PLATE 455. 
POA ANNUA, Lillll. (Fl. <*a]).. V<il. YIT., p. "If)). 
Nat. Order Grainiiie;i\ 
Annual or .sujsj'RUENNiAL, tufted, glaln'ou.^. — C^ulms ei'oct froii) a geniculate 
and often I'ootiug base, from a few inches to I foot long, sliglitly coni])ressed below, 
smooth ; internodes exserted or enclosed : sheaths rather loose, slightlv compressed, 
smooth ; ligides oblong to ovate, u]) to 1|- line broad : blades linear, acute, 5 to 
inch (rarely longer), bv 1 to line, flat, llaccid : margins scaberulous. 
Panicle rather stif}', ovate, lax, up to ;li inches long, often subsecund ; the 
lower branches 2- (rarely •'> to f)) nate or solitary, spreading, ultimately often 
detlexed, up to If inch long, branched from tlie middle, smootli. 
Sfikelets more or less crowded, oblong-ovate or ovate, green or sometimes 
pur])lish, 2 to 2|- lines long, 3 to 7-flowered, /r)?r(';' glume lanceolate, acute, I to \^ 
line long, T-nerved to sub-.'Vnerved, npjx-r slightlv longer, ovate when expanded, 
o-nerved. Valves oblong, ol)tuse or subacute. line long ; margins and tips 
broadlv hyaline ; nerves slightly jirominent. silkilv ciliate below, along the keel 
and the outer side-nerves, I'arely gljd)i'escent. without coimt'cting wool (in the tvj)e) ; 
pales slightly shoi'ter tiia.n the valves, keels cihate ; anthers line long; gi'ain 
oblong, line long. 
Habitat : Natal. Cooppv :3;'!G2. 
Throughout Euro])e and ttMuperate Asia, nitioduced into most rither temperate 
regions, rare in the tro])ics. 
Drawn from a specimen in the Government Herbarium, No. 10,133, which 
was sent to us without locality, and identified by Miss Franks. 
This grass is conunon in England, but is not considered to be of much, if any, 
agricultural value. 
FitJ- 1. A spikelet ; 2, lower glume ; 3. uppei' glume ; 4. valve ; .3, pale : 6, pistil, stamens, 
and lodieules, Al/ fnlan/ed. 
