A i r a P r ü c o x . E a r l y H a i r - G r a s s .
AIfcA Lin. Gen. PL T r ian d r ia D ig y n i a .
Cal. 2-valvis, 2-florus. Floficuli abfque interje£lo rudimento.
Raii Syn. Gen. 27. H er b^e gramin ifolia s flore imp er f e c to cuLMiFERifi.
AIRA praecox foliis fetaceis; vaginis angulatis, floribus paniculato fpicatis, flofculis bafi ariftatis.
Lin. Syfi. Vegetab. p. 90.
GRAMEN paniculatum minimum molle. Bot. Movfi. App.
GRAMEN parvum praecox paniculä (potius fpicä) laxä canefcente. Raii Syn. ed. 3. p. 408. tab.
xxii.fig. 2.
GRAMEN avenaceum, capillaceum, minimis glumis miniraum. Breynii.
GRAMEN phalaroides, fparfä paniculä minimum anguftifolium. Barrel. Ic. 44. 1. tab. iv. fig. 15.
Lightfioot Fl. Scot. p. 95.
Hudfon Fl. Angl. 31. ed. 2. p. 36.
Oeder Fl. Dan. 383.
RADIX annua, fibrofa. 0 ROOT annual, and fibrous.
CULMI plures, fimplices, bi aut triunciales, femipe- 0 STALK S feveral, fimple, from two to three inches,
dales etiam occurrunt, teretes, laves, eretii. | fometimes even to fix inches high, round,
$ fmooth, and upright. 0
FOLIA radicalia fepius linearia, convoluta, marcida; f LEAVES, near the root generally linear, rolled up,
caulina vagina breviora, fubere&a, paululum 0 and withered; thofe of the ftalk fliorter than
recurvata, obtufiufcula; Membrana pro ra- | the fheath, nearly upright, but bending a
tionefolii longa,alba,culmum circumvolvens, 0 little back, and fomewhat blunt; the Memin
plantis adhuc tenellis notatu digna; Va- | brane, for the fize of the leaf, long, white,
gina ftriata, fubventricofa. | furrounding the ftem, ftrikingly confpicuous
0 in the plant while young; the Sheath finely
X grooved, and bellying a Tittle in the middle.
JPANICULA coarftata, fpiciformis, mollis, femiun- | PANICLE clofed together, and refembling a fpike,
cialis, aut uncialis. % foft, half an inch or an inch in length.
SPICULiE biflorae, biariftatae, fig. 1. au£t.
| SPICULyE containing two flowers, each of which
$ has an arifla, fig. 1. magnified.
0
CA L YX : a G lume o f two valves, the valves nearly
CALYX: G lum a bivalvis, valvulae fubaequales, \ ovato-acutae, fubmembranaceae, carinä ad < lentem fcabrä, 2.
COROLLA: Gluma bivalvis, valvulae fubaequales, |
longitudine calycis, altera majori, bicufpi- <
data, arifiatä; arifla infra medium glumae
pofita, corolla duplo longior, plerumque <
refta, fig. 3, 5. j
equal, oval, and pointed, fomewhat membranous,
the keel appearing rough when
magnified, fig. 2.
CO ROLLA: a G lume o f two valves, nearly equal,
o f the length o f the calyx, one o f which is
larger than the other, terminated by two
long points, and furnifhed with an ar ifla ;
the arifla growing out from below the middle
o f the glume, twice the length o f the corolla,
and generally ftrait, fig. 3, 5.
STAMINA: F il am e n t a tria, capillaria, breviflima: |
A n t h e r ^ minimse, flavefcentes, fig. 4. |
0
PISTILLUM : G ermen oblongum : S t y l i duo, ad 0
STAMINA: three F il am e n t s , fine, and very fhort:
bafin ufque ramofi. %
ANTHERiE very minute, and yellowim,j?g. 4.
PISTILLUM: G ermen o blon g : S t y l e s two, and
branched to the bottom.
SEMEN oblongum, hinc convexum inde concavum, | SEED oblong, convex on one fide, and hollow on
bicufpidatum, ariflatum, bafi pilofum, fig. $ the other, having two points, with an arifla,
6, 7. 0 hairy at bottom, fig. 6, 7.
The Aira praecox is very common on moft of our heaths about town, particularly on Blackheath.
It flowers in April and May, and ripens its feed in June.
Scheuchzer mentions its growing fometimes to the height of fourteen inches, a height it rarely attains
with us. 0 0 a
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