A L O P E C U R U S .
G en e . Chak. Calyx with two valves; corolla with one valve. Gen. Plant.
ALOPECURUS PRATENSIS. {spec. pum.
Meadow Fox-tail.
Sp e c . C h a r. Calyx cleft to the base, and hairy.
A grass so generally known as is the meadow Fox-tail needs little description, and so well does it
preserve its characteristic distinctions, that there is no probability o f confounding it with any individual
of the genus. As a low-land grass, it is as valuable as any we possess, and ranks high in the
estimation of the farmer, springing early, and producing plentifully.------ In the rich pampered lands
in the vicinity of the metropolis, and near market towns, this Alopecurus is commonly abundant, but
yet it is far from being an universal plant,* nor will it thrive but in deep and manured soils; in some
counties it is only locally found, in South Wales it is rather a scarce plant, and it is probable that this
Fox-tail may have been a grass originally introduced into our pastures, and not indigenous to all soils,
as are Holcus and Lolium; or perhaps the system that prevails in some places, of liming the lgnd
till it becomes a caustic, may have burned it from the field.
Useful as is this grass, yet the produce of the seed is not equal to what one might fancy, from the
simple observance o f the spiked head, which is capacious enough to afford abundance; a species of
fly, w e are told, deposits upon the plant its eggs, and as the young larvae are produced, they feed upon
the sweet and milky substance which the tender germ contains, and which in time would be matured
to seed: the depredations of this fly are said to be so great, that shortly every germ must be destroyed,
had not Nature appointed another insect to seek this animal as its food! Cimex campestris is the
leviathan who takes his pastime there, and gorges on the delicate and helpless larvae, and, Mr, Swayne
observes, ‘ so corpulent does he become through his gluttony, that although it is provided with wings,
it can scarcely make use of them, nor even walk with agility: it is probable it destroys thousands in a
day.’ Could we carry our researches farther, there is little doubt but this Cimex becomes, in its turn,
an instrument to the being of higher orders of creation, and they to others, and thus, by successive
gradations, contribute to the existence of Nature’s noblest animal! who seems, in every instance, to
have been the designed favourite of his-Creator; and ultimately all his good works perfect themselves
in order, some to satisfy his natural wants, some for his comfort, and some even for his fanciful desires;
and all teach us to receive them with gratitude, and enjoy them with humility.
A, the Calyx.
B, the Floret Valve.
C, the Pointal.
* Plants have their peculiar stations, as have insects their peculiar Foods; they will exist in many places, but some
will be more congenial to their several appetites than others: this is instanced in Alopecurus pratensis, and is a corroboration
of the remark regarding the universality of it.. We are told by Mr. Marshall, in his Devonshire Economy, that
he could not find this Fox-tail in several meadows that he examined in that county; but so valuable a grass being in
request, Mr. Hudson introduced the seeds of that plant collected in the neighbourhood of London, causing them to be
sown in those fine meadows round Buckland Abbey; but the success was not equal to the expectation, as no plants were
obtained by these means.