GRAMINEiE. 



997 



English Channel. In Britain, on the coasts of Ireland, and western, 

 southern, and south-eastern England. Fl. early summer. 



XXXII. COCK'S-FOOT. DACTYLIS. 



A single species, with all the characters of Fescue, except that the 

 spikelets are densely crowded in thick, one-sided clusters, arranged in 

 an irregular short spike or slightly branched panicle. 



1. Clustered Cock's-foot. Dactylis glomerata, Linn. 



(Fig. 1212.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 335.) 



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, some- 

 times collected into a close spike of 

 about an inch, sometimes 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 length- 

 ened into a short awn. 



In meadows, pastures, woods, and 

 waste ground, throughout Europe, 

 central and Russian Asia, except the 

 extreme north. Abundant in Britain. 

 Fl. the whole season. 



Fig. 1212. 



XXXIII. DOG'S-TAIL. CYNOSUEUS. 



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 Fescue. 



