GRAMINE/E. 



983 



4. Sea Barley. 



Hordeum maritimum, With. (Fig. 1193.) 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1205.) 



Very near the Wall _Z?., but smaller 

 and somewhat glaucous, the spikes 

 smaller, with shorter awns, the 3 pairs 

 of outer glumes all lanceolate at the 

 base but not ciliate, and one of each of 

 the lateral pairs a little broader than the 

 others. 



On the seacoasts of western Europe, 

 and all round the Mediterranean, ex- 

 tending northward to Denmark, but not 

 into the Baltic. Abundant on several 

 of the English coasts, but a very doubt- 

 ful inhabitant of Scotland or Ireland. 

 Fl. summer. 



Fig. 1193. 



XXYII. TRITICUM. TRITICUM. 



Spikelets several-flowered, closely sessile, and single in each notch 

 of a simple spike, the side of the spikelet or edge of the glumes being 

 next the axis of the spike. Outer empty glumes 2, similar to the 

 flowering ones. 



To this genus belong the cultivated Wheats, all annuals, of uncertain 

 origin, by some said to be indigenous in some little-known regions of 

 western Asia, by others believed to be altered forms of the common 

 south European and west Asiatic Grasses known under the generic 

 name of JEgilojps. The British wild species are all perennials, and 

 form part of a different section, distinguished by some as a separate 

 genus, under the name of Agrojpyron, which should be adopted if it be 

 definitively ascertained that the annual Wheats are identical with 

 JEgilops. 



Rootstock creeping 1. Couch T. 



ISo creeping rootstock 2. Fibrous T. 



1. Couch Triticum. Triticum repens, Linn. (Eig. 1194.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 909. Coucligrass.) 

 A perennial, with an extensively creeping rootstock, and stiff, 

 ascending or erect stems, 1 to 2 or even 3 feet high ; the whole plant 

 varying from a bright green to a pale glaucous colour. Spikelets 8 to 



