570 
evil. GRAMINEiE. 
[ Triticum. 
Sandy sea-shores, not uncommon, y. 7, 8. — We admit this as 
a species with great hesitation. It has been long known to British 
collectors, and considered by most to be a form of T. repens with 
blunt glumes; by others, however, as T. junceum with flat leaves. 
In T. junceum. the leaves are always involute and pungent at the 
point: when unrolled the ribs are seen covered witli close-set soft 
down composed of numerous short hairs pointing obliquely and 
reaching to the similar hairs on the adjacent rib, thus forming a cover 
to the stria: between the ribs. In T. laxum these hairs are reduced 
to mere points arranged on the ribs almost in the same manner, but 
from their shortness cause the leaves to be scabrous to the touch ; 
the leaves are usually flat, but Mr. Baker has observed them to be 
involute when the plant grows in dry sand. On the whole, this sup- 
posed species holds a middle place between T. repens and T. junceum. 
Mr. Bentham unites the three : as a single species, it is readily dis- 
tinguished from T. caninum by the creeping rhizome. 
4. T. repens L. ( creeping W., or Couch-grass ) ; spike elon- 
gate, spikelets 4 — 8-flowered, glumes acuminate awned or 
awnless 5 — 7-ribbed, outer glumella acuminate or with a short 
awn 5-nerved, rachis of the spikelets scabrous, leaves plane or 
involute at the edge with a single row of hairs or points on the 
ribs on the upper side, rhizome creeping. — a. green, rachis of 
the spike glabrous or downy rough with ascending short bristles 
on the angles, leaves flat. E. B. t. 909: Pam. Gr. tt. 62, 
63. — 1 3. glaucous, rachis of the spike nearly quite smooth, 
leaves more or less involute at the edges. T. littorale Host. 
: n 
hm 
5 
inti 
Gin 
I®: 
inm 
b 
Thi 
In 
ini 
I l' r 
I tii 
Fields and waste places everywhere. — 0. near the sea. If. 6 — 8. — 
Awns scarcely as long as the glumella, often not exceeding half that J 
length. In habit between the preceding and the following species. I ‘ 
In a. there are numerous hairs on the nerves of the leaves, but mixed 
with points which are abortive hairs; in 0. the hairs are few, and are ; j:, 
sometimes all abortive. Var. 0. is best distinguished from T. laxum I j 
by the acute, or (in this country we believe always) awned florets. I 
The common variety is the pest of corn-fields. 1 1 ; 
5. T. caninum Huds. ( fibrous-rooted TF.) ; spike elongate, 
spikelets approximate 2 — 5-flowered, glumes 3 — 5-ribbed and 
as well as the 5-ribbed outer glumella acuminate awned, rachis 
of the spike hispid on the angles, of the spikelets harshly downy, 
leaves flat, root fibrous (perennial). — a. spikelets 4 — 5-flowered, 
awn of the florets usually longer than its glumella, leaves rough : 
on both sides. E. B. t. 1372: Pam. Gr. t. 62. Elymus L . — 
(3. spikelets 2 — 4-flowered, awn of the florets 3 (or more) times 
shorter than its glumella, leaves nearly smooth except on the 
margin. T. biflorum Mitten in Loud. Journ. Bot. vii. p. 532 1 1 j. 
(scarcely of Brignoli). T. alpinum Don. 
Woods and banks, frequent. — 0. Ben Lawers : G. Don. y. 7. I( 
• — Best distinguished from the three preceding by the want of a 
