P L A T E CVI.
HORDEUM MARITIMUM. { Withering's Mot. Arrang.
Sea Barley.
Spe c . C har. Lateral florets male; fences o f the maleflprets, one setaceous, and the other
semi-ovate.
T his species o f Hordeum now before us is the smallest o f the genus which Britain possesses, but
will in some situations acquire the height o f afoot or more; H. murinum will likewise.in some
places be reduced to the humble stature o f the true Sea Barley, but the peculiar form o f one of the
fences of the lateral floret will invariably detect the species, and it will often be found broader than
the floret it defends: in all the other species of Hordeum, which are found with us, these fences are
setaceous, or nearly so.--------- The Sea Barley is found upon several of our coasts, chiefly on the south
sides of banks that defend the marshes from the inundations of the sea; at Hartlepool, in Durham,
and at Purfleet, in Essex, it is abundant.--------- The figure in Flora Danica, meant for Hordeum maritimum,
is not the true plant, but a dwarf variety of H. murinum; nor is the representation in
Host’s Gramina the true Hordeum maritimum of Britain.
A, a set o f Florets.
B, the male floret, with its setaceous and semi-ovate fence.
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