P O A. 
,& villus, leaves ferrulate, culm bulbous at the bafe. 
Root perennial, fibrous, whitifh, from which arife in 
clutters a fort of bulbs, involved in feveral whitifh or 
whitifh-btown coats, which are the fheaths of the leaves, 
ttretched out almolt an inch in length, and produce 
bundles of leaves, or elfe the culms. Culm a foot high, 
flender, fmoth, ereft. Leaves fhort, linear, channelled, 
bluitti: ttem-leaves very fhort, with long ftriated (heaths. 
Native of Sweden, Germany, Swifierland, France, Spain, 
Barbary, and the Levant. Hudfon found it near 
Clapham in Surrey ; and on his authority it retts that it 
is a native of England. The above description is from 
the fpecimen in the Linnsean Herbarium. 
54. Poaditticha, or double-rowed meadow-grafs : fpike¬ 
lets comprefled, four-flowered, feflile, diftich-fpiked. 
This grafs is a middle fpecies between Poa, Cynofurus, 
and Triticum; on account of the form of the fpikelets 
(which are from three to fix-flowered) it belongs to this 
genus, although it is different from the other Poas in its 
habit. Native of Carinthia, Swifierland, and Italy, on 
the tops of the mountains. 
55. Poa bifaria, or recurve-fpiked meadow-grafs : 
fpikelets feflile diftich, lower remote ereft, upper approxi¬ 
mating recurved. The whole of this grafs is fmooth. 
Culm filiform. Spikelets lanceolate, comprefled ; lower 
eleven-flowered; lowed lometimes three-flowered ; upper 
ones nineteen-flowered. This fpecies is ealily dittin- 
guifhed from the reft by its Ample fpike a long fpan in 
length, with the upper fpikelets recurved. Native of the 
Eaft Indies. 
56. Poa bromoides, or brome-like meadow-grafs: fub- 
fpiked; fpikelets lanceolate, twenty-five flowered, lower 
on fhort pedicels, upper feflile ; leaves bifarious, invo¬ 
lute. Culms fmooth, covered with the fheaths of the 
leaves. Leaves alternate, two inches long, ftriated, 
glaucous green. Vahl had it from the Paris garden ; 
and it is fuppofed to be a native of Lima. 
57. Poa fpikata, or fpike-panicled meadow’-grafs: 
panicle fpiked, flowers avvl-fliaped, florets remote. Culms 
leveral, attending from the bafe, a hand in height, covered 
on every fide with the fheaths of the leaves. It has the 
habit of a Felluca. Native of Portugal; where it was 
obferved by Vandelli. 
58. Poa diftans, or reflexed meadow-grafs: panicle 
branched, eff'ufed ; branches finally reflexed ; fpikelets 
five-flowered; florets very blunt, obfoletely five-nerved, 
ftiining. Root perennial, fibrous. Culms feveral, de¬ 
cumbent at the bafe, about a foot high, round, leafy, 
ftriated, fmooth. Leaves with long (heaths, fharpifh, 
even, glaucous, flat; the root-leaves a little rolled in. 
Spikelets linear, fmooth, from four to feven flowered, 
variegated with white or purple. Florets remote, almoft 
as in P. aquat’ca, fubcylindrical, very blunt, retufe, five- 
nerved, fcariofe at the tip; with the inner glumes emnr- 
ginate. 
Though at firrt fight this grafs bears a near refemblance 
to P. annua, and no doubt is often miltaken for it; yet it 
is conliderably taller, its leaves narrower in proportion, 
and much more glaucous; its fpikelets alfo are much 
narrower as well as longer, and of courfe contain many 
more florets, which are for the molt part prettily varie¬ 
gated with pale-green and purple; but the chief cha- 
radter which diftinguifhes this from P. annua and all the 
other fpecies, is to be drawn from the branches of the 
panicle; thefe, as the plant goes out of bloom, are re¬ 
flected or ftretched out backwards, fo as fometimes to 
touch the culm : this is effedted by little tubercles at the 
bafe of the branches on their upper fules only, which, in- 
creafing in fize as the plant advances in its flowering, 
forces, them backwards. Li nil tens remarks, that the 
florets are fo diftant, that it might ealily be taken for a 
fpecies of Agroftis, if the calyx were not examined. 
Native of the Palatinate, Silelia, Auftria, and England. 
Found by Hudfon in Devonfhire, Kent, Yorkfliire, and 
Vol. XX. No. 1405. 7 
729 
Lancafhire, on a fandy foil. Mr. Curtis fays it is 
common in paftures and by road-fides, on our fea-coafls ; 
but that, like Plantago maritima, and fome other plants, 
it is not confined to maritime fituations; for he found it, 
in July 1786, among the grafly herbage, on the right 
hand of the horfe-road, leading up the hill to Hampftead, 
in tolerable plenty. Mr. Curtis farther informs us, that 
fix years’ culture made no alteration in the appearance of 
this grafs ; that it flowers from June to September; and 
that there does not appear to be fufficient merit in it to 
recommend it for agricultural purpofes, 
59. Poa divaricata, or fpreading meadow-grafs: bran¬ 
ches of the panicle corymbed, peduncles club-fhaped, 
fpikelets four-flowered, leaves filiform. Culms feveral, 
a band in height, with one or two leaves on them, white 
or reddifh ; leaves two or three inches long, with wide 
fheaths. Florets acuminate, in threes or fours, a third 
of a line in length, membranaceous and whitifh at the 
tip, little diftant from each other. It is an annual grafs, 
native of Montpelier. Desfontaines found this elegant 
grafs flowering early in the fpring, in cultivated fields 
near Mafcar in Barbary. 
60. Poa criftata, or crefted meadow-grafs : panicle 
fpiked; calyxes fomewhat hairy, four-flowered or there¬ 
abouts, longer than the peduncle ; petals awned. Culms 
folitary, fimple, ereff, a fpan high, even, leafy, efpecially 
at the bafe. Leaves linear, fmooth, fomewhat rigid, 
with long (heaths and a fhort ftipule. Flowers ovate- 
lanceolate ; calyx two-flowered, feldom three-flowered, 
never four-flowered. From the habit, this grafs fhould 
be confidered as an Aira, rather than a Poa ; nor does the 
number of florets much ftand in the way, there being for 
the moll part only two : the point of the glumes is fome¬ 
times extended into a fhort awn. Dr. Smith fufpetts, 
that Linnaeus, in his Syftema Vegetabilium, confounded 
fome other grafs with this: and hence removed it to this 
genus; whereas in his Species Plantarum it flood among 
the Airas. We follow Wildenow, Pollich, Leers, Kroc- 
ker, Desfontaines, Martigny, and moftof ourown writers, 
in continuing it here. Krocker approves of Linnaeus’s 
alteration, on account of the fpikelets being two or three 
flowered, flat, acuminate, imbricate, like the Poas. 
Native of Germany, Swifierland, France, England, Bar¬ 
bary, in dry paftures, by-way and wood fides,in barren land, 
and fometimes on walls; flowering from June to Auguft. 
61. Poa Peruviana, or Peruvian meadow-grafs: panicle 
fpiked ; fpikelets five-flowered, ovate ; leaves and culms 
procumbent, hirfute. This fpecies was raifed from feed 
by Profeffor Jacquin ; and is an annual fpecies, flowering 
all fummer in the open air, but mult be put into the 
ftove in the winter. The items are about a foot and a half 
high ; fcarcely branched, generally proflrate : the leaves 
have long fheaths ; and meafure, exclufive of the fheaths, 
about fix inches. The glumes contain from five to eight 
flowers, and are rather acute ; the one fomewhat fhorter 
than the other, which is father whitifh and chaffy ; the 
valves of the corolla are fnarp, aculeated on the back, 
and often purplifh above. It is an annual grafs; native of 
Peru. 
62. Poa glomerata, or glomerate-panicled meadow- 
grafs : panicle fpiked glomerate, fpikelets four-flowered, 
corollas ciliate. Found at the Cape of Good Hope by 
Thunberg. 
63. Poa ciliaris, or ciliated meadow-grafs: panicle con¬ 
tracted, inner valves of the glumes hairy-ciliate. Culm 
from two inches to half a foot in height; fimple, flender, 
ereft, fmooth. Leaves linear, fhort, even. Florets ovate, 
of a cinereous ruft-colour, minute, fhining, villofe. 
This is a middle fpecies between Briza and Poa. Linnaeus 
remarks that the panicle is red, and the cilias of the 
glumes white. Native of Jamaica, and other iflands of 
the Weft Indies, in dry fandy grounds. Introduced in 
1776, by Monf. Thouin. It flowers in July and Auguft 7 
and is annual. 
8 Z 
64. Poa 
