44 
EJvGLISH BOTAXA-. 
straight, or slightly 
the lower nodes. 
V ... I.... k; - > >lightly rough, the 
uppermost one not inflated, longer than its leaf; Ugule long, laciniate. 
Panicle 2 to 10 inches long by 1 to 5 inches broad when expanded, 
green or more or less tinged with purplish-biown, ultimately pale 
olive. Panicle -branches capillary, scabrous, the longer ones bare of 
florets for half their length. Spikelets jL inch long, exclusive of the 
awns. Glumes scabrous on the back. Awns very long and slender. 
I have retained the name A. Spica-venti for this subspecies, because 
it has been known by this name as distinct from A. interrupta from 
the time of Linn£eus; and under these circumstances it seems the least 
of two evils to give an entirely new name to the superspecies. 
Apera purpurea of Palisot de Beauvais, a South European variety 
of A. Spica-venti, with short but spreading branches, is the connecting 
link between A. Spica-venti and A. interrupta. 
Spreading Silky Bent- Grass. 
French, Agrostide jauet du vent. German, Gemeiuer WlmlJuthn. 
This is one of the handsomest of onr British species of grasses, and is found in 
agrarian fields on sandy soils. 
Sub-Species n.— Agrostis interrapta. Linn. 
Plate MDCCXVI. 
Eeich. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. I. Tab. LXXXIIT. Fig. 123. 
Apera interrupta, Pal. ,1,' B>am: Bab. Man. Brit. Bot. ed. vi. p. 406. Kocli, Syn. 
n. Germ, et Helv. ed. ii. p. 904. Reich. Ic. I.e. p. 7. 
Anenaagrostis interrupta, Trin. Fund. Agr. p. 18. 
Panicle closed before, during, and after flowering. Longest panicle- 
branches usually shorter than tlie internode between them and the 
ne.xt whorl; the shorter one.s bearing spikelets to the base. Anthers 
quadrate-oval. 
In sandy fields. Very local. Pampisford and Chippenham, Cam- 
bridge: Pvedneck Heath and other places about Thetford, Suffolk, 
and Norfolk, said to have been found by Mr. Varenne, near Mark's 
Tey Station, Essex, in 1843, but according to the "Flora of Essex " 
not observed there in 18GU. 
England. Annual. Summer, Autumn. 
Stems 2 inches to 2 feet high. Leaves shorter and considerably 
narrower than those of A. Spica-venti. Panicle 2 to 7 inches lonir, 
a[)pearing int^rropted, from the brandies being shorter or most^ 
