176 
TRIANDRIA. DIGYNIA. Spartina. 
Stem compressed, and aided by the sheaths of the leaves,, appears to be 
two-edged, especially in the stronger plants, (about two feet high. 
Anthers violet, pendulous. E.) 
(Orchard Grass, Rough Cocksfoot Grass. Welsh: Byswellt garwaidd. 
Very common in meadows, orchards, and shady pastures. E.) 
P. June—Aug.* 
(SPAR'TINA.f Cal. of two spear-shaped, compressed, clasp¬ 
ing valves. Bloss. of two compressed, rather unequal, 
spear-shaped valves. Nect. none: Seed detached. 
Styles combined. E.) 
(S. strict a. Spikes two or three, erect, with very smooth stalks : glumes 
downy: outer valve of the calyx smallest. Sra. E.) 
Plate XXVII.— (E. Bot . 380. E.) 
(In salt marshes near Aldborough, Suffolk, which are exposed to the flux 
and reflux of every tide, this grass frequently covers extensive patches, 
to the exclusion of almost every other plant. In these places I have 
examined thousands of specimens without ever finding more than two 
spikes, which are so closely adpressed, as to have the appearance of a 
single spike. One is always longer than the other, and flowers first, and 
on the going off of those flowers, the lower spike pushes out its anthers. 
The straw has often a dark reddish cast, and the whole plant a blackish 
hue, by which the patches before mentioned may be destinguished at a 
considerable distance. The lower part of the culm terminates in a sort of 
bulb, from which the fibres forming the root issue. Wood. E.) About 
a foot high. Straw curved at the base, upright above, smooth, sheathed 
* Thrives in the shade and under the drippings of large trees. Rather coarse 
but very productive, especially in leaves, and is not disliked by cattle, unless when 
growing on rank soils. Rev. G. Svvayne. (An useful plant for filling up the dearth 
experienced by graziers, from the time turnips are over until the meadows are fit 
for grazing. Every sheep-farm should be provided with a due portion, but it must be 
kept closely eaten down, as scarcely any animal will feed on it when old, or when 
dried. Salisbury. Mr. Sinclair testifies more particularly to its merits:—“It is 
deserving of especial notice, that the herbage of this grass, when suffered to grow 
rank or old, from want of sufficient stocking, contains nearly one-half less nourishment 
than that which is of a recent growth. Hence this grass is more valuable for pasture 
than hay ; yet, even for the latter purpose, it will be found superior to rye-grass 
(Lolium perenne), and many other grasses. To reap the full benefit of its superior 
merits as a pasture-grass it should be kept closely cropped, either by cattle or the 
scythe. Oxen, horses, and sheep, eat this grass readily : I have observed oxen eat the 
culms and flowering heads, until the time the seed was perfected. It succeeds best where 
the subsoil is porous and not stagnant: the fibrous root then penetrates to a considerable 
depth, and the plant is productive in an extraordinary degree, and remains permanent. 
In the finest fattening pastures of Devonshire, Lincolnshire, and the vale of Aylesbury, 
this grass constituted a portion of the herbage, but was not to be detected by the tufty 
and coarse appearance which it assumes when cultivated singly, or unskilfully depas¬ 
tured. It was originally introduced from Virginia as Orchard-grass, by the Society 
of Arts. It. is less impoverishing to the soil than Rye-grass. A combination of 
three-parts Cock’s-foot, and one part composed of Festuca duriuscula , F. praiensis, 
Poa trivialis , Holcus avenacens, Phlevm protease, Lolium perenne, and white clover, in 
smaller proportion, will secure the most productive and nutritive pasture in alternation 
with grain crops. E.) 
+ (From Spartum, a kind of broom or hard-grass, used by the ancients for economi¬ 
cal purposes. E.) 
