TRIANDRIA. DIGYNIA. Alopecurus.* 
U9 
The awn is twice the length of the calyx, and geniculate. (Such is generally, 
though not invariably, the case in British specimens. Experience proves, 
in other instances as well as the present, that the dorsal awn is not always 
to be relied on. E.) Spike one to one and a halt inch long, near half an 
inch broad. ( Stem from one to three feet high. Leaves slightly glaucous ; 
upper ones somewhat rough. Anthers prominent, yellow. Summit fea¬ 
thery. E.) 
Meadow Fox-tail Grass. (Welsh: Rhon-wellt y cadnaw y weirglawdd. 
E.) Meadows, very common. In wet seasons, and under trees, this 
plant has been found viviparous. E.) P. May—June.* 
(A. alpi'nus. Stem upright, smooth : spike egg-shaped: glumes of the 
calyx downy, awnless, nearly as long as the awns of the blossom. 
E. Bot. t. 1126. 
Root creeping, blackish. Stem about a foot high, bent at the lowest joint, 
thence erect, simple, leafy, smooth in every part. Radical leaves narrow ; 
those on the stem broader, short, flat, sharp-pointed, smooth, with long 
and slightly inflated sheaths, crowned by very short stipulce. Spike 
terminal, erect, blunt, scarcely an inch long. Flowers egg-shaped. 
Calyx-glumes united at their base, somewhat abrupt at the point, purplish, 
clothed with soft white hairs. Blossom of one naked glume, with an 
awn from its lower part, which scarcely (if at all) exceeds the calyx in 
length. E. Bot. 
Alpine Fox-tail Grass. (So very rare a plant, that no stations but the 
following are as yet known in the world. Hooker. On the mountains of 
Scotland, particularly those about Loch Na-gore, Aberdeenshire, and 
Clova, Angus-shire. Mr. G. Hon. Ben Lawers. Mr. Brown. 
P. July. E.) 
A. agres'tis. Spiked straw upright: calyx not hairy, its husks united 
at the base. 
Curt. — Schreb. 19. 2—( Hort. Gram. — E. Bot. 848—E.)— FI. Ban. G97— 
Ger. Em. 11. 2— Barr. 699. 2— Buxb. v. 40. 1— J. B. ii. 473. 1— Ger. 9. 4— 
C. B. Th. 53. 5— Park. 1169. 8— Spike , S$c. Leers 2. 5— Mont. 54— 
Scheuch. 2. 6. A. B. 
* (This is the best grass to sow in low meadow grounds, or in boggy place's which 
have been drained. Sheep, horses, and goats eat it. Cows and swine are not fond of 
it. Linn.; but Dr. Pulteney says, this is the most grateful of all grasses to cattle. 
A. pratensis is a grass very promising for cultivxtion. Lewis Majerulie, Esq., Hedingham 
Castle, Norfolk, has cultivated it on a considerable scale, and linds it to be an excellent 
grass. There is, however, one circumstance which will be a great impediment to its 
general cultivation, viz. the depredations of the larvce of a species of Musca , which 
devour the seed so much, that in many spikes scarcely one will be found perfect. 
These larvae are the prey of Cimex campestris, whose rostrum seems peculiarly formed for 
searching the husks of the grasses. Rev. S. Swayne. (Salisbury observes thatit has the ad¬ 
vantage of being fit for the scythe so early as the middle of May. Sinclair proves that the 
produce of this grass is considerably greater on a clayey loam, than on a siliceous 
sandy soil. Under the best management it does not attain to its fullest productive 
powers from seed till four years, hence it is not suitable to the regular alternate hus¬ 
bandry. It thrives well under irrigation, and is strictly permanent. In many rich 
natural pastures it constitutes the principal grass. Its merits, whether with regard to 
early growth, produce, nutritive qualities, or permanency, prove it to be one of the best, 
grasses for permanent pasture. The evil of which Mr. Swayne complains may be almost 
entirely obviated by suffering the first culms of the season to carry the seed. HqvL, 
Gram. E.) 
