KNAPPIA AGROSTIDEA. EARLY KNAPPIA.
K N A P P IA agrostidea. Smith Engl. Bot. t. 1127. El. B r it. Supp. p. 1387. Gaudiri Agvosi.
Helv. vol. 1. p. 11. ,
AGROSTIS minima. Linri. Sp. El. p . 93. Huds. Angl. p. 32. With. Bot. A r r . ed. 4. vol. 3.
p . 133. Roth Germ. vol. 2. p. 87- Smith Fl. B r it. p. 82. Willd. Sp. PI. vol. 1.
p . 372. Alton Hort. Kew. ed. 2. vol. 1. p . 149.
CHAMAGROSTIS minima. Schrader El. Germ. p . 158. Decand. Fl. Fr. ed. 3. vol. 3. p. 77.
' Fl. (Fall. Syn. p. 134. •
STURMIA minima. Sturm Deulsch. Fl. fa s e . 7. t. 1.
STURMIA verna. Pers. Syn. PI. vol. 1, p. 76.
GRAMEN minimum Anglo-Britannicum. Raii Syn. Indic. P l. Dub.
Welsh. Eiddil-welltyn cynnar.
Class and Order. T R IA N D R IA D IG Y N IA .
[N atural Order. G RAMIN EiE, Juss. DeCand. Brozon.]
Ge n . Char. Gluma uniflora, bivalvis, eequalis, truncata. Perianthium bivalve, incequale, muticum, villosum.
(Flores in rachi flexuosd, alterni.)
Radix annua, longe fibrosa.
Culmi bi-triunciales, cæspitosi, erecti, simplices, ca-
pillares, basi solummodo foliorum vagiuis tecti,
' reliqua parte nudi.
« Folia pauca, perbrevia, vix semiunciam longa, linearia,
obtusa, ponctis elevatis conspersa, medio cana-
liculata, basi longe vaginata, vaginis folio sub-
æque Jongis, ovato-oblongis, subinflatis, striatis,
membranaceis, pallide fuscis, ferealbicantibus.
Ligula brevis, exserta, bipartita, lateribus cum
vagina unitis'.
Flores alterni, nunc subsecundi, in spicam laxam
*8-10-floram. Rachis flexuosa, glabra.
Gluma bivalvis, uniflora, valvis subæqualibus, glabris,
nitidis, purpureo-viridibus, ovatis, uninervibus,
apice truncatis, subcrenulatis, diaphanis, ext.
paululum carinata.
Perianthium gluma brevius, membranaceum, pellu-
. cidum, dorso margineque pilis longis albidis
obsitum, bivalve, valvis inæqualibus, nervosis,
# su per ne latioribus, exteriore duplo majore, inte-
‘ x’iorem semiamplectante.
Styli longissimi, filiformes, albi, pilosi.
Stamina : Filamenta tria, perianthio duplo longiora.
A n th em oblongæ, flavæ, apice bicornes.
Semen perianthio tectum, obovato-ellipticum, fuscum,
punctalum, punctis in lineis . longitudinalibus
dispositis.
Root annual, consisting of long fibres.
Culms from two to three inches high, caespitose, erect,
simple, capillary, at the base alone covered with
the sheaths of the leaves, the rest naked.
Leaves few, very short, half an inch long, linear, obtuse,
with elevated scattered dots, channelled
down the middle, much sheathed at the base,
■ with the sheaths about as long as the leaves,
ovate-oblong, somewhat inflated, striated, membranaceous,
pale brown, almost white. Ligule
short, exserted, bipartite, the sides united with
the sheaths.
Flowers alternate, sometimes subsecund, in a lax spike
o f eight or ten flowers. Rachis flexuose, smooth.
Glume two-valved, one-flowered, valves nearly equal,
smooth, shining, purplish-green, ovate, one-
nerved, truncate at the apex, somewhat crenu-
late, .diaphanous, the exterior slightly keeled.
Perianth shorter than the glume, membranaceous,
pellucid, on the back and margin clothed with
whitish long hail's, two-valved, the valves unequal,
nerved, wider upwards, the exterior twice
as large as, and embracing, the inner valve.
Styles very long, filiform, white, hairy.
Stamens three. Filaments twice as long as the perianth.
Anthers oblong, yellow, two-horned at
the apex.
Seed covered by the perianth, obovato-elliptic, brown,
punctate, the dots disposed in longitudinal lines.
Fig. ]. Leaf with its vagina. Fig. 2. Spike of flowers. Fig. 3. Single flower. Fig. 4. Glume. Fig. 5. Perianth,
including the stamen and style. Fig. 6. Larger valve of the perianth, inclosing the seed. Fig. 7.
Smaller valve. Fig. 8. Seed.—All more or less magnified.
I f this be, as authors have supposed, and as the words would lead us to conclude, the “ Gramen minimum
Anglo-Britannicum” of Lobel, there is, in the Indiculus Plantarum Dubianmi to Ray’s Synopsis, the following
station given for it, “ Arenoso solo versus Oceanum aliquot milliaribus a Lio, prope Thameseos ostia.” Stilling-
fleet is the next author who mentions it as a native of Britain, but does not know where he found it, though
Hudson says that i t was in Wales. The Rev. Hugh Davies gathers it, flowering in April and May, in sandy
pastures on the south-west coast of Anglesea, and from him the specimens here figured were received.
As a genus it is very distinct, and in habit peculiar. Most authors describe the perianth as composed of one
valve. I t is certain, that in so minute a part, and of which the texture is so extremely delicate, it is very difficult
to ascertain its real nature. I t is, however, .Really two-valved, the inner valve being the smallest, and half embraced
by the outer one. Both are formed of a pellucid membrane, with longitudinal nerves, from which and
from the margins the fine hairs have their origin. I cannot agree with- the generally accurate Schrader, when he
says— “ Corolla nec villosa, nec vere membranacea est dicenda, sed calyptne Polytrich'orum in modum, pilis ar-
genteo-albis insequilongis simplicibus ramosisve &c. composite.”
In some of my specimens the lower floscules bad within the glume one and even two valves, like the glume in
colour and texture, so that their structure greatly resembled that of the flower of Anthoxanthum, of which Mr.
Brown alone seems to have’understood the true nature when he says, “ Flosculi* laterales magis imperfecti, univalves
neutri; (pro corolla bivalvi a Linnreo et auctoribus omnibus h abiti;) interraedius minor, perperam a
Schrebero uti Nectarium descriptum.”