508 THE GRASS FAMILY. ILeersia. 



glume bearing usually a bent or twisted often dorsal awn ; palea 2-nerved, usually 

 thin or small. Sub-tribe Agrostridece : Spikelet 1-flowered, fruiting glume and small 

 palea usually very thin :— 10. Mibqra ; 13. Agrostis ; 14. Gastridium ; 11. Lagurus ; 

 16. Calamagrostis ; 15. Psamma. Sub-tribe Avenacce : Spikelet 2- or few-flowered, 

 rarely 4-flowered, fruiting glume and palea more developed and firmer than in 

 Agrostidece. 8. Phleum ; 20. Holcus ; 17. AlRA; 18. Avena; 19. Arrhena- 



THERUM. 



5. AstrepTjE. Spikelets with several, more rarely 1 or 2, perfect flowers. 

 Flowering glumes unawned or terminating in straight awns ; palea prominently 2- 

 nerved or 2-keeled, usually as long or nearly as long as the glume. Sub- tribe 

 Miliece : Spikelets paniculate, 1- or 2-flowered, the rachis not produced beyond the 

 flower : — 2. Milium. Sub-tribe Chloridece : Spikelets 1- or several-flowered, sessile 

 along the simple branches of the panicle :— 21. Cynodon ; 22. Spartina. Sub-tribe 

 Hordeinece : Spikelets 1- or several-flowered, sessile in the notches of a simple 

 spike :— 23. Lepturus ; 24. Nardus ; 25. Elymus ; 26. Hordeum ; 27. Agropyrum ; 

 28. Lolium; 29. Brachypodium. Sub-tribe Festucece: Spikelets several-flowered, 

 pedicellate :— 30. Bromus ; 31. Festuoa ; 32. Bactylis ; 33. Cynosurus ; 34. Briza ; 

 35. POA ; 36. CATABROSA ; 37. Molinia ; 38. Melica ; 39. Triodia ; 40. Koeleria ; 

 41. SESLERIA; 42. ARUNDO. 



Among the exotic genera occasionally cultivated in our fields or 

 gardens may be mentioned Eye (Secale cereale), the Maize or Indian 

 Corn (Zea Mays); and the Feather-grass (JStipa pen?iata), a native of 

 southern Europe, once supposed to have been found in Westmore- 

 land. 



I. LEERSIA. LEERSIA. 



Spikelets loosely panicled, 1-flowered, flat, consisting of only 2 glumes 

 both of them keeled, without any inner 2-nerved palea. Stamens in 

 the British species 3, in most exotic ones 6, 2, or 1. 



A small genus, chiefly American, with 2 or 3 of the species spread 

 over the warmer regions of the Old World and Australia. This genus 

 appears to be a Phalaridea reduced to the terminal pair of glumes. In 

 the adjoining genus Oryza (the Rice) the intermediate small empty 

 pair is present, in both the outer empty pair below the articulation is 

 deficient. 



1. L. oryzoides, Sw. (fig. 1158). Common L. — Stems about 2 feet high, 

 the leaves, especially their sheaths, very rough. Panicle, when fully 

 developed, loosely branched, spreading, 6 or 8 inches long, but in the 

 British specimens usually much shorter, and partially included in the 

 sheath of the last leaf. Spikelets numerous, all serund, 2 to nearly 3 

 lines long ; the first glume rather broad, with 2 nerves on each side of 

 the keel ; the second much narrower, with 1 faint nerve on each side. 



In wet places, ditches, and marshes, common in North America, 

 extending over a great part of Asia, and more sparingly across central 

 Europe to France and Denmark, reappearing in the tropics of both 

 worlds. In Britain found only in Hampshire, Sussex, and Surrey. Fl. 

 autvmn. 



II. MILIUM. MILIUM. 



Spikelets loosely panicled, 1-flowered without awns. Empty glumes 

 2. concave nearly equal. Flowering glume concave, of a firmer texture, 

 hard and shining when in fruit. 



A genus of very few species, but widely dispersed over the globe, 

 usually placed amongst Panicece } on account of the hardened fruiting 



