BRIZA.
Gene. Char. Calyx with two valves, and several florets $ spiculæ two-rowed, cordated;
valves obtusely heart-shaped. Gen. Plant.
BRIZA MEDIA.}*-.«-*
Common Quaking-grass.
Spec. Char. Spiculse ovate; calyx shorter than the florets; straw smooth.
This elegant little plant is a lover of our climate, and a favourite with us on account o f its beauty,
but we cannot defend it as an agricultural grass, and, as it possesses no virtue that the grazier requires,
it is more permitted to exist than approved of, and should it be eradicated from our pastures, its loss
would be perceived by the botanist alone; -yet it intrudes on none, but vegetates on spots where other
grasses are sparingly found, and perhaps the vicinity and dripping o f its taller neighbours are unwelcome
to it, or the free growth o f the others expels it.-------—Briza media seems to prefer damp
situations, but is commonly found in the dryest, not promiscuously dispersed, but in patches o f no
great extent. . We have no indigenous plant more universally known than Briza, the Quaking-grass
is in the hands of every child, and the peculiar simplicity o f its habit, and elegant manner in which
the spiculse are disposed, f trembling at Zephyr’s whisp’ring breath,’ render it not unfrequently an
associated ornament in the bouquet.
A, the Calyx.
B, the valves of the Corolla