1016 



THE GRASS FAMILY. 



1. Blue Sesleria. Sesleria cserulea, Ard. (Fig. 1238.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1613.) 



A perennial, 6 inclies to nearly a foot 

 high, with a shortly creeping rootstock, 

 and densely tufted, short, and rather 

 stiff radical leaves. Spike (or spike- 

 like panicle) ovoid or oblong, £ to f inch 

 long, often assuming a bluish-grey hue. 

 Spikelets not numerous, but closely 

 packed, generally in pairs, one sessile, 

 the other shortly stalked ; the lower 

 ones with a broad, glume-like bract at 

 their base. Glumes about 2 lines long, 

 the flowering ones usually 2 in each 

 spikelet, shortly protruding beyond the 

 outer ones, their central tooth forming 

 a short point. 



In mountain pastures, especially in 

 limestone districts, in Europe and west- 

 ern Asia, from the mountains of Spain and Italy to Scandinavia. In 

 Britain, confined to Scotland, the North of England, and the north 

 and west of Ireland. Fl. spring and early summer. 



Fig. 1238. 



XLII. R1SEB. AEUNDO. 



Yery tall, erect, perennial Grasses, with long, broad leaves, and a 

 large, crowded panicle. Spikelets several-flowered, with long, silky 

 hairs on the axis, enveloping the flowers. 



The species, though not numerous, are very conspicuous in the tem- 

 perate and warmer climates both of the new and the old world, and 

 form a natural genus if considered as including, as well our northern 

 species, often separated under the name of Phragmites, as the South 

 American Pampas Grass, recently introduced into our gardens, and 

 generically distinguished under the name of Gynerium, on account of its 

 flowers usually (but, it is said, not always) dioecious. The genus differs 

 from from Seareed and Smallreed chiefly in having more than one 

 flower in the spikelet. 



1. Common Reed. Arundo Phragmites, Linn. (Fig. 1239.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 401. Phragmites communis, Brit. Fl.) 



A stout perennial, usually 5 or 6 feet high, but sometimes twice as 

 much, with a long, creeping rootstock, and numerous long leaves, often 



