48 



P. R. WYCHERLEY 



Since the early authors agree that Bauhin's plant was viviparous, the first reference 

 to the phenomenon may be due to him, although the present author has yet to discover 

 a clear description of it in his works. 



Parkinson (1640, 1157) included Gramen arvense panicula crispa (joined with a grass 

 which was probably Apera spica-venti (L.) Beauv.), but the description concluded thus : 

 " I have thought good to adde the figure of that Grasse that Lugdunnensis calleth Bulhosum 

 Dalechampij, because Bauhinus saith it is this, but not well expressed, but surely I doubt 

 it is another sort." This cannot therefore be counted the first record of P. bulbosa, 

 viviparous or otherwise, in Britain. 



Fig. 5. A. Poa bulhosa seminiferous; 1. Spikelet ( X 4-5) ; 2. floret ( X 7). B. Poa hulbosa var. vivipara 



1. Spikelet (x 3-5); 2. base of bulbil. 



Syme (1872, 112) knew that continental P. hulhosa was sometimes viviparous, but 

 stated that only the seminiferous form was British. All references previous to Riddelsdell 

 (1907) apparently refer to seminiferous P. bulhosa. Riddelsdell's plant was viviparous, 

 found on a pebbly shore near Barry, Glamorganshire, S. Wales. At that time Barry was 

 already a well- developed port. 



With material of French and Dutch origin both the seminiferous and viviparous 

 forms have been found constant in London. Schuster (1910) found vivipary in Poa 

 hulbosa to be constant, although in culture occasional temporary ' reversions ' to flowering 

 occurred. 



Akerberg (1942) gives the chromosome number of Poa bulhosa (seminiferous) as 

 2n = 28 and 45. Tutin (1952) mentions for the viviparous plant 2n 35. 



6. Poa alpina var. vivipara L. and P. X jemtlandica (Almqu.) Right. 



The species Poa alpina was first designated by Linnaeus (1753, 1, 67) quoting in his 

 description his own earlier work (1745, 28) and Scheuchzer (1719), who recorded a 

 seminiferous plant (p. 40, no. 4) and a proliferated plant (p. 45, nos. 2 and 3a). Linnaeus 

 makes the second of these his ^ variety and inserts the adjective ' vivipara' inio Scheuchzer's 

 name. 



In addition to mentioning that P. alpina in Britain is usually viviparous, Syme (1872, 

 114) drew attention to a plant he considered to be P. striata Lind., a subspecies of P. laxa 

 Hanke {eu-laxa not being viviparous). Druce (1903) named this plant P. alpina L. var. 

 acutifolia Druce. However, Nannfeldt (1937) has traced the history in detail. The plant 

 wrs given the name P. alpina subsp. jemtlandica by Almquist (1883) ; Richter (1890) raised 

 it to a species, P. jemtlandica. It is considered to be a hybrid between P. alpina and 

 P. jlexuosa Sm., and non-viviparous specimens are not known. 



