Bromus.] LXXXIX. GEAMINE^. 533 



the whole spikelet, including the awns, is seldom 2 inches long. The 

 flowers have, like other Bromes, sometimes only 2 stamens. B. dian- 

 drus, Curt. 



un roadsides, and in waste places, throughout southern Europe, 

 extending up the west coasts to the English Channel. In British Isles 

 only in the southern counties of England, and Tipperary, Ireland. 

 Fl. early summer. 



6. B. arvensis, Linn. (rig. 1224). Field B. — An erect annual or 

 biennial, varying much in size, from 1 to 2 or 3 feet high, more or less 

 softly downy, or sometimes quite glabrous. Panicle sometimes small, 

 slender, elongated or compact, and nearly erect, but more frequently 

 more or less drooping, yet never so large nor so loose as in B. asper 

 and B. sterilis; and amidst all its variations the species is always 

 distinguished from the four preceding ones by its short, oblong, or 

 ovoid, turgid flowering glumes, 3 to 4 lines long, and more closely 

 packed, giving a broader and fuller shape to the spikelet. Awn 

 slender, usually about the length of the glumes, straight or spread- 

 ing when dry, but not in so marked a manner as in the south 

 European B. squarrosus, said to have appeared occasionally in our 

 cornfields. 



In cultivated and waste places, meadows and pastures, throughout 

 Europe and Russian Asia, except the extreme north. Abundant in 

 Britain. Fl. the whole season, especially spring and early summer. Many 

 of the forms assumed by this ubiquitous species, difficult as they are 

 to distinguish, and passing gradually one into another, have been 

 recognised as species, although with characters very differently marked 

 out by different authors. The most prominent among the British 

 ones are : — 



a. B. secalinus, Linn. A tall cornfield variety, with a loose, more or 

 less drooping panicle, the flowers not so closely imbricated, becoming 

 quite distinct and spreading when in fruit, most of these differences 

 arising from being cultivated with the corn. 



b. B. mollis, Linn. One of the commonest forms in open, waste places, 

 with a more erect panicle, either short and compact, or long and slender, 

 and the whole plant softly downy. 



c. B. racemosus, Linn, (commutatus, Schrad. ). Like the last variety, 

 but much more glabrous. 



d. B. multijlorus, Sm., includes any of the preceding varieties, when 

 the flowers are more numerous than usual in the spikelet. 



7. B. giganteus, Linn. (fig. 1225). Tall B. — An erect, glabrous 

 perennial, 3 or 4 feet high, with a long, loose, more or less drooping 

 panicle, much resembling B. asper, but known at once by the smaller 

 spikelets and slender awns. The spikelets, without the awns, are 7 or 

 8 lines long, and contain from 3 to 6 flowers. Outer glumes unequal, 

 the lowest 1-nerved, the second 3-nerved. Flowering glumes lanceolate, 

 almost nerveless, about 3 lines long ; the fine awn fully twice that 

 length, usually inserted a little below the tip, as in Bromus. Ovary 

 glabrous, as in Festuca. Festuca gigantea, Vill. 



In hedges and woods, over the greater part of Europe and Russian 

 Asia, except the extreme north. In Britain, not generally as common 

 as B. asper, and still less in Scotland. Fl. summer. 



