/i4> - D A ' C T Y L I S ftrida;
Smooth Cocli s-foot Grafs.
V R I A N D R 1A Digynia.
G en. C har. Cal. o f 2 valves, comprefled ; one valve
larger and carinated.
Spec. C har. Spikes 2 or 3, e red , ftnooth; flowers
leaning one way, downy.
Syn . D adylis ftrida. Solander in Ait. Hort. Kew.
v . 1. 104.
D . cynofuroides. Hud/. FI. An. 43. With. Bot.
Arr. 93.
Spartum effexianum, fpica gemina claufa. Rail
Sjn. 393. -
F ' o U N D , though rarely, in muddy falt-marfhes and about
the mouths of rivers on the eaft fide of this kingdom. Our
fpecimens were gathered by T . Woodward and D. E. Davy,
Efqrs. between Aldborough and the river’s mouth, in Auguft laft.
Root perennial, very ftrong. The whole herb is exceedingly
hard and rigid, from xo to 20 inches high, ereCt ; the ftraws
clothed to the top with alternate, fheathing, ftriated, pointed
leaves, of a dull green, with fhort jagged ftipulae. Spikes terminal,
generally 2, perfectly ereCt, clofe preffed together and
nearly equal, fet with 2 ranks of flowers on one fide. The
common ftalk is angular, a little zigzag, fmooth. Glumes of
the calyx downy, containing a fingle floret. Antherae projecting,
pale-purple or brownilh. Stigmas feathery, united at the
bafe into a fimple ftyle.
Linnaeus received fpecimens of this grafs from Lcefling, gathered
in Portugal. He confounded it with his D. cynofuroides,
which is a native of America, and widely different, growing
to a much greater fize, and bearing a large panicle of very numerous
fpikes, whofe ftalks, as well as the carina of the calyx,
are rough with minute fpinous teeth, and the flowers are more
crowded than in D. Jtridla.