152 TRIANDRIA. DIGYNIA. Polypogon. 
branous sheaths of a few short, obtuse, channelled leaves. Stipula mem¬ 
branous, bluntish, cloven, but not deeply divided. Spikes solitary, 
simple, erect, of from six to ten flowers, mostly sessile, alternate, erect, 
two to three of the lowermost only more or less stalked; their common 
stalk zigzag , slender, smooth, angular, but not excavated as in the truly 
spiked grasses. FI. like the top of the stem, purplish. Cor. white and 
feathery. Eng. FI. 
Least Bent Grass. Early Knappia. (Welsh: EiddiUwelltyn cynnar. 
E.) Agrostis minima. Linn. Huds. Willd. With. ed. 6. FI. Brit. 
Knappia agrostidea. E. Bot. Hook. In sandy maritime pastures, very 
rare. Near the mouth of the Thames, in Essex, a few miles from Lee. 
Lobel. Found by Mr. W. Stillingfleet in Wales. Frequent on the coast 
of Anglesey. Rev. Hugh Davies. A. May—July. E.) 
(POLYPCPGON. # Cal. two-valved, awned at the apex, con¬ 
cealing the Bloss. of two valves; the outer one with a 
terminal awn. Seed loose. £.) 
(P. monspeliensis. Awns straight, thrice as long as the calyx: root 
fibrous. Sm. E.) 
Kniph. 12— E. Bot. 1704— Sclireb. 20. 3— H. Ox. viii. 4. row 2. 3— Park. 
1166. 3— Panicle, Barr. 115. 2. 
Stem one to two feet high. Leaves spreading, sharp-pointed, striated, 
rough on the ribs and margin. Stipula oblong, rough at the back. Pa- 
nicle pale; awns of the calyx giving it a silky appearance. Styles 
scarcely any. 
Var. 1. Whole plant soft, and only five or six inches high. 
Barr. 115. 1— Buxb. v. 66. 1. 
Sir J. E. Smith considers this var. merely a diminutive, from want of nou¬ 
rishment. It is Alopecurus paniceus. Linn. With. Phleum crinitum /3. 
Huds. 
Annual Beard Grass. P. monspeliensis. Desfont. Schrad. Sm. Eng. FI. 
Alopecurus monspeliensis. Linn. With. Phleum crinitum. With. ed. 2. 
Schreb. Sm. FI. Brit. Agrostis panicea. Willd. E. Bot. Marshes and 
moist pastures near the sea. Purfleet, Essex; about two miles from 
Portsmouth, near Drayton. Ray. Near Cley, Norfolk. Mr. Humphrey. 
On Sunderland Ballast Hill. Mr. Winch. A. June—July. E.) 
(P. littora'lis. Awns straight, about the length of the calyx : root 
creeping. 
E. Bot. 1251— Dicks. H. S. 16. 1— Knapp. 22. 
Stems branched, smooth; decumbent, and taking root at their lower joints; 
about a foot high. Leaves rough on both sides, as well as at their edges. 
Stipula slightly downy. Sheaths striated, smooth. Panicle lobed, pur¬ 
plish, shining, but less silky than the former, the awns being so much 
shorter. Sm. By a note in With. Herbar. it appears that the awn of 
the bloss. is sometimes deciduous after flowering. 
Perennial Beard Grass. Agrostis littoralis. With. ed. 6. Sm. FI. Brit. 
In muddy salt-marshes, rare. Wells, on the Norfolk coast; and in 
Essex. Near the powder magazine, four miles from Woolwich. Mr. 
Jackson. P. E.) 
(From TroXuf, many, and nwy ojv, a beard; alluding to the numerous awns. F.) 
