t r y
C io7^ 1
ÈROMUS mollis.*
Soft Brome-grafs.
TRÏANDRIA Digynia.
G é n . Char. Cal. of 2 valves. Spikelet oblong, 2-
ranked. Awn frond below the top. Inner büßt
fringed.
Spe c . C har. Panicle erecft, clofe, compound. Spike-
lets ovate. Florets imbricated, depreffed, ribbed,
downy.
Syn . Bromus mollis. Linn. Sp. Pi. 1x2. Sm. FI.
Brit. 126. Tr. o f Linn. Soc. v. 4. 284. Hull.
25. Curt. Lond. fafc,- I . t. 8. Mart. Fl. Ruß.
t. 99. Relb. 45. ed. 2. 39. Sibtb. 47. Abbot. 23.
B . polymorph us a. Hudf. 48. var. 1. With. 159.
Feftuca avenacea hirfuta, paniculis minus fparfis.
Rail Syri. 413 .
V e r y common and abundant in paftures, alfo on wafte
ground, walls, &c. flowering early in June, when it makes
a eonfiderable part of the general crops of hay.
Root annual, of a few Ample fibres. Stem' ereft, about 2
feet high,- Ample, generally fmooth, fometimes hairy; the
joints fwelling, and often thickly clothed with hairs. Leaves
and their lheaths thickly covered with foft hoary pubefcence.
Stipulse bluntly pointed. Panicle a or 3 inches long, ere ft,
elofe, a little fpreading when in full flower; its branches half-
whorled, the uppermoft Ample, fome of the reft always more
or lefs fubdivided, various in length, all angular, and downy.
Spikelets nearly upright, ovate, acute, rather tumid. Florets
from 7 to 10, rarely fewer, clofely imbricated, elliptical, concave,
and depreffed, not cylindrical; their outer valve downy,
marked with 7 or 9 ftrong, green ribs, and bearing a rough
awn about their own length, a little below their fummitj inner
valves membranous, with a thick green fringed edge. Seed
elliptical, large, depreffed and nearly flat.------In a ftarved condition
the panicle of courfe becomes Ample, confifting fometimes
of only 3 or 4 fpikelets ; which conftitutes the B . nanvt
of Weigel, and is frequent on the fandy fea fhore.