AGROSTIS MUTABILIS. {A%ZT.eian?.P
Serrated Bent.
Spec. Char. Panicle expanding, secondary branches clustered with florets,to their base, primary
ones bare at their base; calyx, both valve? serrated, one entirely, the other partially.
O f all the British grasses which have come under our consideration we have met with none which we
speak o f with so much hesitation as the plant before us. The descriptions given us by Linnaeus, and
other writers of Agrostis alba, are so concise, or confused, that we do little more than guess at their
meaning. Dr. Withering, who seems to have bestowed most attention upon this intricate genus, refers
to the A. alba o f the Flora Herbornensis, saying that Leers’s plate is an exact representation of his
plant. From Mr. Hudson we gain nothing.-------The plant here represented we think comes nearer
the general characters of Agrostis alba than any other we have met with, yet as the word Alba is so
delusive, and has created so much confusion, the application of another trivial name will not we
trust meet with serious disapprobation.------Straw o f various heights, as it meets with moist or dry
situations, at times attaining an altitude of three or four feet, with the foliage proportionably enlarged.
Leaves rather broad, and long, rough on both sides, and $t their edges; sheathing smooth; stipulae
long; panicle composed o f branches of various lengths, shorter ones crowded with florets to the main
stem; long ones naked at their base, but, until they are separated, have the appearance o f being
clustered with florets to their insertion in the stem: calyx, one valve serrated from the apex to the
base, the other only partially: valves o f the corolla knotched at their summits: after flowering the
panicle collapses into a spike-like form, and becomes o f a yellow brown hue: panicle variously coloured,
w;hite, green, brown, or purple.----------This Agrostis partakes fully of the versatile habits of
its congeners, deviating from its general characters from a variety o f causes; at one time we find only
one valve serrated, then approaching Agrostis stolonifera; at others, all the branches are bare at the
base.--------- The capricious tendencies of three or four species o f this genus have been the occasion of
that mist of obscurity which rests upon the Bent grasses, nor is there any probability that that obscurity
will be removed, displaying to universal satisfaction the specific undeviating character of each individual
of the genus Agrostis: cultivation of each species, would avail ds nothing, as many o f their
characters are lost by this method, and those shades o f distinction which are hourly found in indigenous
plants, and which arise from local circumstances, could not exist in the uniformity of a garden.
The delineation o f each variety would be subject to an unlimited representation, * without its being
possible for the pencil to seize the exact trait characteristic of each: and thus in delineating the British
Agrostides we have been fully sensible of the difficulties and impediments attending it, but have by no
means felt a conviction in the result that could afford us any grounds for a decided satisfaction.
A, the Calyx.
B, the Corolla.
* We had once shewn us in the collection of a very superior botanist upwards of twenty varieties of A. alba, A. stolonifera,
A. vulgaris, and A. canina; each varying to the eye, without any decisive character indicative of the individual.
, The twelve species of this genus, described in the botanical arrangements, we think may be thus reduced:
Agrostis spica-venti.......... A. spica-venti.
Agrostis canina x
Agrostis palustris C *
Agrostis pallida ( .........A. canina.
Agrostis vinealis
Agrostis alpina .................A. setacea.
Agrostis littoralis...............A. littoralis.
Agrostis stolonifera 1 .
Agrostis maritima> > ..... A- stonifera.
Agrostis vulgaris 1 ^ p |p |j .