724 P O A 
often villofe, wandering, cohering; antherte yellow. 
Linnaeus fpeaks of it as growing every-where with the 
preceding in Sweden and Lapland. Dr. Smith regards it 
as a variety of P. pratenfis; which fee. For P. angufti- 
folia of Hudfon, &c. fee P. nemoralis, N° 50. 
8. Poa Gerardi, or panicled meadow-grafs : panicle 
ereft; fpikelets three-flowered, fmooth ; corollas acumi¬ 
nate, twice ns long as the calyx. Culm round, fmooth, 
ftraight, a foot high and more. Leaves few, in long 
(heaths. Native of the mountains of France, Italy, and 
Swifferland. Introduced in 1775, by Drs. Pitcairn and 
Fothergill. It flowers in April and May. 
9. Poa pratenfis, fmooth-ftalked or great meadow- 
grafs: panicle diffufed ; fpikelets four-flowered ; glumes 
lanceolate, five-nerved, conne&ed by a villus ; ftipule ab¬ 
breviated, blunt. Root perennial, creeping by runners, 
eafily penetrating into the earth and crevices of walls. 
Culms upright, fmooth, fcarce perceptibly ftriated, a foot 
or eighteen inches in height. Leaves fmooth, of a dark- 
green colour, fometimes glaucous or bluifli, keeled, blunt- 
ifh, fpreading. Sheaths the length of the leaves, ltriated, 
fmooth. Stipules ftiort, blunt. Panicle as in trivialis, 
but lefs rugged. Spikelets, ovate, four-flowered, often 
five-flowered, fometimes only two-flowered, flattened on 
each fide, green, or fometimes purple. Florets hluntifti, 
five-nerved, fcariofe at the tip, rugged on the back, con¬ 
nected at the bafe by numerous very long complicated 
villofe hairs; the inner valves fomewhat pubefeent at the 
edge. NeCtary two little glumes at the bafe of the germ. 
Seed angular, pointed. 
Dr. Withering remarks, that it is from one to two feet 
high ; that the leaves, though much lefs rough than in P. 
trivialis, are not always fmooth ; that the panicle is heavy 
when in feed, not greatly diverging, from two to four 
inches in length, and more than half as broad. The late 
Mr. Curtis, whofe attention to grades is well known, firfi 
accurately diflinguiflied P. trivialis and pratenfis, which 
are fo alike in their general appearance, as hardly to be 
diflinguiflied without nice examination. The pratenfis, 
however, is in every part fmooth; whilft, in trivialis, the 
ftalk-leaves with their (heaths, and the branches of the 
panicle, all feel rough, if the plant be drawn downward 
betwixt the thumb and finger ; in the trivialis, the (heath 
of the leaf is flatter and more deeply fluted, and the root 
is Amply fibrous; that of the pratenfis is creeping, and 
fends out many white (hoots. But what diftinguiflies 
them molt fully is, that the membrane at the bottom of 
the leaf where the (heath begins (ligula feu ftipula) in the 
pratenfis is very (liort and blunt, in the trivialis long and 
pointed ; this diftinffion is obvious to the molt common 
obferver, and never fails, let the grafs vary ever fo much 
in fize, See. Thefe two grades differ alfo in the fize of the 
fpikelets, and the number of flowers contained in each; 
in the trivialis they are biflorous or triflorous, in the pra¬ 
tenfis molt commonly quinqueflorous. The pratenfis 
grows generally on walls, or on dry banks, but often in 
meadows: the trivialis is fcarce ever found on walls, fel- 
dom on dry banks, but moil frequently in moift meadows 
or by the fides of ditches : the former flowers about the 
third week in May, the latter the firft week in June. 
After the pratenfis has once flowered, it (hows no difpo- 
fition to do fo again ; whilfl the trivialis is found in 
bloom, though not generally, during the whole of the 
fummer. Laltly, there is a firmnefs in the (talk of the 
pratenfis not perceivable in the trivialis. See farther 
under Grass, p. 797,8. and the Plate, fig. 3. 
Dr, Smith confiders P. anguflifolia of Linnaeus as a 
variety of this grafs ; and informs us that it differs from 
it in having the lower leaves very narrow, and ftiffifh, the 
panicle (mailer, and the lower (heaths fomewhat rugged. 
Dr. Withering makes P. fetacea of Hudfon a variety of 
this fpecies. According to Dr. Smith, it is a variety of 
P. trivialis. 
( 3 . P. humilis, or (hort bluifh meadow-grafs: glaucous; 
panicle fpreading ; fpikelets ovate, of about three acute 
florets, connected by a web; ftipule very fnort and blunt. 
Native of mountainous paftures in Weftmoreland, Cum¬ 
berland, and Anglefea, flowering in June. Root peren¬ 
nial, creeping, with villous fibres. Stem from four to fix 
inches high. Florets ribbed, green at the bafe, purple 
and brown in the middle, white and membranous at the 
margin. Schrader, who direCts us to ftrike out the fy- 
nonyms of Willdenow, Haller, and Scheuchzer, quoted in 
FI. Brit, thinks the prefent plant differs from pratenfis in 
its glaucous colour only. This is indeed the chief dif- 
tinCtion, but it feems effential. Hudfon made our plant 
a variety of pratenfis, but he miftook it for theLinnaean 
alpina, a widely-different fpecies. 
10. Poa ferruginea, or ruft-coloured meadow-grafs: 
panicle fpreading, capillary; fpikelets five-flowered, ob¬ 
long; glumes fmooth. Leaves convoluted, ftriated, erect, 
lmooth, a little longer than the culm, which is Ample, 
ereCt, a foot high. It has the appearance of P.eragroftis; 
but the fpikelets are Ihorter and few-flowered. Native of 
japan. 
n. Poa cilianenfis, or ciliated meadow-grafs: panicle 
elongated, branched, fiexuofe; fpikelets four-flowered, 
fmooth. A foot high and more. Culms grooved, fmooth, 
brown at the knots. Leaves dark-green, fmooth, ciliate 
about the (heath, two or three lines wide. The leaf al- 
moft under the panicle, equals or exceeds the whole pa¬ 
nicle ; which has three or four branches from the fame 
point, feldom one only. It is an annual grafs, native of 
Italy, where it was found by Bellardi. 
12. Poa nervata, or five-nerved meadow-grafs: panicle 
ftriCt; fpikelets fmooth, five-flowered, nerved. Panicle 
almoft half a foot long, with capillaceous branches, 
preffed clofe and fubdivided. Native of North America. 
13. Poa trinervata, or three-nerved meadow-grafs: 
panicle diffufed; fpikelets four or five-flowered, very 
(harp, rugged; outer glume of the corolla three-nerved, 
inner two-nerved. Root perennial. Culms many, up¬ 
right, from two to three feet, and often a little more, in 
height, round, fmooth, bluifh green ; having four pur- 
plifli joints. Leaves flat, mucronate, bright or reddifh 
green, fmooth above, but fomewhat rugged underneath, 
with a whitifh nerve. Sheaths fmooth, ftriated, fomewhat 
rugged when drawn backwards. Panicle green and white ; 
fpikelets fmall, ovate-oblong, compreffed, from four to 
fix-flowered, whitifh green, mixed fometimes with a little 
purple. This fpecies differs evidently from all the other 
fpecies, except the alpina, and from that it may be diftin- 
guifhed, by its longer culm, much wider leaves, fmalier 
fpikelets, and by its narrow very acute glumes. Native 
of Germany. It was firft oBferved by Pollich in the 
Palatinate, flowering in June and July. The fylvatica of 
Krocker feems to be the fame with this; but whether that 1 
of Villars be fo is very doubtful. 
14. Poa fudetica, or upright meadow-grafs: panicle 
from ereCt fpreading; fpikelets three-flowered, very 
fmooth, mucronate; culm ereCt, compreffed; (heath of 
the leaves loofe, ancipital. Height four feet. Leaves 
wide. Habit like that of the preceding, but fufficiently 
diftinCt. Spikelets bright green, much fmalier than the 
preceding, with the florets acuminate. Native of the 
mountains of Silefia, and of the marflies of Hanover and 
Magdeburg. 
15. Poa rubens, or red panicled meadow-grafs: panicle 
fpreading; fpikelets four-flowered or thereabouts; outer 
glume of the corolla five-nerved; culm ereCt, compreffed. 
This is a middle fpecies between the trinervata and fude¬ 
tica. It differs from the former, to which it approaches 
the neareft, in having (horter broader leaves, a longer 
ligule, a (horter panicle of a red colour, and lefs divari¬ 
cate ; the fpikelets more crowded, and rugged, the outer 
valve of the corolla five-nerved. It is a perennial grafs, 
native of Lower Heffe. 
16. Poa anceps, or two-edged meadow-grafs: panicle 
diffufed ; fpikelets five-flowered, acute, pubefeent at the 
bafe; culm ancipital. Native o( New Zealand. 
17. Poa 
