-grass or Ribbon- 
grass. 
VIII. PHLEUM. PHLEUM. 
Spikelets 1-flowered, flat, and crowded into a cylindrical or ovoid 
spike or spike-like panicle. Outer glumes boat-shaped, their keels pro- 
jecting into a point or very short awn. Flowering glume shorter, very 
thin, awnless, or with a very short awn on the back. Palea very thin, 
sometimes with a minute bristle at its base outside, which is the con- 
tinuation of the axis of the spikelet. 
A small genus, widely spread over the temperate and colder regions of 
the northern hemisphere, distinguished from Alopecurus chiefly by the 
presence of the palea. 
Outer glumes truncate and broadly scarious below the point. 
Spike long and cylindrical. Points of the outer glumes not half 
so long as the glume itself . 3 1. P. pratense. 
Spike short, ovoid, or oblong, Points or awns of the outer glumes 
nearly as long as or longer than the glume itself. . 2. P. alpinwm. 
Outer glumes tapering into a minute point. 
Perennial. Outer glumes linear-lanceolate . : : L . 3. P. Boeehineri. 
Annual. 
Outer glumes wedge-shaped, less than a line long; the lateral 
ribs inconspicuous. Spike long and slender. : 4, P. asperum. 
Outer glumes lanceolate, strongly ciliated on the keel, 14 lines 
~ long; the lateral ribs prominent. Spike short . . 5. P. arenarium. 
1. P. pratense, Linn. (fig. 1170). Cee eee Cat’s-tail.—A_ per- 
ennial, 1 to 3 feet high; the leaves rather soft, although rough on the 
edges. Spike (or spike-like panicle) cylindrical and very compact, 
from 1 to 3 or even 4 inches long, with very numerous small spikelets. 
Outer glumes about a line long, with broad, scarious edges, truncate 
at the top; the green keel slightly ciliate and projecting into a point 
shorter than the glume itself. Flowering glume entirely included in 
the outer ones and closely covering the palea; the stamens and styles 
protruding from the top. 
In meadows and pastures, in Europe and temperate Asia, from the 
Mediterranean to the Arctic regions. Abundant in Britain. FV. early 
summer, and often again in autumn. [P. nodosum, Linn., is a recumbent 
form, with narrower leaves and slender spike. ] 
2. P. alpinum, Linn. (fig. 1171). Alpine P.—Perennial like the 
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