Digraphis.] LXXXIX. GEAMINE^]. 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 river-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- 



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 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. alpinum. 

 Outer glumes tapering into a minute point. 



Perennial. Outer glumes linear-lanceolate 3. P. Boehmeri. 



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, 1£ lines 



long ; the lateral ribs prominent. Spike short . . . 5. P. arenarium. 



1. P. pratense, Linn. (fig. 1170). Timothy-grass, CaVs-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. Fl. carhi 

 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 



