I, oca! niF.s. — In sandy cultivated fields ; very Tire.— Durham ; On Sunder- 
land Ballast-liills : \V. Wmghm.i.’s Herbarium. — Norfolk; In pastures at 
Great Wilchingliam, seven miles from Norwich, towards Lynn: T. W lU.isti.r., 
in Ray's Syn. found in the same place since, by Mr. Woodward. In sandy 
fields between brandon and Moundeford : Rev. J. J.ightfoot. — Suffolk; 
Plentifully in the ploughed fields about Klden : T. Wiixisei.t., in Ray’s Syn. 
1690. In fields opposite the ferry at Woodbridge, not far from the river, some- 
times in great plenty: Rev. G. Ckabbi:. At Ilenhant: Smith' s Engl FI. — 
Surrey; About balter>ea ; and about Martha's Chapel, near Guildford: 
Hudson. In Battersea Fields: Mr. J. Macnab, in N.B. G. Weybridge: 
\V. Boriikb, Esq. ibid. 
Annual. — Flowers in July and August. 
Root fibrous. Culms several from one root, bent and decum- 
bent at tbe base, then ascending, from nine inches to about a foot 
high, sometimes branched, leafy, striated, smooth, generally fur- 
nished with four joints. Leaves broad, pointed, striated, often 
wavy at the edges, and slightly hairy on both sides ; their sheaths 
striated, and very hairy, the hairs springing from minute elevated 
warts. Spikes from 3 to 8, and each from 2 to 4 inches long, 
slender, all proceeding from nearly the same point at the top of the 
culm, and spreading out like fingers. Spikelets numerous, all 
growing on one side of the rachis or common stalk of the spike, in 
pairs, on short unequally cloven, upright, partial stalks (see fig. ].); 
elliptic-oblong, sometimes dark purplish, sometimes green. Calyx 
of 3 unequal glumes ; the outer a very minute scale, scarcely per- 
ceptible by the naked eye, the one opposite to it twice its size, and 
downy on its margin ; the innermost one thrice the size of the 
second, rigid, ribbed, and rough or downy on its margin. Stigmas, 
and often Anthers, violet coloured. 
Mr. Borrer thinks it probable that most of the stations given 
to this plant above, except that of Battersea, belong to the other 
British species, Digitaria humifusa, Engl. Bot. Suppl. t. 2613; 
which species is distinguished from D. sanguinalis by its smooth 
leaves and sheaths, and its egg-shaped, not oblong, spikelets. My 
much respected friend, Mr. William Pamplin, jun. of Lavender 
Hill, Wandsworth, has kindly furnished me with specimens of 
Digitaria humifusa, gathered by him in a sand-pit at Weybridge, 
in Surrey, in 1832, (where, he informs me, it was most abundant,) 
a station where it had long been known to exist by Mr. Borrer. 
Digitaria sanguinalis is an elegant and pretty grass when in 
flower, but it possesses no properties likely to benefit the Agricul- 
turist. It has acquired the name of sanguinalis, from an idle trick 
practised by boys in Germany, of tickling their nostrils with the 
spikelets of this grass, until they draw blood. 
“ ■ God made flowers to beautify 
The earth, and cheer man’s careful mood ; 
And he is happiest, who hath power 
To gather wisdom from a flower. 
And wake his heart in every hour 
To pleasant gratitude.” 
Athenaeum. 
