532 THE GRASS FAMILY. [ Bromus. 
Panicle loose and drooping . i ; ; : : «| Sgeeealene sterilis. 
Panicle compact and erect. 
ihe together with the awns, more than 3 ie 
; . 4. B. maximus. 
Spikelets with the awns not 2 inches long . : f i . 5. B. madritensis. 
i. B. erectus, Huds. (fig. 1219). Upright B.—An erect perennial, 
2 feet high or more, with a slightly creeping rootstock. Leaves 
narrower than-in most Bromes, especially the radical ones, with a 
few long hairs on their sheaths. Panicle about 3 to 5 inches long, 
much more compact than in B., sferilis, the branches erect, or nearly 
so. Spikelets not numerous, 4 to 14 inches long, containing 6 to 10 or 
even more flowers. Flowering glumes lanceolate, with closely appressed 
hairs on the back, the lateral nerves scarcely prominent, the awn 
straight, and scarcely half its length. 
In fields and waste places, in temperate and southern Europe to the 
Caucasus, extending northward into southern Scandinavia. In Britain, 
chiefly in southern and eastern England, very local in Wales, Ireland, 
and Scotland. fl. summer. 
2. B. asper, Murr. (fig. 1220). MHawy B.—An annual, or sometimes 
perennial, 3 to 5 or even 6 feet high. Leaves long and flat, with long, 
spreading, or reflexed hairs on their sheaths. Panicle loose, with long, 
drooping branches, bearing a few loose spikelets, each above an inch 
long, containing 6 to 10 or more flowers. Flowering glumes nearly 
cylindrical, slightly hairy or glabrous, with a straight, fine awn, shorter 
than the glume itself. 
In hedges and thickets, and on the edges of woods, in temperate and 
southern Europe, extending eastward to the Caucasus and Siberia, and 
northward to southern Scandinavia. Frequent in England, Ireland, and 
the lowlands of Scotland. 7. swmmer. 
3. B. sterilis, Linn. (fig. 1221). Barren B.—An erect annual or 
biennial, 1 or 2 feet high or rather more; the leaves softly downy, 
but less so than in B. arvensis. Panicle 6 inches long or more, with 
numerous more or less drooping branches, many of them as long as the 
spikelets or longer. Spikelets linear-lanceolate, with 6 to 8 or more | 
_ flowers, attaining more than 2 inches in length, including their awns. x 
Flowering glumes rough on the back, distinctly 7-nerved, with a | 
straight awn much longer than the elume itself. | 
In moist places, on waysides, &c., throughout Europe and Russian 
Asia, except the extreme north. Abundant in England, Ireland, and 
the lowlands of Scotland. FV. summer, commencing early. 
4. B. maximus, Desf. (1222). Great B.—Very near B. sterilis, but the 
panicle is more erect and compact, only a few of the branches attain- 
ing the length of the spikelets without their awns, and the flowering 
glumes are longer and broader, with very long awns, the whole spike- 
let, including the awns, being often 34 inches long. 
A native of the Mediterranean regions, which appears to have estab- 
lished itself in Jersey. Fl. early summer. 
5. B. madritensis, Linn. (fig. 1223). Compact B.—A much smaller 
plant than JB. sterilis, seldom above a foot high, less downy, and 
with narrower leaves. Panicle erect or nearly so, very compact, and 
often of a purplish tint, the branches much shorter than the spikelets. 
Awns as in the last two species, longer than the flowering glumes ; but — 
