520 THE GKASS FAMILY. [Calamagrostis. 



XVI. CALAMAGROSTIS. SMALLREED. 



Tall grasses, with a more or less open panicle, and numerous 1 -flowered 

 spikelets. Outer glumes nearly equal, keeled and pointed. Flowering 

 glume much smaller, very thin, with a very slender and short, hair-like, 

 straight awn on its back, and a tuft of long silky hairs at its base, on 

 the axis of the spikelet. Palea usually smaller. 



A considerable genus, widely distributed over the globe, formerly 

 united with Arundo, from which it is distinguished chiefly by the 1- 

 flowered spikelets. 



Hairs within the spikelet longer than the flowering glume. 

 Spikelets nearly 3 lines long, crowded in a narrow panicle. 



Outer glumes very narrow, almost subulate . . . . 1. C. Epigeios. 

 Spikelets about 2 lines long, in a loose panicle. Outer glumes 



narrow-lanceolate 2. C. lanceolata. 



Hairs within the spikelet shorter than the flowering glume . . 3. C stricta. 



1. C. Epigeios, Roth. (fig. 1189). Wood S. — Rootstock creeping. 

 Stems 3 or 4 feet high, erect, and rather firm, with long, narrow, some- 

 what glaucous leaves. Panicle branched, but not spreading, except 

 whilst in full flower, from a few inches to near a foot long, with 

 numerous crowded spikelets, often assuming a purplish tint. Outer 

 glumes very narrow-lanceolate and pointed, almost subulate, both 

 nearly 3 lines long. Flowering glume thin, its awn very short and 

 slender, inserted some way from the top, and scarcely distinguishable 

 from the long silky hairs which envelop the flower. 



In moist, open places in woods and thickets, and amongst bushes, 

 spread over the greater part of Europe and temperate Asia from the 

 Mediterranean to the Arctic regions. Abundant in some parts of 

 southern England, but not generally common, and rare in Scotland and 

 Ireland. Fl. summer. 



2. 0. lanceolata, Roth. (fig. 1190). Purple S. — A tall grass, like the 

 last, and not always readily distinguished from it. It is usually more 

 slender, with flat flaccid leaves. Panicle much looser, 5 or 6 inches 

 long, with slender branches, and more often assuming a shining purple 

 colour. Outer glumes about 2 or sometimes 2J lines long, narrow- 

 lanceolate, but broader than in C. Epigeios. Flowering glume nearly 

 as in that species, but the awn is inserted close to the cleft summit. 



In moist woods, and shady places, in northern and central Europe, 

 and Kussian Asia, from the Alps to the Arctic regions. Dispersed 

 over several parts of England, and unknown in Ireland or Scotland. 

 Fl. summer. 



3. C. stricta, Nutt. (fig. 1191). Narrow S. — A more erect plant than 

 C. lanceolata, 1 J to 3 feet high, with stiffer, narrow leaves. Panicle very 

 narrow, 4 to 6 inches long. Spikelets smaller than in the last species, 

 the outer glumes broader. Hairs of the axis considerably shorter 

 than the following glume, which has an awn inserted rather below 

 the middle, and reaching to about its own length. There is also at 

 the base of the palea a rudimentary prolongation of the axis, in the 

 shape of a minute bristle, with a tuft of hairs. In this respect, as in 

 the shortness of the hairs of the axis, it approaches Deyeuxia, to which 

 genus it is referred by some botanists, as D. neglccta, Kunth. 



In bogs and marshes, in northern and Arctic Europe, Asia, and 

 America, not reaching southward of northern Germany. Very rare in 



