P L A T E XL.
MELICA.
Gene. Char. Calyx with two valves, containing two florets, and an unfertile one between
them. Gen. Plant.
MELICA CiERULEA. { Aira cjerulea, Flora Ang.
Purple Melic.
Spec. Char. Panicle with many florets, expanding but little; straw with only one joint.
Our Purple Melic delights in the deep spongy soils of bogs and turbaries, but is not peculiar to such
places, and it varies greatly in appearance according to the situation in which it vegetates: in woods
and shady places it becomes tall and slender, with long flaccid leaves, and generally with only two
perfect florets in each calyx j but in open and exposed situations the leaves are broad and sheathing,
with a few long hairs on the inner side towards the base, and the calyx contains, not uncommonly,
from two to six florets.------Calyx of a deep red purple colour; base of the straw club-shaped, with
strong fibrous roots; the panicle is often obscured by the deep purple antherae o f the florets: this is
the only British grass, with the exception o f Panicum, whose stigmata partake of tire colour o f the
antherae.---------Melica caerulea is one of our latest grasses, or at least, with Aira caespitosa, is found
in perfection till the end of September, and hence Ray calls it | gramen serotinum.’ Some little use
is attached to this Purple Melic ; its strong and long straw, with only one joint, furnishes not an
inelegant substitute for the Indian rush,' and in some counties it is bound in bundles and used in lieu
of hair brooms; it is likewise occasionally twisted into twine, from which netting is made, said to be
highly in request by the continental fishermen, as it has the advantage of being little injured by water,
and o f enduring longer than those made o f hemp; but it can scarcely possess the flexibility or strength
of the netting in common use, and may be resorted to. as a cheap, rather than a serviceable article.
______ Although Melica caerulea strongly retains the generical character, yet it seems to have been
variously arranged; as Aira, Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmelin, Flo. Sib. Gouan Illust. Leers.
Arundo! Haller.
Agrostis, Scojpoli.
And'indeed the occasional deviation of the florets from one to six might, without the abortive floret,
have almost justified its arrangement with Poa.
A, the Calyx.
B, a set of Florets.
C, the Corolla.
D, the Germin, Antherae, &c.