206 
TRIANDRIA. DIGYNIA. Triticcm. 
FI. Dan. 748— Schreb. 26. 5 and 7— Scheuch. 1. 1. C. 2. 
Var. 5. T. repens /3. Sm. Leaves sea-green, stiff, acute. Ray. Calyx 
from three to eight-flowered; florets pointed. Huds. T. repens y. Sm. 
Sea coast. 
(Rev. Hugh Davies finds a var. on the north-east coast of Anglesey, so very 
long awned as to resemble the following species. E.) 
Dog’s Grass; Squitch or Couch Grass; Creeping Wheat Grass. 
(Welsh: Gwenith-wellt ymdanawl. E.) Very common. P. June-—Aug.* 
T. caninum. Calyx with three or five ribs, pointed, mostly four- 
flowered ; awns longer than the blossom; spikets upright; 
(leaves flat; root fibrous. E.) 
( E. Bot. 1372. E.)— Leers 12. 4. ii.— H. Ox. viii. 1. row 3. 2— Baxh. iv. 50. 
{Stems two feet high, leafy, minutely striated. Leaves nearly upright, flat, 
bright green, rough on both sides, spear-shaped. Spike three or four inches 
long, compact. The fibrous root readily distinguishes this species from the 
last. E.) Blossom inner valve spear-shaped, just sensibly longer than the 
outer ; outer bare of hairs, edges at the point membranous. The above 
circumstances distinguish it from Festuca sylvatica , which it much resem¬ 
bles in its general appearance. St. 
Dog’s Wheat. (Bearded Wheat Grass. (Irish: Bruim fher. Welsh: 
Gwenith-welt sypwraidd coliog. E.) T. caninum. Linn. Sp. PI. Ed. i. 
Huds. Schreb. Sm. Hook. Elymus caninus. Linn. Wiild. Woods and 
hedges. Ripton wood, Huntingdonshire; and in the north, frequent. 
Mr. Woodward. About Pains wick. Mr. O. Roberts. Lligwy wood, An¬ 
glesey. Welsh Bot. About Edinburgh, as between Caroline Park and 
Cramond. Greville. E.) P. June—July.f 
T. lolia'ceum. (Calyx obtuse, many-flowered; spike simple, unilateral; 
stem branched; root fibrous. E.) 
E. Bot. 221—Pluk. 32. 7. 
Whole plant rigid, three or four inches high. Floral-leaf shorter than the 
spike. Spike one inch and a quarter to two inches long, a quarter of an 
inch broad. Spikets ten to fifteen, not crowded. Calyx six or eight- 
flowered, both that and the blossom awnless. The serpentine spike-stalk, 
* {White Couch, in opposition to dgrostis nigra {repens of Sine.) Black Couch. E.) 
At Naples the roots (much larger than those of English growth, E.) are collected in large 
quantities, and sold in the market to feed horses ; they have a sweet taste, somewhat 
approaching to that of liquorice ; when dried and ground to meal, they have been 
made into bread in seasons of scarcity. The juice of them, drank liberally, is recom¬ 
mended by Boerhaave in obstructions of the viscera ; particularly in cases of schirrous 
liver and jaundice. Cattle are frequently found to have schirrous livers in winter, and 
they soon get cured w'hen turned out to grass in the spring. Dogs eat the leaves to 
excite vomiting, (probably by mechanical action stimulating the anterior passage. E.) 
Horses eat them when young, but leave them when fully grown. Mr. Southwell. Cows, 
sheep, and goats eat them. (Pitt and Sinclair describe this as constituting the principal 
Couch-grass in gardens and rich cultivated soils. Holcus mollis and Poa pratensis are 
the proper Couch-grasses of light and sandy soils. Agrostis alba is chiefly troublesome 
in clayey lands. Forking the roots after the plough is the best mode of extirpation. 
It does not thrive well combined with other grasses. The seed is subject to mildew. 
Hort. Gram. E.) 
t (Mr. Sinclair considers this grass of value for early spring produce in soils of 
inferior quality, but it is defective in lattermath, and the awns of the spike render it 
objectionable. E.) 
