532 THE GRASS FAMILY. [Bromus. 



Panicle loose and drooping 3. B. sterilis. 



Panicle compact and erect. 



Spikelets, together with the awns, more than 3 inches 



long 4. B. maximus. 



Spikelets with the awns not 2 inches long . . . . 5. B. madritensis. 



1. B. erectus, Huds. (fig. 1219). Upright B. — An erect perennial, 

 2 feet high or more, with a slightly creeping rootstock. Leaves 

 narrower than in most Bromes, especially the radical ones, with a 

 few long hairs on their sheaths. Panicle about 3 to 5 inches long, 

 much more compact than in B. sterilis, the branches erect, or nearly 

 so. Spikelets not numerous, J to 1J inches long, containing 6 to 10 or 

 even more flowers. Flowering glumes lanceolate, with closely appressed 

 hairs on the back, the lateral nerves scarcely prominent, the awn 

 straight, and scarcely half its length. 



In fields and waste places, in temperate and southern Europe to the 

 Caucasus, extending northward into southern Scandinavia. In Britain, 

 chiefly in southern and eastern England, very local in Wales, Ireland, 

 and Scotland. FL summer. 



2. B. asper, Murr. (fig. 1220). Hairy B. — An annual, or sometimes 

 perennial, 3 to 5 or even 6 feet high. Leaves long and flat, with long, 

 spreading, or reflexed hairs on their sheaths. Panicle loose, with long, 

 drooping branches, bearing a few loose spikelets, each above an inch 

 long, containing 6 to 10 or more flowers. Flowering glumes nearly 

 cylindrical, slightly hairy or glabrous, with a straight, fine awn, shorter 

 than the glume itself. 



In hedges and thickets, and on the edges of woods, in temperate and 

 southern Europe, extending eastward to the Caucasus and Siberia, and 

 northward to southern Scandinavia. Frequent in England, Ireland, and 

 the lowlands of Scotland. FL summer. 



3. B. sterilis, Linn. (fig. 1221). Barren B. — An erect annual or 

 biennial, 1 or 2 feet high or rather more ; the leaves softly downy, 

 but less so than in B. arvensis. Panicle 6 inches long or more, with 

 numerous more or less drooping branches, many of them as long as the 

 spikelets or longer. Spikelets linear-lanceolate, with 6 to 8 or more 

 flowers, attaining more than 2 inches in length, including their awns. 

 Flowering glumes rough on the back, distinctly 7-nerved, with a 

 straight awn much longer than the glume itself. 



In moist places, on waysides, &c, throughout Europe and Kussian 

 Asia, except the extreme north. Abundant in England, Ireland, and 

 the lowlands of Scotland. Fl. summer, commencing early. 



4. B. maximus, Desf. (1222). Great B. — Very near B. sterilis, but the 

 panicle is more erect and compact, only a few of the branches attain- 

 ing the length of the spikelets without their awns, and the flowering 

 glumes are longer and broader, with very long awns, the whole spike- 

 let, including the awns, being often 3 J inches long. 



A native of the Mediterranean regions, which appears to have estab- 

 lished itself in Jersey. Fl. early summer. 



5. B. madritensis, Linn. (fig. 1223). Compact B. — A much smaller 

 plant than B. sterilis, seldom above a foot high, less downy, and 

 with narrower leaves. Panicle erect or nearly so, very compact, and 

 often of a purplish tint, the branches much shorter than the spikelets. 

 Awns as in the last two species, longer than the flowering glumes ; but 



