By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 



295 



Wiltshire " sufficiently testify — at Melksham and Chippenham. 1 

 5. P. compressd, (Linn.) flat-stemmed Meadow grass. Engl. 

 Bot. t, 365. Parn Gr. t. 37. 



Locality. On the tops of walls, and dry barren ground. P. II. 

 July. Area, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Not common in the Districts. Stems 

 about 1 foot or more high, decumbent at the base, then erect very 

 much compressed. Leaves short, linear, acute, upper one as long 

 as or longer than its sheath. Panicle not much branched. Flowers 

 obtuse, the lower ones webbed. Ligide short truncate. The re- 

 markable compression of the stem, usually more abundantly flowered 

 spikelets, and 3 -veined outer palea constitute its leading distinctions. 



Glyceeia, (R. Be.) Sweet- geass. 

 Linn. CI. hi., Ord. ii. 

 Name. From (glukeros) sweet. The flowers, Sir J. E. Smith 

 observes, have a sweet taste, and the seeds of G. fluitans, under the 

 name of Manna-seeds form an article of food in several parts of the 

 Continent. 



1. G. aquatica, (Sm.) Water or reed Sweet-grass. Engl. Bot. 

 t. 1315. Pam. Gr. t. 44. G. spectabilis, Koch. 



Locality. Banks of the Upper and Lower Avon, canal, and 

 ditches. P. Fl. July. Area, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Recorded in all the 

 Districts. Root creeping. Stems 3 to 6 feet high, erect, smooth, 

 slightly compressed, and two-edged. Leaves long, broad, channelled, 

 rough on the margins and keel. Ligule short, obtuse. Panicle erect, 

 large, spreading, 6 to 10 inches long, and 4 or 5 broad, tinged with 

 brown or purple; branches slender, angular, often much divided. 



1 The rich pastures about Melksham, Chippenham, and Hardenhuish consist 

 of grasses in proportion as follows: — Poa pratensis, one fourth, Poa trivialis, 

 one fourth, Festuca ovina F. duri«scula, one eighth, Festuca pratemis, one 

 eighth, Phleum pratense, Alopecurus pratensis, Lolium perenne, Dactylis 

 glomerata, Arrhenatherum avenaceum, of each one sixth, with abundance of 

 other grasses, but not in sufficient proportion to bear mentioning. Though there 

 are abundance of other grasses, in all pastures, yet I have always found the 

 best to be nearly in this proportion, the first four mentioned being the very prims 

 grasses, both for feed and hay. The more any field abounds with these, the 

 cleaner and richer it is, and so much the worse in proportion as the live last 

 get predominant. T.B.F. 



