t 532 ]
P O A procumbens.
Procumbent Sea Meadow-grafs.
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T R I J N D R IA Digynia.
G en. C h ar . Cal. o f 2 valves, containing many florets.
Spkelet inclining to ovate; glumes ovate, pointed,
beardlefs.
Spec. C har. Panicle lanceolate, pointing one way,
condenfed, rough ; its common ftalk round ; fpike-
lets about five-flowered ; florets bluntifh, ribbed.
Syn . Poa procumbens. Curt. Lond. fafc. 6. t. 1 1 .
P. rupeftris. With. 146. t. 26.
M r . CURTIS firft difcovered this Poa, at the foot of St.
Vincent’s rocks near Briftol, and has figured it from one of
his garden fpecimens. Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart, to whom
we are obliged for this wild one, has found the fame grafs
plentifully on wafte ground, which is frequently overflowed,
near the floating dock in that neighbourhood, and alfo on the
pier at Scarborough, within the fpray of the fea. It flowers in
July and Auguft.
Root annual, fibrous. Whole plant glaucous. Stems feve-
ral, more or lefs proftrate, about a fpan long, leafy, fmooth,
bent at the joints. Leaves flat, acute, nerved, roughifli, with
very long Iheaths. Stipula fharpifh, torn. Panicle rigid, leaning
to one fide, femicylindrical, its main and partial ftalks nearly
round, rough. Spikelets 2-ranked, feflile, lanceolate, 4 or 5-
flowered, fmooth. Calyx-valves blunt, very unequal, keeled
the outermoft having 5 ribs. ' Florets blunt, 5-nerved, membranous,
and torn at their apex ; their inner valves ciliated.
Dr. Goodenough fufpects Mr. Hudfon’s full defcription under
his P. maritima may belong to this plant.
This P. procumbens, with maritima, dijlans, aquatica, Fejluca
Jluitans, and Cynofurus durus, form a very natural tribe of Pc<f,
with blunt florets, whofe valves are ribbed, and whole fpikelets
are fcarcely fo truly ovate as the charafter of this genus requires.
They are joined to the other fpecies by means of P. rigida, and
comprejfa, and, no doubt, form a natural genus with them.