534 | THE GRASS FAMILY. [ Festuca. 
pedicels, thickened at the top. Outermost glume reduced to a minute 
almost microscopic scale ; the second lanceolate, 4 to 6 lines long, scarious. 
on the edges, ending in an awn-like point. Flowering glumes 8 or 4, rather 
shorter, but ending in an awn usually longer than themselves. ~ 
On sandy seacoasts, common round the Mediterranean, and extending 
up the shores of western Europe to the English Channel. In Britain, on 
the eastern coasts of Ireland, and western, southern, and south-eastern 
England. Fl. early summer. 
XXXII. DACTYLIS. COCK’S-FOOT. 
A single species, with all the characters of Festuca, except that the 
spikelets are densely crowded in thick, one-sided clusters, arranged in an 
irregular short spike or slightly branched panicle. ~ 
1, D. glomerata, Linn. (fig. 1227). Clustered Cock’s-foot.—A coarse, 
stiff Grass, 1 to 2 feet high, the perennial stock forming at length dense 
tufts. Leaves flaccid, but rough on the edges. Clusters of spikelets dense 
and ovoid, sometimes collected into a close spike of about an inch, some- 
times in a “broken spike of several inches, or on the branches of a short, 
more or less spreading panicle. Each spikelet much flattened, ovate, 3- to 
5-flowered. Glumes lanceolate, strongly keeled, ciliated on the back and 
pointed at the top, the flowering ones more so than the outer ones, the 
point often lengthened into a short awn. 
In meadows, pastures, woods, and waste ground, throughout Europe, 
central and Russian Asia, except the extreme north, Abundantin Britain. 
Fl. the whole season. 
XXXIII, CYNOSURUS. DOG’S-TAIL. 
Spikelets in sessile clusters, forming a one-sided spike or head the 
outer spikelet of each cluster consisting of several glumes, all empty; the 
other spikelets containing 2 to 5 flowers; the glumes pointed or awned as 
in Festuca. 
As now limited, the genus comprises but one Mediterranean species 
besides the two British ones. 
Spike semi-cylindrical. Glumes pointed . ° ° ° ° » 1. C. cristatus. 
Spike ovoid. Glumes awned “ : ‘ . 2. C, echinatus, 
1. ©. cristatus, Linn. (fig. 1228). Curaen ‘Deed s-tatl.—A_ slightly 
tufted perennial, with short, narrow leaves, mostly radical, and a slender, 
often wiry, erect stem, from under a foot to near 2 feet high. Flowering 
spike semi-cylindrical, oblong or nearly linear, 1 to 38 inches long; the 
clusters regular, and all turned to one side; the outer elegantly pinnate 
empty spikelets being the most conspicuous, and forming a kind of involucre 
to each cluster, within which are 1 or 2 fertile spikelets, each with 3 to 5 
flowers. The glumes, whether empty or flowering, all terminate in a very 
short point. 
In rather dry, hilly pastures, and downs, throughout Europe and western 
Asia, except the extreme north. Abundant in Britain. Fl. summer. The 
dry stalks, rejected by sheep, and remaining all the autumn, are called 
Bents in many parts of the country. 
2, ©. echinatus, Linn. (fig. 1229). Rough Dog’s-tail.—An annual, 
