GRAMINE7E. 



999 



In fields and waste places, common 

 in southern Europe and eastward to 

 the Caucasus, extending up the west 

 of Europe to the Channel Islands. 

 In the main islands of Britain it only 

 appears occasionally on the coasts, 

 probably when introduced with bal- 

 last. Fl. summer. 



Fig. 1214. 



XXXIY. QUAKEGRASS. BRIZA. 



Spikelets several-flowered, flat, broad, and short, hanging (in the 

 British species) from the slender branches of a loose panicle. Glumes 

 all broad, concave, but not keeled, obtuse, scarious on the edges, closely 

 imbricated, and spreading. 



A small genus, widely spread over the temperate regions of the 

 northern hemisphere, some species extending also as weeds into the 

 tropics and the southern hemisphere. 



Perennial. Ligula of the leaves very short 1. Common Q. 



Annual. Ligula of the upper leaves 3 to 6 lines long ... 2. Lesser Q. 



The larger Q. (B. maxima), a south European species, with the 

 spikelets above half an inch long, has been frequently cultivated in our 

 flower-gardens. 



1. Common Quakegrass. Briza media, Linn. (Fig. 1215.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 340.) 



An erect, rather stiff, but very elegant perennial, from near a foot 

 to 1^ feet high, with a tufted or slightly creeping stock. Leaves flat 

 but narrow and few, except at the base of the stem, their ligules very 

 short. Panicle 2 to 4 inches long, very loose and spreading. Spikelets 

 hanging from the long, slender branches, at first orbicular, then ovate, 

 2 to 3 lines long, variegated with green and purple, containing about 6 



