194 TRIANDRIA. DIGYNIA. Avena. 
A. FA'tua. (Panicle erect, compound; calyx three-flowered, all the 
florets awned, and bristly at the base: spikets pendulous. E.) 
(E. Bot. 2221. E.)— Leers 9. 4 — Mill. III. — H. Ox. viii. 7. 5 — Barr. 75. 2. 
(Stem a yard high, upright, simple, cylindrical, smooth. Leaves spread¬ 
ing, flat, strap-shaped, finely ribbed, rough, sometimes hirsute. Panicle 
large, spreading : branches tumid at the top. Calyx an inch long, green, 
many ribbed, chaffy, smooth. Florets tawny, with copious bristles. 
Awn two inches long, spiral, stout. Sm. E.) Awn geniculate. 
(Mr. Brunton has observed two varieties, one hairy at the base of the 
glumes only ; the other entirely covered with hairs. Bot. Guide. E.) 
Bearded Wild Oat Grass. Haver. (Welsh: Fettur; Gwyllt-geirch. 
Corn-fields, chiefly on clays and stiff gravels. E.) A. July—Aug.* 
A. pubes'cens. Panicle spike-like; calyx about three-flowered : blos¬ 
soms longer than the calyx, bearded at the base; leaves flat, 
pubescent. 
( Hort. Gram. — E. Bot. 1640. E.) —Leers 9. 2 —Ray 21. 2 — Scheuch. 4. 20— 
FI. Han. 1203 — Mont. 65. 
(Root somewhat creeping. Stems one and a half to two feet high. Sm. E.) 
Very closely allied to A. pratensis , but the leaves not rolled in. Linn. 
Florets sometimes only two, at others four, and, in the more luxuriant 
plants, occasionally five. Scheuch. Panicle branches shorter than the spikets, 
except the lower ones which are longer, and, though rarely, branched. 
Florets purplish and silvery white. Blossom half the length of the awn. 
(Downy Oat Grass. Welsh: Ceirch-wellt manhluaid. E.) Dry chalky , 
soils. Marham, Norfolk. Mr. Woodward. Wick Cliffs. Mr. Swayne. 
Marlborough Downs. (Common about Garn, Denbighshire. Mr. Grif¬ 
fith. Toxteth Park, near Liverpool. Dr. Bostock. Llanfihangel; Din- 
silwy, Anglesey. Rev. H. Davies. In limestone pastures, with the pre¬ 
ceding, near Sunderland and Castle Eden. Mr. Winch. In Woburn park, 
where the soil is light and siliceous. Sinclair. Arthur’s Seat and Salis¬ 
bury Craigs. Greville. E.) P. June.t 
A. flaves'cens. Panicle diffuse, erect; calyx three-flowered, shorter 
than the florets; all the florets awned. 
Gram. Pasc. — Curt. 212 — (Hort. Gram. E.Bot • 952. E.) — Schreb. Q—Leers 
10. 5— Scheuch. A. 18— H. Ox. viii. 7. 42— Mont. 79. 
* Horses, sheep, and goats eat it. (The flowers serve rustic fishermen, instead of 
artificial flies, to catch trout. Sm. E.) The awns are used for hygrometers, (being 
very sensible to the dryness or humidity of the atmosphere, which changes cause them 
to contract or expand in an animated manner. By a similar movement the seed is gradu¬ 
ally insinuated into the earth; and Linnaeus informs us, that if the bearded oat be 
housed with other grain, the glumes will very soon be found empty from the like pro¬ 
cedure. E.) Sometimes so prevalent amongst barley as almost entirely to choke it. 
(On such occasions it has been thrashed out and sold for horse-corn. Holdich. E.) It 
may he extirpated by repeated fallowing, or laying down the land in grass. (When 
mixed with wheat, this grain is highly objectionable to the miller. In spring it is 
scarcely to be distinguished from the wheat plants, so that it cannot be selected and 
weeded out: hence the necessity of attending to the purity of the seed-corn. E.) 
■f Disagreeable to cattle. Mr. Swayne. (Not only mechanically so, but, according to 
Mr. Salisbury, from the foliage being extremely bitter. Mr. Sinclair states, that the 
downy hairs on the leaves almost disappear when the plant is cultivated on richer soils, 
and is inclined to consider it of some value among the secondary grasses. E.) 
