204 
TRIANDR1A. DIGYNIA. Hordecm. 
Wall Barley Grass. (Mouse Barley. E.) Way Bennet. Wild 
Rye. (Irish: Cuiseog Fhin. Welsh: Haidd-wellt y muriau. Walls and 
road sides, common. A. April—Aug.* 
H. prate n'se. Lateral florets barren, nearly awnless; involucrum 
bristle-shaped, rough. 
Gram. Pasc. —( Hort. Gram. — E. Bot. 409. E.)— Vaill. IT. 6— H. Ox. viii. 
2. row 1. 6— FI. Dan. 630- Park. 1144. 7. (3)—Mont. 96. 
(Twelve to eighteen inches high. Boot fibrous, occasionally becoming bul¬ 
bous. More slender than the other species. Stem more upright and 
twice as tall. Leaves narrow, roughish, sometimes hairy. Sheaths close, 
not swelling, with a scarcely perceptible stipula. Spike two inches long, 
often tinged with brown or purple. Stigmas feathery along the upper 
side. Sm. E.) Involucrum longer than the barren, shorter than the fer¬ 
tile florets. Florets, two barren, one fertile, forming a set, the larger 
valve in all the florets awned- Each barren floret has a fence of two 
awn-like leaves, neither fringed nor expanded at the base. The fertile 
floret has two awn-like fence leaves on the outside the larger awned 
valve of the blossom, and a third at the base of the inner or smaller valve, 
none of them either fringed or expanded at the base. 
Meadow Barley Grass. (II- pratense. Huds. H. nodosum. Linn. 
Sp. PI. II- murinum (3. Linn. II. secalinum. Schreb. Spicileg. H. ma - 
ritimum. Oed. Moist pastures and meadows. P. June.t 
H. marit'Imum. Lateral florets barren, nearly awnless.; middle floret 
perfect, with a long awn ; (inner valve of the calyx semi-ovate. 
E.) 
Dicks. H. S.~(Hook. FI. Loud .— E. Bot. 1205. E.)— II. Ox. viii. 6. 5. 
(The smallest species, more glaucous, rarely a foot high, procumbent at 
the base. Much resembles II. murinum, but maritimum is invariably 
distinguished by the semi-ovate form of the innermost valve of the calyx. 
E.) Involucrum longer than the barren, shorter than the fertile, florets. 
Florets two barren and one fertile forming a set; the larger valve in all 
the florets awned. Each barren floret has two fence-leaves, one of which 
is spear-shaped at the base. The fertile floret has two awn-like fence- 
leaves on the outside the large awned valve of the blossom, and a third 
short one at the base of the inner or smaller valve. 
* Sheep and horses eat it (but inferior with regard to nutritive powers, and ob¬ 
noxious from its long awns. This, or one of its congeners, vid. H. maritimum,') renders 
the hay in some parts of the Isle of Thanet so pernicious, as to be absolutel}' imprac¬ 
ticable to horses unaccustomed to it, frequently occasioning inflammations. It is there 
called Squirrel-tail Grass. E.) It feeds the Brown Moth, ( Phalcena granella ,) and the 
Barley Fly, ( Muse-a frit ): the latter very destructive in Sweden, by getting into the 
ear, but, according to Kirby and Spence, not yet observed in England. E.) 
t In moist meadows it produces a considerable quantity of hay, but is not to be 
re'comniended as one of the best grasses for the farmer, which are Alopecurus pratensis , 
Poa trivialis, Dactylis glomerata, Cynosurus cristatus, Festuca duriusculct, Festuca pratensis, 
Festuca hybrida. Arena jlavescens, and above all Loliurn perenne, carefully raised from 
seeds, first selected from the best varieties to be found in old meadows and pastures. 
If gardeners, and even farmers, are so careful in raising the seed of their cabbages and 
turnips, surely some of this care is due to the cultivated grasses. Swayne. (Mr. Sin¬ 
clair says this grass often prevails in excellent sheep pastures without objection; but 
for hay he conceives the long sharp awn* with which the spikets are armed might 
prove injurious to the mouths of cattle. E.) 
