ARIA flexuosa.
Waved Mountain Hair-grass.
TRIANDRIA Digynia.
G en. Char. Cal. of 2 valves, 2-flowered. Cor. o f 2
valves. Florets without any imperfect one between
them.
Spec. Char. Leaves bristle-shaped. Stem almost naked.
Panicle spreading, three-forked ; its branches wavy.
Awns bent.
Syn. Aira flexuosa. Linn. Sp. PI. 9 6 . Sm. FI. Brit. 85.
Huds. 3 4 . With. 136. Hull. 20. Relh. 2 9 .
Sibth. 38. Ahhot. 15.
Gramen paniculatum, locustis parvis, purpureo-argen-
teis, majus et perenne. Ran Syn. 4 0 7 -
-A. N A TIVE of dry elevated turfy or sandy heaths in all parts
o f Britain, flowering in July.
The root is perennial, consisting of long fibres; and in
sandy ground more especially those fibres are woolly. We
have observed woolly roots to be common in grasses, whether
annual or perennial, that grow in sand. Stem 12 or 18 inches
high, with one knot near the base, erect, smooth, almost
naked, of a brown or purplish hue. Leaves short, slender,
rough-edged, with a broad sheathing purplish base. Slipula
short, obtuse, cloven. Panicle loose and spreading, threeforked,
rough, remarkable for its shining brown colour, and
still more for its crisped or wavy branches. The flowers stand
upright on straight alternate stalks. Glumes shining, variegated
with brown, green, and a silvery white, all nearly equal
in length, jagged at the point. Florets 2, hairy at the base,
one of them a little elevated. Awns from the back of the
corolla, bent and twisted when dry, rising a littk above each
floret.
W e are almost persuaded, by the remarks of our friend
Mr. Knapp, that the two varieties mentioned in FI. Brit, may
form a distinct species, which Hudson first described by the
name of setacea.