BRIZA A S P E R A. {
Green Quaking-grass.
Spec. Char. Stipula long; straw and peduncles beset with small spines.
There are times when the alteration o f an established specific epithet may be permitted, and even
approved, and we trust that in this deviation from our almost general rule we shall not wander from
propriety. The name o f (minor,’ given to this grass, conveys only the delusive idea o f its being a small
plant; whereas it is as tall, or taller, than the other British species, nor does it intimate any peculiar
feature.----------The first o f our botanical writers who arranged this grass as a British species was Mr.
Hudson; Ray mentions it as growing in Jersey; in England we believe it is entirely confined to the
neighbourhood of Penzance in Cornwall; from whence we received our plants through the kindness
o f Dr. Penneck.--------- The pale green colour o f the spiculae first arrests our attention, and the length
of the membrane in the bosom o f the leaves w ill generally identify the species, but we cannot be mistaken
if we pass the fingers gently up the straw, which is rough with minute spines pointing downwards.
In Briza media the culm is perfectly smooth, and we generally observe that even the peduncles
which support the spiculae are free from any roughness; but in this species, the whole are beset with
thorny points.------ The representation is from a plant in rather a young state, that the proportion o f
the calyx to the florets may be noticed, and in a still younger state the | calyce floscule longiore’ of
Linnaeus will be more clearly seen.--------- The seeds o f these Brizae are very minute, and yet it is
recorded * that the successive plant which is to arise from the germinating o f this seed is to be observed
within them, coiled up with its spiculae, by dissection in a microscope!
A, part o f the Culm and Pedunclespith their spiculae.
B, the Calyx.
C, the larger Valve of the Corolla, with the seed in its recess.
D, the inner Valve; the cleft at the apex, as mentioned by Dr. Withering,
is not always observable.
E, a front view of the larger Valve o f the Corolla.
the microscope.