P L A T E LX X X I I I .
BROMUS DIANDRUS.
Short-stalked Broom.
Curtis's Flora Lond.
B rom. madrit en sis, Sp. Plant.
Spec. C h a r . Panicle upright or drooping; footstalks shorter than the spiculae; florets
with only two stamina.
A v o ung botanist, not fully acquainted with the habits of Bromus diandrus, will occasionally pass
it over as a dwarf plant of B. sterilis, to which it bears a certain similitude; but a simple observance
o f the length o f the footstalk will immediately distinguish them: in the species before us the stipes
are rarely the length of the spikets, and support from one to seven spiculae; in the B. sterilis the stipes
are longer than the spiket, and seldom sustain more than one spicula. B. diandrus acquires the
height of twelve or fourteen inches, and selects as its favourite station ruins and old walls.------ Much
as the botanist must ever disapprove of any alteration in the well established specific names o f plants,
creating endless confusion in the science, yet so obvious were the defects of the former ones attached
to this Bromus, that we must admit the propriety of Mr. Curtis’s deviation in this case, as being both
happy and scientific; the singular circumstance o f always finding only two stamina in the florets makes
his name of ‘ diandrus ’ perfectly apposite; the former distinction o f Linnaeus (Madritensis) is applicable
to a local Spanish plant, but does' not indicate any peculiar habit, which- should assuredly be the
aim o f every specific epithet: and the appellation of Mr. Hudson (Muralis) is equally suiting toB.
sterilis.------B. diandrus is a scarce species of this genus, but locally is plentiful; in Pembrokeshire
it is frequent, and often expels its congener and waste-loving Bromus sterilis: a visitor in S. Wales
will not fail of finding it at Carew-castie, and at Lamphey, near Pembroke.----------In dismissing the
Bromus diandrus, let an insignificant mortal breathe one sigh of gratitude for infinite information to the
memory o f the late Mr. Curtis, a king in a realm of botanists 1 amidst my various rambles through the
regions of the vegetable world, wherever I have found the traces o f his footsteps, so have 1 invariably
seen them accompanied by judgment, learning, and accuracy: his delineations and illustrations of the
British Flora are a national honour. To the botanical, arrangements o f the truly lamented Withering,
and the various publications of Mr. Curtis, I think may be attributed much of the present diffusion
o f the system of Linnaeus, and the consequent creation of an host o f botanists to the united labours
o f those learned men:—peaceful be your rest, lamented, lost associates!
* Around their graves may sweetest florets spring,
Bedew’d with sympathizing pity’s tear;
Let Zephyr, from his undulating wing,
For ever shed delightful fragrance there.’
A, the Calyx.
B, the valves of the Corolla.
C, Nectarium, Germin, &c.
D, the Seed, with Stigmata and two Stamina; the antherae in the genus Bromus
and Avena remain attached for a length o f time to the filaments.