960 



THE GRASS FAMILY. 



Fig. 1163. 



1. Annual Beardgrass. Polypogon monspeliensis, Desf. 



(Fig. 1163.) 



(Agrostis panicea, Eng. Bot. t. 1704.) 



An annual, procumbent at the base or 

 rarely erect, 1 to 1^ feet high, with flat, 

 rather flaccid leaves. Panicle contracted 

 into a cylindrical or slightly branched 

 spike, 2 to 3 inches long, of a yellowish 

 shining green, and thickly bearded with 

 the numerous straight and very smooth 

 awns. Outer glumes nearly equal, 

 notched at the top ; the fine awn pro- 

 ceeding from the notch, and 3 or 4 times 

 as long as the glume itself. Flowering 

 glume shorter, often with a short, very 

 fine awn. Palea smaller and awnless. 



In fields and waste places, on road- 

 sides, etc., especially near the sea, com- 

 mon in the Mediterranean region, and 

 eastward far into central Asia, extend- 

 ing up the west coast of Europe to 

 western France, and very sparingly 

 along the Channel to Holland. Hare in Britain, and only in some of 

 the south-eastern counties of England. Fl. summer. 



2. Perennial Beardgrass. Polypogon littoralis, Srn. 



(Fig. 1164.) 



(Agrostis, Eng. Bot. t, 1251.) 



A procumbent perennial, with the 

 foliage nearly of the common Agrostis. 

 Panicle more branched than in the an- 

 nual P., the glumes longer, tapering 

 into an awn scarcely longer than the 

 glume itself. Flowering glumes small 

 and awnless. The plant is, indeed, in 

 habit as well as in character, almost in- 

 termediate between Beardgrass and 

 Agrostis. 



In salt-marshes, scattered here and 

 there along the seacoasts of western 

 Europe, the Mediterranean, and North 

 America. In Britain, very local on 

 the coasts of Norfolk, Essex, Kent, and 

 Hampshire. Fl. summer. 



Fig. 1164. 



