OK THE MIXED HERBAGE OE PERMANENT MEADOW. 
1245 
and decumbent at the base, giving off roots from the under surface. The leaves are 
mostly radical, very slender, erect, conduplieate, varying in colour and size. The plant 
flowers in June and July, and again in the autumn. 
The form usually met with, in the experimental plots is called F. duriuscula, which 
is larger than the typical F. ovina, and its upper leaves are flat, not folded. Some 
botanists have considered that there are several varieties of F. ovina , whilst others have 
ranked them as separate species. That considerable differences exist is obvious, but it 
is equally obvious that these differences are by no means so great as to preclude the 
idea that they may all have originated from a common stock. Sinclair (‘ Hortus 
Gramineus Woburnensis,’ p. 155, 8th ed.) says, and his opinion is worthy of great 
consideration, that, “ All these grasses (F. glauca, glabra , cambrica, duriuscula , and 
rubra ) vary much from change of soil and situation; the flowers are particularly apt 
to vary in number, as well as in the length of their awns; there is one character, 
however, which I have never found to change under any variety of culture, which is 
the creeping root; and this is also an agricultural character of distinction which is 
never to be lost sight of, as it always produces a specific effect upon the soil, very 
distinct indeed from that of the fibrous rooted kinds.” 
The records of observation at Rothamsted do not enable us to speak so decidedly 
as Sinclair does as to the permanence of the character afforded by the “ creeping 
root.” According to him it is the form called F. rubra alone which possesses this 
characteristic, while the fine F. ovina , and its allies, or varieties, duriuscula , glabra , 
cambrica., do not show it. We are inclined to look on the “creeping root” as to a 
large extent an induced physiological character, depending on conditions of soil and 
competition, &c., and not as a permanent hereditary characteristic; and this seems 
to be the view of Mr. Bentham and Sir Joseph Hooker, neither of whom admit 
the forms above mentioned to higher rank than that of sub-species or varieties. On 
the unmanured plots the form met with corresponds most closely with the typical 
F. ovina; while on the highly manured plots greater development and luxuriance is 
met with, and the plant assumes more of the habit of F. duriuscula. 
In this country the grass is very abundant at all elevations, especially on dry poor 
soils. It is subject, under varying external conditions, to great variations in size and 
colour of parts, presence or absence of awns, &c. 
The characters favourable to it are its dense rooting faculty, its tufted habit, 
abundant and fine offsets, threading their way among other roots, fine slender leaves, 
capable of expanding or closing according to hygroscopic conditions, enabling the plant 
to insinuate itself among its competitors, &c. Its restricted evaporating surface, 
robust constitution, and power of adaptation to diverse circumstances, as shown by its 
world-wide distribution, also give it a great advantage. Its ability to withstand 
drought is likewise a faculty greatly in its favour in dry seasons. 
7 U 
MDCCCLXXXII. 
