J?t ( 648 )
A I R A c r i f l a t a .
Crejled Hair-grafs.
T R 1A NURIA Digynia.
G en. C har. Cal. of two valves, two-flowered. Cor.
o f two valves. Florets without any imperfect one
between them.
Spec. Char. P a n ic le fp ik ed . C a ly x lo n g e r th an its
flow e r - fta lk . P e ta ls fh a rp -p oin ted , u n equ al.
Syn. A ir a crifia ta. Linn. Sp. PI. 9 4 . Sm. FI. Brit. 83.
Hudf. 3 3 .
P o a criftata. With. 14 3 . Hull. 2 2 . Relh. 3 7 .
Sibth. 4 2 . Abbot. 19 .
G ram en p umilum h ir fu tum , fpica purp u reo -a rg en tea
m o lli. Rail Syn. 3 9 6 .
J- N ary calcareous barren paftures, or on walls, but not very
frequent, nor is it a grafs generally well underftood. Mr. Salt
communicated it from the wild romantic rocks of Middleton-
dale, Derbythire. It is perennial, and flowers about July or
Auguft.
Root of many Ample downy fibres, crowned with a thick
tuft of leaves. Stems Ample, ere£t, about fix inches high,
fmooth, purplifh, moft leafy below. Leaves linear, fmooth,
a little rigid, with a fhort ftipula, and a long fheath which is
fometimes downy. Panicle erect, denfe, refembling a fpike,
compound, of a filvery green hue5 its flower-ftalks downy}
the partial ones very fhort and ereft. Flowers ovato-lanceolate.
Calyx for the moft part containing two florets, rarely three,
nor have I everfeen more. It is formed of two unequal flightly
downy hufks, fharp-pointed, keeled, and ribbed, with a membranous
edge. Outer petals like the calyx} inner much thinner
and narrower, very little fhorter. Sometimes the points of
the hufks are lengthened out into fhort awns.
In habit this is much more like an Aira than a Poa, and
indeed the number of the florets, fcarcely ever more than two,
makes it fuch. I fufpe£t Linnaeus latterly confounded another
grafs with it, which has more numerous florets.