524 THE GRASS FAMILY [Spartina. 
erect Grass, with a creeping rootstock, and rather short, erect leaves, flat 
excepting at the top when fresh, the edges always rolled inwards when 
dry. Panicle 3 or 4 inches long, consisting of from 2 to 4 erect, spike- 
like branches; spikelets arranged alternately in two rows along these 
branches, sessile in a groove on the axis, all erect but turning to one side, 
each spikelet 6 to 8 lines long. Glumes thin but stiff, pointed or rather 
obtuse ; the first empty one 3 or 4 lines long; the second about half an 
inch, and often hairy; the flowering glume similar but scarcely so long; 
the palea again rather longer. The smell of the whole plant is strong and 
disagreeable. : 
In muddy salt-marshes, along the shores of the Atlantic; common in 
North America, less so in western Europe, and very local on the Mediter- 
ranean as well as the North Sea. In Britain, only on the southern and 
eastern coasts of England. FV. summer and autumn. A luxuriant variety, 
with long leaves, long slender spikes, and nearly glabrous glumes, has been 
described as S. alterniflora, Loisel. [and another with shorter leaves and a 
flexuous tip to the rachis as S. Townsendii, Groves], but in North America, 
these pass gradually into the more common form. In Britain, these varieties 
have been found on the coast of Hampshire and Kent. 
XXII. LEPTURUS. LEPTURUS. 
Spikelets 1-flowered (or, in some exotic species, 2-flowered), awnless, in- 
serted singly in notches on alternate sides of a simple slender spike, the 
axis jointed at each notch. Outer glumes 2, hard and ribbed; flowering 
glume or glumes very thin. Stamens 3 and styles 2, as in most genera of 
Grasses. 
A genus of very few species, chiefly seacoast plants, widely dispersed 
over the greater part of the globe. 
1, G.incurvatus, Trin. (fig. 1202). Curved Lepturus.—An annual, 
decumbent and much branched at the base; the flowering stems curved 
upwards or erect, a few inches, or when very luxuriant, nearly a foot high, 
with short fine leaves, the uppermost one close under the flowers. Spike 
2 to 4 inches long, usually curved; the spikelets imbedded as it were in 
the axis, which breaks off readily at every notch. Outer glumes about 2 
lines long, stiff and pointed, with strong green ribs; the flowering glume 
and palea rather shorter, of a very delicate transparent texture. L. jili- 
formis, Trin. 
In salt-marshes and maritime sands and pastures, on the western coasts 
of Europe; abundant all round the Mediterranean, extending eastward to 
the Caspian and northward to the English Channel. In Britain, it occurs 
on the shores of England, Ireland, and of Scotland, south of Fifeshire, but 
is not generally common. Fl. summer. 
XXIV. NARDUS. NARD. 
A single species, differing from all other genera of British Grasses in 
the very simple structure of its spikelets. 
1, N. stricta, Linn. (fig. 1203). Common Nard, Matgrass.—A 
densely tufted, erect, wiry perennial, 6 inches to near a foot high. Leaves 
