Poa.] LXXXIX. GRAMINEZ. , 543 
those of west of Ireland, frequently in a viviparous state, the spikelets 
being converted into leafy bulbs. Fl. summer. 
15. P. bulbosa, Linn. (fig. 1250). Bulbous P.—A low, tufted per- 
ennial, seldom above 6 inches high, and remarkable for the bulbs formed 
by the swollen base of the stems and leaf-sheaths. Leaves short, the | 
ligula of the upper ones prominent and acute. Panicle ovoid or oblong, 
spike-like or scarcely spreading, not much above an inch long. Spikelets 
ovate, 3- or 4-flowered. Flowering glumes about a line long or rather 
more, pointed and keeled; the lateral nerves not prominent, with minute 
silky hairs on the keel and edges, and a few short woolly ones at their 
base on the axis of the spikelet. 
In dry waste places, on roadsides, &c., especially near the sea, in tem- 
perate and southern Europe, and across Russian Asia, extending north- 
wards into southern Scandinavia. In Britain, chiefly near the sea, and 
only in the southern and eastern counties of England, Fl. spring. 
r XXXVI. CATABROSA. CATABROSE. 
A single species, closely allied to Poa, but the spikelets have usually 
only 2 flowers, the glumes broad and truncate at the top or slightly 
jagged. 
1. C. aquatica, Beauv. (fig. 1251). Water C.—A glabrous, tender, 
pale-green perennial; the stems procumbent, and creeping or floating 
at the base, rooting at the nodes, and often 2 or 3 feet long ; the flower- 
ing branches erect. Leaves short, flat, and flaccid. Panicle 4 to 6 inches 
long, consisting of many sets of half-whorled, unequal, slender, and 
spreading branches. Spikelets 1 to near 2 lines long. Outermost glume 
very short and small, the second larger, broad, and truncate at the top 
like the flowering ones, but much shorter : these are scarious, and slightly 
toothed or jagged at the top, with very prominent ribs. Paleas similar 
but rather smaller, with only 2 ribs. 
In shallow pools and ditches, in Europe and temperate Asia, from 
the Mediterranean to the Arctic regions, and in North America. 
Generally, although thinly, scattered over Britain. Fl. early summer. 
XXXVI. MOLINIA. MOLINIA. 
A single species, very near Poa and Festuca, differing from the former 
in the much more pointed glumes, from Festuca in the smaller and 
rather less flattened spikelets. There is also, at the base of the palea 
of the uppermost flower, a small, bristle-like appendage, being a con- 
tinuation of the axis of the spikelet, and bearing sometimes the rudi- 
ment of another flower, although less conspicuous than in Melica. This 
rudimentary terminal flower, however, occasionally occurs in most of 
the allied genera. 
1. M. ceerulea, Mcench. (fig. 1252). Purple M.—A rather coarse, 
stiff perennial, often 3 feet high, with the leaves chiefly radical, form- 
ing large tufts, long and flat, rather stiff, and slightly hairy on the 
upper side. Panicle narrow but loose, 6 inches to above a foot long, 
green or purplish ; the branches erect or scarcely spreading. Spikelets 
