AGROSTIS VENTRICOSA.jMantissa Plant. Gouan. Hort.
M ilium lendig. Sp. Plant.
Withering, &c.
Yellow Bent.
Sp e c . C hau. Panicle spike-like; branches short; florets with aristae.
W e shall find this plant in several authors arranged as Milium, but nothing can be more different
than the only species of Millet which Britain possesses and this our Agrostis; and their habits are as
dissimilar as their characters; the one breaks forth in early spring in woodlands, the other peeps
inconspicuous among com in July.----------Linnaeus, in his Mantissa Plant, ranks this plant as Agrostis,
and by following him in this instance, in preference to the Spe. Plant, we presume the difficulty o f
forming a generical distinction between Agrostis and Millium will no longer exist.— —The yellow
Bent is easily known by its palq green hue, and sleek, eompact panicle before it flowhrs, as it then
is expanded, but it again becomes compressed afterwards; we find it from three inches to a foot high:
the base of the corolla is bulbous, and appears o f a reddish hue from the colour of the antherae which
it contains : the leaves and sheathing are slightly rough.--------- Agrostis ventricosa is far from being a
general plant, but is not uncommon in the oat fields o f Pembrokeshire.---------Mr. Hudson’s arrangement
with Alopecurus cannot be for a moment admitted, as the characters o f that genus are too
decided to allow of any equivocation.
A, a Floret with the antherae in the bulbous base.
B, the Calyx.
C, the Corolla.
D, the larger valve of the Corolla.
E, Antherae, Gkamin, &c.