HORDEUM MARITIMUM. SEA SIDE BARLEY.
semilattceolata, reliqüis setaceis.
HORDEUM maritimum? With, Bot. A r r . ed. 4. vol 2. p. 172. Smith Fl. B r it. p. 156. Engl. Bot-
t. 1205. Willd.Sp. P l. ml. 1. p. 475. Roth Germ. m l. 2. p. 150. Host Gram. Austr-
ml. 1. t. 34. Decand. Fl. Fr, ed. 3. vol. 3. p . 94. Fl. Gall. Syn. p. 137. Pers. Syn-
P I. vol. 1. p. 108. Schrad. F l. Germ.p. 406. Alton Hort. Kew. ed. 2. p. 179.
HORDEUM marinum. Huds. A n g l.p .57. '
G RAMEN secalinum palustre et maritimum. P a n Syn. p . 392,
Class a n d 'Order. T R IA N D R IA D IG Y N IA .
[N atural Order. GRAMINEJE, Juss. Decand.]
Gen. Char. Calyx^lateralis, bivalvis, uniflorus, ternus: flosculo intermedio hermaphrodito, lateralibus masculis
vel neutns. Corolla valvula exteriori apice aristata. Semina corolla corticata. Schrader, l c.
Radix annua, fibrosa, parva.
Culmi, exeadem radice, plures, quadri- ad sex-unciales,
teretes, ascendentes, geniculati, ad genicula in-
fracti et sæpe decUmbentes, foliosi.
FOLIA uncialia, superiora brevissima, linearia, angusta,
acuminata, flexuosa, glauco-viridia, sub lente vix
pubescentia, margine scabriuscula, vaginata ; vagi
™8 longis, cylindraceis, supremis longissimis
subinflatis.
Spica terminalis, vixbiuncialis, oblonga,disticha, erecta,
vel paululuminclinata, viridis. Rachis-flexuosa,
ad margines scabra.
Flores disticho modo imbricati, terni ; intermedio hermaphrodito,
sessili ; lateralibus masculis v. neu-
tris intermedio subbrevioribus, pedunculis minu-
tis insidentibus..
Hermaphrodito
Glumæ calycinæ (Jig. 1 . 3.) setaceæ, scabræ, flosculis
quadruple longiores.
Glumie corollinæ (Jig- 2 .) lanceolate, striate, exteriore
concava, marginibus incurvis, apice in aristam lon-
gam scabram, calyoinas glumas excedentem, ter-
- minata (Jig. a ) ; interiore (Jig. b.) planiuscula,
acuminata, margine scabra, apice bifida ; ad-basin
dorso “aristata, arista scabra, gluma duplo
;->/.breviore ( fig . c'.).
Stamina : Filamenta tria, alba. Antheræ oblongæ,
flavæ.
Ovarium oblongum. Styli duo plumosi.
Masculino v. N eutro (fig. 3.)
Glumæ calycinæ inæquales ; exteriore setacea, scabra
( jig . c.)t interiore (Jig. a.) e basi semilanceolata
longe aristata, arista Scabra.
Glumæ corollinæ omnino ut in hermaphrodito, sed val-
1 vulæ exterioris arista brevior.
Stamina, si adsint, ut in hermaphrodito.
Ovarium, si adsit, abortivum.
Root annual, fibrous, small.
Culms many from the same root, from four to six inches
long, round, ascendent, geniculate, bent at the
joints and often' decumbent, leafy.
Leaves about an inch long, the upper ones very short,
linear, narrow, acuminate, flexuose, glaucous-
green, even under a microscope scarcely pubescent,
the margin roughish, sheathing; the sheaths
long, cylindrical, the upper ones very long and
somewhat Inflated.
Spike terminal, scarcely two inches long, oblong, distichous,
erect, or a little inclined, green. The rachis
flexuose, rough at the margins.
Flowers imbricated in a distichous manner, in threes;
the intermediate one hermaphrodite, sessile; the
lateral onès, male or neuter, somewhat shorter
than the intermediate one, and situated on small
peduncles.
In the Hermaphrodite flower
The Glumes of the Calyx are (Jig. 1. 3.) setaceous,
rough, four times as long as the florets.
The Glumes of the Corolla (Jig- 2.) are lanceolate, striated,
the exterior one concave, the margins incurved,
terminated a t the apex by a long rough
awn, longer than the calycine glumes (Jig. a .) :
the interior one (fig- b.) nearly plane, acuminate,
rough at the margin, bifid a t the apex ; a t the
base, on the back, awned, the awn rough, twice
as long as the glume (Jig. c.).
Stamens : Filaments three, white. Anthers oblong,
yellow.
Ovary oblong. Styles two, plumose.
In the Male or N euter flower ( fig . 3.)
The Glumes of the Calyx are unequal; the exterior
one setaceous, rough (Jig. c.), the interior one
(Jig- a-) from a half-lanceolate base, is terminated
by a long rough awn.
The Glumes of the Corolla are exactly as in the hermaphrodite
flower, but the awn of the exterior
one is shorter.
Stamens, if existing, as in the hermaphrodite flower.
Ovary, if existing, abortive. .
Fig. 1. Three florets of Hordeum maritimum: a. a. the lateral, male or sterile florets; b. the intermediate, or hermaphrodite
one. Fig. 2. Hermaphrodite floret removed, a. the outer corolline glume, b. the inner ditto, c. the
awn at its base. Fig. 3. Lateral, abortive floret, a. the outer corolline glume, b. the inner ditto, c. the exterior
calycine glume, d. the interior ditto. All more or Less magnified.—To show the difference more clearly between
J i. maritimum and H . murinum, we have subjoined magnified dissections of the latter, which we had not an opportunity
of having engraved when the plate of that species was published. Fig. I. Three florets o f # . murinum.
Fig. 2. Lateral floret. Fig. 3. Its calycine glumes.
Sir James Smith in the Flora Britannica says that Curtis confounded this grass with the Hordeum murinum:
but this is very far frem being the case either in his figure or description, both o f which are admirably illustrative
of that plant. The only error into which he can have fallen is where, in his account of it, he has referred to this
grass (upon the authority of others, as he acknowledges,) the Squirrel-tail grass of the Isle of Thanet, which, Sir
James Smith observes, is not the H . murinum, but the II. maritimum; an assertion we believe first made bv
Withering, who further adds, from a communication made by Major Velley, “ that this grass (H . maritimum) is
very common all along the Kentish coast from Shippey Isle to the Isle o f Thanet;” hence probably inferring
that it is the species so troublesome to the mouths o f horses when mixed with hay.
This point we shall not attempt to dispute. On the contrary, considering the rigidity of the awns of our plant
and. their roughness, while those of H. murinum are rather ciliated than scabrous, we are more inclined to consider
the remark of Withering as correct.
Certain it is that the two species are very nearly allied, nor are the most essential characters of them to be satisfactorily
discerned without the aid of a pocket lens. These marks consist in the greater degree of roughness already
mentioned of the awns of our plant, and in the calyx of its lateral florets having its interior valve at the base, half-lanceolate
and not ciliated with hairs, as may be seen in our magnified figures..
We may further add, that our plant is usually the smaller of the two, its ears and awns are shorter, its colour a
more glaucous green. There is likewise a difference observable in the intermediate florets, of which in H. maritimum
the calycine glumes are nearly equal in length to the exterior glume of the corolla, while in H. murinum they
are much shorter. J
Their places of growth are usually different; H. maritimum, as its name implies, being confined to pastures,
banks, sides of ditches, and growing even on the sand, near the s e a ; and in such situations it is very frequent, flowering
aunng the summer months. We gathered our specimens a t Southwold in August,