I BROMUS Lin. Gen. PL T riandria Digynia.
Cal. 2-vaIvis. Spicula oblonga, teres, difficha: arifta infra apiceim
Raii Syn. Gen. 2j. Herbie graminifolial flore impeRfecto culmifeR^e.
I BROMUS giganteus panicula nutante, fpiculis quadrifloris : ariftis brevioribus. Lin.Syfi. Vegetßk
p. 103. Spec. Plant, p. 114. Fl.Suec.nft .34.
I BROMUS giganteus panicula ramofa nutante* ramis binatis* fpiculis fubquadrifloris arifta brevioribus.
Hudfon Fl. Angl. p. 51.
BROMUS glaber,. locuftis quadrifloris nutantibus, ariftis longiftimis. Haller, hiß. n. 1510;
BROMUS giganteus. Scopoli FI. Cam. n. 1 16 .. V ar. 1. glabra’et minor-.
GRAMEN bromoides aquaticum latifelium, panicula fparfa tenuiffime ariftata. Scheuchz. Agrofli
■ ' P- 264. t. 5. fig. 17.
GRAMEN fyl vatic um glabrum, panicula recurva: Vaill. Paris,,p. 93.
GRAMEN avenaceum glabrum, panicula e fprcis raris ftrigofis compofita, ariftis tenuiflimis.
Raii hiß. 1909. Syn. p. 415.- Lightfoot FI. Scot. p. 104.
'perennis, fibrofa. '4 ROOT perennial and fibrous. .
JEmUS tripedalis et ultra, ere&us, laevis, geniculis | S T A LK three feet or more m height, upright, fmooth,
1 plerumque purpureis. - t ' the joints for the moft part purple.
llA lemunciam latafpaete viridia, Iaevia, inferne $ LEAVES half an inch broad, o f a bright-green colour,
f nitida, bafl appendiculis ex fufco purpureis 0 fmooth, (hining underneath,.furnilhed at the
utrinque, caulem amplexantibus inftru&a, Y bafe on each nde with two purplifh-brown
l vagina inferne fcabriufcula, minime pilofa, 6 appendages, which embrace the ftalk, Jheath.
fuperne glabra, membrana breviffima. i below a little rough to the touch, but not
hairy, above fmooth, the membrane very fhort.
IB nICULA ampla, pedalis etiam* fparfa, ramis | PANICLE large, even a foot long, loofe, branches
H plerumque binatis* nutantibus, fecundis, % generally growing in pairs, all-one way,
fcabriufculis. ‘ j drooping, and roughilh.
I^ICULiE ovato-lanceolatae, fubquinquifloras, fern- $ SPICULAL ovato-lanceolate, containing about five
unqiales, plerumque virides, laeves, ariftatae: | . flowers, half an inch in length, for the moft
Arificealbas,fpiculispaulolongiores,flexuofae, | part green, fmooth, and bearded: Beards
fcabrse. . white, a little longer than the fpicuke,
| crooked, and rough. '
H^LYX: Glum a bivalvis, valvulis inasqualibus, ? CALYX : a Glume of two valves, the valves unequal,
acuminatis, viridibus, marginibus albidis, | pointed, green, with white edges, the large
majore lineis tribus, minore unica fubdiaphana <> valve marxed with three, and the fmall one
notata, 1. a with onefomewhat tranfparent line, f ig .i .
MtOROLLA: Glum a bivalvis, valvulis fubaqualibus, % CO RO L LA : a Glume of two valves, the valves
viridibus* kevibus, margine albis, exteriore | nearly equal, green, fmooth, the edges white,
majore, concava, obfolete trinervis,.ariftata, 4 the outer one largeft hollow, faintly three-:
arifta gluma longiore paulo infra apicem ex- | rib’d, and bearded, the beard longer thanjhe
ferta, interiore minore, planiufcula, albida, $
PlECTARIÜM: GlumuljE duae,bafin germinis, accuminatae, ad fig. 4.
tghlue mpeo,i natn, dt hper oicneteedriionrg ofrrioem l eaa ftl,i tftloem bewelohwat flat and whitifli, fig. 2, 3.
NECTARoYf t:h et wgoe rfmmeanll, pointed Glumes at the bafe IT AMINA: F fig. 4. ilAM'En^ta tria, capillaria, alba; | STAMINA: three capillary, white Filaments ;
AntherjE flavae, bifurcm, 5. , i Anthers yellow and forked, fig;fi. jlSTILLSUtMyl: i Gdueor,m peante.onbteosv, aatudm ba, fvinir iudfeq,u en irtaidmuomfi;, l$ PI' STILL(UhiMnin: gG; eSrTmYeLnE Si.tnwvoe,r ffeplrye aodviantge ,a ngdr eberna nadnid
ng. 6l auft.- fig. 7. , 0 ed quite to the bottom, fig. 6. magnified,
■ EMEN oblongum, ex nigro purpiirafcens, intra I SEED oblong, of a blackilh-purple colour, enclofed
, . glumas adhaerentes* inclufum, fig. 8, 9. ■ S within the glumes w*hich adhere toit, fig. 8,9.
■ There is only one grafts for which this fpecies of Bromus is liable to be rniftaken, and that is the Bromus
wfifutus already figured, they are both large graffes, and grow in fimilar fituations, indeed frequently together:
Biey have been confounded by Scopoli, who makes the hirfutus a variety of the giganteus; but the leaft
■ tention would have taught him, that they were materially .different.
■ The (heath of the tower leaves in the hirfutus is covered with long (tiff hairs, which are wanting in the
^ganteus; the leaves of the giganteus are gloffy on the under fide, and thofe of the ftalk. near their .extremities,
fiPpear as if a flack ligature had been tied round them; but there is a chara&er almoft peculiar to this grafs,
||P bafe of the leaf is terminated by two fmall appendages, of a reddifti-brown colour, which ufually embrace
ftalk,,and will never fail to diftingui(h it from the hirfutus: ' the fpicula? alfo, if no other diftinguifhing
■ nara&er were prefent, would be all-fufficient, being ftidrter by almoft one half, containing fewer flowers,
■ rid having ariftae or awns longer in proportion to the fpiculae and more crooked : we may add another cha-
■ fter which we have difcovered from cultivation, the giganteus is a perennial, whereas the hirfutus is only
annual or biennial, a cirtumftance which we were not fufficiently apprized of when we defcribed that
■ lant.
» h i s grafts is frequent enough in the neighbourhood of London, in woods, and under hedges, efpecially
B c*Las are accompanied by a wet ditch, nor is it uncommon by the fides of the Thames; the (ituation which
B aftefts with us, is more agreeable to the name given it by Scheuchzer, than to the account delivered by
M-NNiEus in his Species plantarum, where he fayst habitat in Europce fylvis ficcis: we very rarely or never
find f meadowshence, though a prodii&ive grafs, there feems not much probability of its becoming a
^or meadows or paftures.
^ owers from July to September.