530 THE GRASS FAMILY. [| Bromus. 
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 com- 
pact than in B. sterilis, the branches erect, or nearly so. Spikelets not 
numerous, } to 1} inches long, containing 6 to10 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. 
Tn 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. 1216). Hairy Brome.—An annual, or some- 
times perennial, 3 to 5 or even6 feet high. Leaveslong 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 cylin- 
drical, 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. #7. summer. 
3. B. sterilis, Linn. (fig. 1217). Barren Brome.—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 Russian Asia, 
except the extreme north. Abundant in England, Ireland, and the Low- 
lands of Scotland. Fl. summer, commencing early. 
4, B. maximus, Desf. (1218). Great Brome.—Very near B. sterilis, 
but the panicle is more erect and compact, only a few of the branches 
attaining the length of the spikelets without their awns, and the flowering 
glumes are longer and broader, with very long awns, thewhole spikelet, 
including the awns, being often 33 inches long. 
A native of the Mediterranean region, which apppears to have esta- 
blished itself in Jersey. 7. early summer. | 
5, B. madritensis, Linn. (fig. 1219). Compact Brome.—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 the 
whole spikelet, including the awns, is seldom two inches long. The flowers 
have, like other Bromes, sometimes only 2 stamens. B. diandrus, Curt. 
On roadsides, and in waste places, throughout southern Europe, extend- 
ing up the west coasts to the English Channel. In Britain, only in the 
southern counties of England, and Tipperary, Ireland. J. early summer. 
