Poa.] LXXXIX. GRAMINEJE. 541 



3 lines long, with 6 to 8 flowers. Glumes about a line long, more or 

 less keeled, especially at the top, with faint lateral nerves and scarious 

 edges, obtuse or slightly pointed ; the outer empty pair nearly similar 

 to the flowering ones, but more strongly nerved. Sclerochloa loliacea, 

 Woods. 



On sandy sea-shores, common on the Mediterranean and up the 

 western coasts of Europe to the English Channel. Scattered here and 

 there along the coasts of England and Ireland, and very local in Scot- 

 land. Fl. summer. This species has been successively transferred by 

 different botanists from Triticum, where it was originally placed by 

 Smith, to Brachypodium and Festuca, with all of which it has consider- 

 able affinity, or with P. rigida it has been made one of the small genera 

 Sclerochloa, Oatapodium, or Scleropoa, more recently established. 



8. P. annua, Linn. (fig. 1243). Annual P. — A tufted annual, usually 

 about 6 inches high, with flat, flaccid, bright-green leaves. Panicle loose 

 and spreading, 1^ to 3 inches long, with slender branches. Spikelets all 

 stalked, oblong or linear, each with from 3 to 6 or rarely more flowers. 

 Flowering glumes scarious at the top, keeled from the base ; the lateral 

 nerves also slightly prominent when dry without woolly hairs on the 

 axis of the spikelet, but very minutely silky-hairy on the keel. 



In cultivated and waste places, most abundant in the temperate 

 regions of the northern hemisphere, but extending into almost every 

 part of the globe. Very common in Britain, and a chief ingredient in 

 the grass of some of the London parks. Fl. nearly the whole year round. 

 It will often germinate, flower, seed, and die in the course of a few 

 weeks. 



9. P. compressa, Linn. (fig. 1244). Flattened P.— A perennial, 

 seldom above a foot high, with a creeping rootstock, and erect stems 

 more or less flattened at the base. Leaves rather short, with flattened 

 sheaths, and a short, obtuse ligula. Panicle oblong, 2 to 3 inches long, 

 slightly spreading, but rather crowded, with many of the spikelets 

 sessile, and the branches turned towards one side, but not so much 

 as in F. procumbens and P. maritima. Spikelets ovate- oblong, usually 

 4- to 6-flowered, with occasionally a few woolly hairs on the axis. 

 Flowering glumes about a line long, with minute silky hairs on the keel ; 

 the lateral nerves not prominent. 



On dry, barren, waste ground, and frequently on walls, in temperate 

 and southern Europe, in Russian Asia, and North America, extending far 

 into Scandinavia, but not an Arctic plant. Frequent in England and 

 Scotland, but less so farther north, and rare in Ireland. Fl. all summer. 



10. P. pratensis, Linn. (fig. 1245). Meadow P. — A perennial, 1 to 2 

 feet high, with a more or less creeping rootstock or emitting creeping 

 scions aboveground. Leaves rather narrow, with a short, obtuse ligula. 

 Panicle 2 to 3 inches long, with slender, spreading branches. Spikelets 

 numerous, ovate or oblong, all or nearly all stalked, each with about 4 

 flowers. Flowering glumes rather more than a line long, with minute 

 silky hairs on the keel ; the lateral nerves scarcely prominent. 



In meadows and pastures, throughout Europe and central and Russian 

 Asia, from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle, in North America, and 

 reappearing in the southern hemisphere. Abundant in Britain. Fl. 

 summer, commencing early. 



11. P. trivialis, Linn. (fig. 1246). Roughish P. — Very near P. pratensis, 



