GRAMINA. 
181 
with the spikelets more diverging from the rachis than in vars. a and 
3. Plant more glaucous. 
On sea-shores, especially by the banks of tidal rivers and back- 
waters. Probably common in England. I have specimens from 
Devon, Isle of Wight, Sussex, Kent, and Essex, Babington gives it 
as a native of Scotland, though without naming any definite station. 
In Ireland it is said, in the " Cybele Hibernica," to be " probably 
common." I have seen specimens from the neighbourhood of Dublin. 
England, Scotland ( ?), Ireland. Perennial. Late Summer. 
Stem 1 to 4 feet high, usually rigid. Leaves 3 inches to 1 foot 
long by ^ to 1^ inch broad, remarkable for their greatly raised ribs 
resembling those of Elymus arenarius, commonly more or less glau- 
cous above and green below, but very variable in colour. Spikes 2 
to 10 inches long. Spikelets f to |^ inch long, usually glaucous. 
Florets | to ^ inch long. 
Very variable in size and colour, and exhibiting the same variations 
as occur in T. eu-repens, from which indeed it can only be certainly 
distinguished by the structure of the leaves: the very prominent 
cartilaginous ribs in T. pungens completely filling up the upper 
surface of the leaf ; these cartilaginous ribs shrivel in drying, and 
consequently, when the leaves are no longer in vigorous growth, and 
still more so when the leaves are allowed to wither, the upper 
surface of the leaf contracts more than the lower, and consequently 
the edges of the leaves become involute, especially towards the apex, 
which becomes pungent. 
The plant grows in compact tufts of flowering and barren stems, 
which is rarely the case in T. eu-repens, although it does occasionally 
occur in that plant. 
The Rev. W. W. Newbould informs me that T. repens, var. 7, in 
Smith's Herbarium, is represented by T. pungens. 
I suspect that T. repens, 3. littoreum, Bab. Man. Brit. Bot. ed. vi. 
p. 424, ought also be referred to T. pungens, as the leaves being 
"involute makes it probable that there must be cartilaginous ribs on 
the upper side ; but I have not seen specimens named by Professor 
Babington. 
A variety (0. intermedium) occurs on the continent, in inland 
stati<:»ns, which has not been detected in Britain, though it ought to 
be looked for. This is the T. campestre, Gren, (Sf Godr. which Duval- 
Jouve identifies with T. intermedium, Host. In this variety the 
spike is less compact, and the spikelets more closely applied to the 
rachis than in the vars. above mentioned, and the whole plant has aa 
intensely glaucous hue. 
Erect Sea Couch- Grass, 
