P L A T E L X X X I .
BROMUS SPICULI TENUATA.
Long-awned pendent Broom.
Spe c . C h a e . Panicle branched, and drooping; branches supporting one or several spiculae;
spiculae acutely lanceolate j florets smooth.
We apprehend that the species before us has not hitherto been observed, or at least, not being able
to find any description suitable to our plant, we have applied to it the name of ' spiculi tenuata,’
indicative o f the slender formation of the spiculae.——There is some affinity between this plant and
the Bromus arvensis, but yet they appear to us to be manifestly distinct. Straw from one foot to three
feet highj when of a low stature the branches support one or two spiculae, which droop but little; in
its more elevated state the branches are very long, upright when young, flexile and pendent in
maturity, bearing at times ten or more spiculae: spiculae acutely lanceolate, with about eight florets:
calyx smooth, with four ribs, and serrated on the keelj corolla smooth, but with some small spines
on the back: both the calyx and corolla are tinted with pink: straw in the panicle without any
woolliness, as is observable in B. mollis. Upon the panicle rising from the sheathing of the upper
leaf the lower stage of branches will be found supported by two bracteae, a singularity perhaps attending
this Bromus only, which though not universal, is yet a very general appendage; these bracteae soon
afterwards drop off.--------- There is a specimen of Bromus, in the Sherardian herbarium at Oxford,
which appears to us to be very similar to our plant, but in a rather more luxuriant state than we
ever observed it, there being as many as fifteen spiculae on some o f the branches: it was found by
Sherard near Southampton. We gathered our plants near Seaton, on the coast of Durham, but they
were in no abundance there.----------Bromus spiculi tenuata is very tardy in advancing to maturity, nor
does the panicle expand till influenced by the warmth of August and September.
A, part o f the straw, when young, representing the Bracteae.
B, a Spicula of the natural size.
C, the Calyx.
D, the Corolla.
E, the Corolla more enlarged.