be found in abundance in July or August under our hedges, or indeed in any shady place. The Brome Grass (Bromus) also is a genus which includes many ornamental grasses that are both widely spread and abundant in this country. All the species bear a strong resemblance to each other, although the generic type is very marked and distinct. One species the Barren Brome (Bromus sterilis, Fig. 206) may be found on almost every piece Fig. 205. of waste ground, or along the hedgebanks of our lanes and road-sides. Common though it is, we have few native grasses that can compare with it for elegance and grace. To judge correctly of its pretensions to beauty, you should see it, not where it so freFloret of Holcus. quently grows, on the hedge-banks of our dusty roads, but along some grass-grown tree-shaded, country lane. There it will grow to the height of over two feet, will have soft, downy leaves, and spikelets seated on long slender pedicels which droop in the most graceful of curves. Each spikelet contains about seven compressed flowers, whose long, slender awns give to the whole plant a light and feathery appearance which greatly enhances its beauty. Along the dusty roads, the sterile Brome grass possesses a great capacity for collecting dust, and in such situations the plant is often an invisible green. One of the flowering glumes is represented at b, in Fig. 206. Another species of Brome (Bromus erectus) is to be found in fields, where it grows, as its name implies, more erect than the foregoing species. With this exception, and its strikingly yellow stamens, it so nearly Fig. 207. Common Rye Grass (Lolium perenne). resembles the Sterile Brome Grass that there is little difficulty in identifying it. Another of our commonest British grasses is the Darnel, or Rye Grass (Lolium), of which we have Fig. 208. several species. This grass makes an excellent hay on dry chalk or sandy soils, where it may becultivated with advantage along with clover. All the species, however, are subject to great variation, thus showing the capability of considerable powers of adaptation to different physical conditions. The Common Rye Grass (Lolium perenne, Fig. 207) may be found everywhere. The Bearded Darnel (Lolium temulentum), so called on account of its long awns, is supposed by some writers to be the "tares" to which the Saviour alluded in his parable of the tares and wheat. The seeds of this species have a very peculiar intoxicating effect. When malted with barley, the ale brewed from the mixture produces speedy drunkenness; and if they are ground up with bread-corn, the bread, if eaten hot, produces a similar effect. It is usually met with in cultivated fields. Cattle seem to know its qualities instinctively, for they always avoid it. Culm. Other abundant British grasses are Aira, Poa, Festuca, &c., whose numerous species grow in most fields. But we proceed now to notice the very common road-side forms, such as the Meadow Barley and Wall Barley. This genus contains four British species, all of which are easily recognisable. The spikelets in all the species are situated three together or nearly so, in alternate notches in the flower-stalk or culm (Fig. 208). The Wall Barley (Hordeum mu rinum, Fig. 209), may be found growing on the top or Fig. 209. in the decomposing mortar of most old walls. It is rather a stout grass, the stems being sometimes bent. It may be known from the Meadow Barley (Hordeum pratense, Fig. 211) by its panicle being longer and stronger. The bristles terminating the chaff-scales (glumes) are called 'awns,' and these in the Wall Barley are of considerable length (see Fig. 210). The meadow barley grows as tall as the wall barley, but it is more slender. The Sea-side Barley (Hordeum maritimum, Fig. 213), so called on account of its growing abundantly on the sands by the sea-shore, is a smaller species than either of the two already mentioned. It will also be recognised by its glaucous hue and its spreading awns, which latter peculiarity gives it a remarkably light and feathery appearance. The wall barley may be found growing along the margins of our road-sides, in company with the meadow barley, when they frequently Wall Barley (Hordeum murinum). |