156 
TRIANDRIA. DIGYNIA. Agrostis. 
expanding. Calyx valves unequal,, the outer serrulated all along the 
keel, the inner only towards the point. Blossom inner valve deciduous, 
more like a very short and slender hair than a husk, and so minute that 
it is with difficulty found. Awn jointed, very slender, deciduous, some¬ 
what longer than the blossom, and fixed beneath its middle. 
(Pallid Bent Grass. E.) Near the monument of Rufus, New Forest. 
May—June. 
(2) Generally without awns. 
(A. vulga'ris, Panicle spreading, with divaricated, capillary branches: 
calyx-valves nearly equal: stem erect: stipula abrupt, very 
short. Sm. E.) 
Gram. Pasc. — FI. Dan. 163—( Hort.Grain. — E. Bot. 1671. E.)— Mas. Rust. 
iv. 2. 10— Stilling/. 3. 
{Root tufted, strong, somewhat creeping. Stems twelve to twenty-four 
inches high: in var. 3, (y), two to four inches only; smooth, lowermost 
joints often sending out roots. Leaves linear, taper-pointed, rough on 
both sides. Stipula extremely short and abrupt, by which. Prof. Schrader 
observes, all the vars. of this species, whether awned or not, are readily 
distinguished from A. canina or A. alba. Panicle purplish, slender and 
delicate. Flowers small, erect, shining. Valves of the blossom very 
unequal; the smaller notched at the summit, hairy at the base ; larger, 
three-ribbed, shorter than the calyx, usually awnless, but sometimes, as 
in var. 2 (/3), and not unfrequently in var. 3 (y), furnished with a dorsal 
rough awn, about twice its own length. Summit densely feathery. Seed 
ovate, tumid, especially in var. 3 (y), which is often, not always, infected 
with the smut, or Ustilago. In var. 4 (<$), the glumes become more or 
less elongated and leafy, the fructification being transformed into a bud, 
and the panicle viviparous. Sm. 
Var. 2. A. canina. With. ed. 6. High and dry moors. 
Var. 3. Dwarf. A.pumila. Linn. Mant. Willd. Lightf. Dicks. FI. S. In 
poor barren soil, sometimes near the sea. 
Var. 4. Wood. A. vulgaris. Var. 3, sylvatica. With. In woods. 
Fine Bent Grass. Welsh: Meus-wellt addfain. A. vulgaris. With. 
Knapp. Relh. Hook. Grev. Sine. Schrad. Hoffm. A. hispida. Willd. 
A. tenuis. Sibth. A. capillaris. Abbot. Roth. A. stolonifera. Leers. 
In meadows, pastures, and borders of fields, every where. 
P. July — Aug. E.)* 
(A. al'da. Panicle condensed at the base of the main divisions: calyx- 
valves lanceolate, bristly at the keel: stem spreading, creeping: 
stipula oblong, ribbed. 
E. Bot. 1189— Knapp . 28. 
A larger plant than A. vulgaris, from which it essentially differs, in having 
an elongated, ribbed, bluntish, mostly downy, finally torn stipida, whereas 
that of A. vulgaris is scarcely visible at all, or at most not a line , in 
length. 
* (It is disliked by cattle, as are the Bents in general. Swayne. In the sterile He¬ 
brides it is deemed valuable. Walker. The straw of this grass yields an excellent 
plat for the manufacture of hats and bonnets. JE.) 
