TRIANDRXA. DIGYNIA. Meliga. 
163 
Silver Hair Grass. (Welsh : Brigwellt ariannaid. E.) Sandy pastures, 
frequent. A. July.* 
MEL/ICA.f (Cal. two-valved, one or two-flowered, with the 
rudiments of one or two intermediate ones. Stamens di¬ 
lated at the base. Seeds coated with the indurated 
blossom. E.) 
M. nu'tans. Petals not fringed: panicles drooping, undivided: 
(spikelet with two perfect florets. E.) 
Curt .— (E. Bot. 1059. E.)— FI. Dan. 962— Sclireb. 6. 1— C. B. Pr. 20. and 
Th. 155— Park. 1151. 5— Barr. 95. 2. and 96. 2 -J. B. ii. 434. 1—Leers 
3. 4— Scheuch. 3. 16. D, E, F. 
(One foot or more high; leaves strap-spear-shaped. Cal. glumes ovate, 
nerved, purplish brown, margin pale. Bloss. valves cartilaginous, nerved, 
outer one large., Between the two perfect flowers are the minute pedun¬ 
culated rudiments of a third, consisting, as Prof. Hooker observes, of a 
two-valved hardened blossom without either pistil or stamen. E.) Pani¬ 
cle three or four inches long, few flowered, flowers mostly pointing one 
way. Branches only three or four, and those not subdivided. 
Mountain Melic Grass. M. montana. Huds. Mountainous woods in 
Yorkshire, Westmoreland, and Cumberland. Helkswood, by Ingledon, 
Yorkshire. Mr. Woodward. (Grasswood, near Conniston. Mr. Caley. 
Lower part of Garreg wen rocks, close to the river near Garn, Denbigh¬ 
shire. Mr. Griffith. Frequent in the woods of Cheshire, as Early Banks- 
Wood, &c. Mr. Bradbury in Bot. Guide. Castle Eden Dean, Durham, 
Mr. Winch, Roslin woods, by the path side. Grev. Edin. E.) 
P. June—July.}; 
M. cjERiffLEA. Panicle compact ; flowers cylindrical ; straw without 
joints. 
Curt. — (E. Bot. 750. E.)— FI. Dan. 239— H. Ox. viii. 5. row 3. 22—* 
Leers 4. 7. 
(A hard, coarse, grass, with the habit of an Arundo. Boot of many strong 
fibres. Stems rather bulbous at the base, with a single joint near the bottom. 
Stalk of the spikelet with two perfect florets, and one or two sterile ones 
above. Leaves all springing from or near to the base, long and linear. 
Panicles purple ; when growing in shady situations pale brown, or green¬ 
ish. Anthers large, purple. E.) Straw near half a yard high. Panicle 
three to five inches long. Branches few, distant, nearly upright. Calyx 
with two, three, or four florets, but mostly with two; and though the 
number of the florets, and its general habit, which it must be confessed but 
ill accords with that of the other Melicas , have led some Botanists to 
consider it an Aira , the presence of the pedicle marks its real situation. 
In some specimens gathered in the New Forest the florets are a little 
hairy at the base, which circumstance seems to have induced Haller to 
rank this species as an Arundo. 
* (This and the preceding are soon dried up, and can yield nothing but a little early 
food for sheep. Sm. E.) 
t (From fxsXt, honey; its seed being somewhat sweet. E.) 
£ In the Isle of Rasa this grass is made into ropes for fishing-nets, which are remark¬ 
able for lasting long without rotting. Pennant’s Tour, 1774. p, 297, Cows, horses, and 
goats eat it. 
m 2 
