Bromus.) LXXXIX, GRAMINE. 533 
the whole spikelet, including the awns, is seldom 2 inches long. The 
flowers have, like other Bromes, sometimes only 2 stamens. JB. dian- 
drus, Curt. 
On roadsides, and in waste places, throughout southern Europe, 
extending up the west coasts to the English Channel. In British Isles 
only in the southern counties of England, and Tipperary, Ireland. 
Fl, early summer. 
6. B. arvensis, Linn. (fig. 1224). Field B.—An erect annual or 
biennial, varying much in size, from 1 to 2 or 3 feet high, more or less 
softly downy, or sometimes quite glabrous. Panicle sometimes small, 
slender, elongated or compact, and nearly erect, but more frequently 
more or less drooping, yet never so large nor so loose as in B. asper 
and B. sterilis; and amidst all its variations the species is always 
distinguished from the four preceding ones by its short, oblong, or 
ovoid, turgid flowering glumes, 3 to 4 lines long, and more closely 
packed, giving a broader and fuller shape to the spikelet. Awn 
slender, usually about the length of the glumes, straight or spread- 
ing when dry, but not in so marked a manner as in the south 
European B. squarrosus, said to have appeared occasionally in our 
cornfields. 
In cultivated and waste places, meadows and pastures, throughout 
Europe and Russian Asia, except the extreme north. Abundant in 
Britain. Fl. the whole season, especially spring and early summer. Many 
of the forms assumed by this ubiquitous species, difficult as they are 
_to distinguish, and passing gradually one into another, have been 
recognised as species, although with characters very differently marked 
out by different authors. The most prominent among the British 
ones are :— | | 
a. B. secalinus, Linn. A tall cornfield variety, with a loose, more or 
less drooping panicle, the flowers not so closely imbricated, becoming 
-quite distinct and spreading when in fruit, most of these differences 
arising from being cultivated with the corn. 
b. B. mollis, Linn. One of the commonest forms in open, waste places, 
with a more erect panicle, either short and compact, or long and slender, 
and the whole plant softly downy. 
c. B. racemosus, Linn. (commutatus, Schrad.). Like ENG last variety, 
but much more glabrous. 
d. B. multifiorus, Sm., includes any of the preceding varieties, when 
the flowers are more numerous than usual in the spikelet. 
7. B. giganteus, Linn. (fig. 1225). Yall B.—An erect, glabrous 
perennial, 3 or 4 feet high, with a long, loose, more or less drooping 
panicle, much resembling B. asper, but known at once by the smaller 
spikelets and slender awns. The spikelets, without the awns, are 7 or 
8 lines long, and contain from 3 to 6 flowers. Outer glumes unequal, 
the lowest 1-nerved, the second 3-nerved. Flowering glumes lanceolate, 
almost nerveless, about 3 lines long; the fine awn fully twice that 
length, usually inserted a little below the tip, as in Bromus. Ovary 
glabrous, as in Festuca. Festuca gigantea, Vill. 
In hedges and woods, over the greater part of Europe and Russian 
Asia, except the extreme north. In Britain, not generally as common 
as B, asper, and still less in Scotland. Fl. summer. 
