MELICÄ Lin. Gen. PL T r ian d ria D igyn ia.
Cal. 2-valvis, 2-florus. Rudimentum floris inter flofculos.
Raii Syn. Gen. 27. Herb.« g ramin ifoli« flore imperfecto culmifer« .
MELICA ccerulea panicula coar&ata floribus cylindricis. Lin.Syß. Vegetab. p. 113.
AIRA ccerulea foliis planis, panicula coar&ata, floribus pedunculatis muticis convoluto fubulatisi
Lin. Sp. PI. 95. Fl. Suec. n. 67.
POA fpiculis fubulatis panicula rara contra6la. Fl. Lapp. 29.
AIRA ccerulea. Scopoli Fl. n. 91.
GRAMEN arundinaceum enode minus fylvaticum. Bauh. Pin. 7. Scheuch Agroß. 209*
GRAMEN pratenfe ferotinum, panicula longa purpurafcente. Raii hiß. 1288. Morif. hiß. 3.
p. 2 0 1 ./ 8 . t. 5. ƒ . 22.
GRAMEN pratenfe fpica Lavendulas. Merr. Pin. 5. Raii Syn. 404. Hudfon. FL Angl. ed. 2.
p. 33. Lightfoot FL Scot. p . 96.
RADIX perennis, fibrofa, fibris craflis, albidis feu RO OT perennial, fibrous, thick, whitifti or brownilh,
fufcefcentibus, flexuofis, yillofis. a crooked and villous.
CULMUS pedalis, fefquipedalis, aut bipedalis, bafi <> S T A LK a foot, a foot and a half, or two feet
fub-bulbofus, ereftus, unico tantum nodo, | \ high, fomewhat bulbous at the bafe, upright,
eoque prope bafin inftru&o, fuperne nudus, ♦ \ having only one knot, and that near the
laevis. | bafe, above naked and fmooth.
FOLIA plerumque tria, aufc' quatuor, palmaria, et 4 LEAVES for the moft part three or four, about a
ultra, ex caeruleo virefcentia, latiufcula, £ hand s-breadth in length, of a blueifh-green
acuminata, rigidula, inferiora plana, fupe-4 colour, rather broad, long-pointed, ftiffilh,
riora fubconvoluta, ad margmes pilofa, the lower ones flat, the upper ones fbme-
Membrana nulla, Vagina brevis, ftriata. a what rolled up, hairy at the edges, Membrane
§ none, Sheath fhort and ftriated.
FLORES paniculati. - $ FLOWERS growing in a panicle.
PANICULA palmaris, et ultra, ramofa, ramis ap- A PANICLE a hands-breadth or more in length,
preflis, hinc fubfpicata. y branched, the branches doling together fo
A as to form a kind of fpike.
SPICUL/E biflorae, triflorae* et quadriflorae, faepius y SPICULjE containing two, three, and four flowers,
vero triflorae, fig. 1, 2, 3, cum rudimento X but moft commonly three, fig. 1, 2, 3, with
fiofculi in plenfque, fig. 4, 5, juniores’com- $ a rudiment of a flower in moft of them,
preflae, adultae teretiulculae, obtufae, paulu- a fig. 4, 5, the young ones flattened, the fulllum
divergentes. y grown ones rounailh, obtufe, flightly diverging.
CALYX bivalvis, valvulae fubaequales, acutae, cari- <> C A L YX compofed of two valves, the valves nearly
natae, ad margines purpureas, fig. 6. a equal, pointed, keeled, the
fig- 6-
ges purple,
COROLLA bivalvis, valvulae fubaequales, exteriore y CO ROL LA compofed
majore, interiorem ampleciente, trinerve, a nearly equal, the outer one, which is largeft,
fubmucronata, ad margines purpurea, inte- y embracing the inner one, three-ribb’d, flightly
riore binerve, pallidiore, obtufa, paulo bre- pointed, the edges purple, the inner valve
viore, fig. 7. £ two-ribb’d, paler, obtufe, and a little Ihorter,
. 0 7* NECTARIUM : Squamul« duas, breviflimae, latae, ^ N ECTARY : two very Ihort, broad, truncated,
truncatas, emarginatas, fig. 8. | emarginate Scales, fig. 8.
STAMINA: Fi l ament a tria, capillaria; A n th e r s <> STAMINA: three capillary Filaments; A nther.«
bifurcae, purpureas, ^ -. 11. forked at each end, and purple, fig. 11.
minimum, glabrum, fub- 4 PISTILLUM^ G ermen PISTILLUM: G erk< very minute, fmooth, and
ovatum ; S t y l i duo, ramofi, ad bafin ufque ^
purpurei, fig. 9, 10. $ .
fomewhat ovate; Styles two, branched
down to the bottom, and purple, fig. 9. 10.
Our readers, on perufing the above defcription, will quickly perceive, that this grafs does not accord, in
every refpeft, with the chara6ters of a Melica ; it has, in general, too many flowers : yet, as the eflential part,
the rudimentum fiofculi, is found in moji of the Spiculas, it cannot, perhaps, be more judicioufly arranged.
L innaeus, at different periods, appears to have entertained a different opinion of it: in his Flora Lapponica,
he confiders it as a Poa ; in his Species Plantarum and Flora Suecica, as an Air a ; and, laftly, in his Syjlema
vegetabilium, makes it a Melica.
If the Spiculas be examined when the plant is young, they are certainly very Poa^like, being pointed, flattened,
and containing ufually from three to five flowers ; as they advance, their form alters, they become rounder,
and more like the flowers of the Air a aquatica: if the rudimentum fiofculi were wanting, it would be difficult
to lay with which of the two genera it mould be placed; that being prefent, the difficulty vanilhes, and we
clals it at once with the Melica.
Two ftriking peculiarities diftinguilh.this grafs : the ftalk has only one knot, and that near its bafe ; and
noj- on‘y its ftamina, but its ftigmata alfo, are of a deep purple colour.
Me r rets name of Gramen Spica Lavendulce, is very expreflive of its appearance when in flower.
' H 1/La Ver7 common grafs on wet moors and heaths, and flowers from July to the end of September; it
IS IIP« anc^ ^ate> anc^ therefore does not feem at all adapted to agricultural purpofes ; it varies greatly in fize.
th ’ r* ^,1Ghtf.o o t » his Flora Scotica, informs us, that in the Ifle of Skie, the fifhermen make ropes for
eir nets of this grafs, which they find by experience will bear the water well without rotting. Scheuchzer
ays» that befoms are fometimes made of the ftraws.