116 
his A. capillar is, is also indicated by the fact that the latter is said to have 
a truly capillary panicle, a characteristic which does not apply to A. tenuis 
Sibth . 
In view of the above and in view of A. capillaris L. having been so 
variously interpreted by various authors, e.g., as an Agrostis of the stolon- 
ifera group by Pollich (29, p. 69), Roth (33, p. 32), and Schumacher (37, 
p. 23), as what is known as A. tenuis Sibth. by Hudson (16, p. 31) and 
Lamarck (17, pp. 59-GO), fide Gaudin (7, p. 191), and as A, delicatula 
Pourr. by Willkomm and Lange (43, p. 55) and Ascherson and Graebner 
(1, p. 192), it seems quite justifiable to drop the name A. capillaris L. 
altogether and to apply the oldest indisputable name for the species under 
discussion, i.e. A. tenuis Sibth. 
A. stolonifera L. ( one polymorphous species) 
The numerous forms of the A. stolonifera group have two constant 
characters in common, viz.: an elongated ligule, and a palea at least two- 
thircls as long as the lemma; otherwise they vary greatly, the variability 
manifesting itself in practically all other characters. As Stebler and 
Schroeter (40, p. 110) express it, the variations affect: 
(1) Mode of growth: 
(a) Stolons none, or subterranean only and short; stems neither prostrate nor root- 
ing. 
(b ) Stolons both on the surface of the soil and underground; stems decumbent, the 
basal part in many cases widely creeping and rooting at the nodes. 
(2) Stature: 
(c) Plant tall, up to 1 m.; panicle spreading, many-flowered. 
(d) Plant low, 
(3) Structure of panicle: 
(e) Panicle with elongated branches, widely spreading during flowering. 
(/) Panicle with short branches, remaining contracted during flowering. 
(4) Colour of spikelets: 
(g) Spikelets dark-coloured to purple-blackish. 
(h) Spikelets purple-reddish. 
(i ) Spikelets greenish. 
(k ) Spikelets yellowish. 
(5) Length of spikelets: 
(l ) Spikelets 2-3 mm. long. 
(m ) Spikelets only 1-5-2 mm. long. 
(6) Presence or absence of awn: 
(n ) Lemma awnless. 
(o ) Lemma awned. 
(7) Spikelets viviparous or with foliaceous glumes. 
The highly variable characters mentioned above may be combined 
in the most perplexing manner, the result being that an exceedingly large 
number of more or less sharply defined types, intergrading one into another, 
exist, many of which have been given special names. To give an example, 
Hegi (9, p. 224), largely following Ascherson and Graebner (1, pp. 172-76), 
records sixteen varieties and subvarieties from central Europe. This 
number of forms, siifficiently well defined to have been given names of 
their own, represents in reality, however, only a very small fraction of the 
forms which may be encountered in such districts of Europe where the 
stolonifera group is well developed. Thus, some twenty years ago, the 
writer collected, in one day, not less than seventy-five different forms on 
