964 



THE GRASS FAMILY. 



but that character is very variable. 

 mon form passing gradually into it. 



It is often found with the com- 



XIV. NITGRASS. GASTKIDIUM. 



A single species, separated from Agrostis on account of the smooth, 

 shining, enlarged base of the outer glumes. 



1. Awned Nitgrass. Gastridium lendigerum, Bcauv. 



(Fig. 1169.) 



{Milium, Eng. Bot. t. 1107.) 



An elegant, erect annual, 6 to 8 inches 

 high, with flat leaves. Panicle con. 

 tracted into a loose, tapering spike, 2 to 

 3 inches long, of a pale green, shining 

 with a satiny or silvery lustre. Spike- 

 lets very crowded. Outer glumes nearly 

 2 lines long, narrow, and very pointed, 

 with a short, very shining enlargement 

 at the base, the second glume shorter 

 than the lowest. Flowering glume very 

 short, broad, and thin, often bearing 

 below the summit an awn about the 

 length of the outer glume, but as often 

 without it. Palea nearly as long. 



In fields and waste places, especially 

 near the sea, but occasionally also in- 

 land along the valleys of large rivers. 

 Yery common in the Mediterranean re- 

 gion, extending up western France to 

 In Britain, only in southern England. Fl. 



Fig. 1169. 

 the English Channel 



XV. MARAM. PSAMMA. 



A single species, sometimes united with Smallreed, but more fre- 

 quently considered as a distinct genus, characterized by the inflores- 

 cence, the firmer consistence of the glumes, without any awn to the 

 flowering one. 



1. Sea Maram. Psamma arenaria, Beauv. (Fig. 1170.) 



(Arundo, Eng. Bot. t. 520. Ammopliila arundinacea, Brit. Fl. Maram, 

 or Sea Matweed.) 



Rootstock creeping. Stems stiff, erect, 2 to 3 feet high, with narrow, 

 stiff, erect, and glaucous leaves, concave, or rolled inwards on their 



