AVENA flavefcens.
Yellow Oat-graß.
■/0?Y
TRIANDRIA Digynia.
G e n . C h a r . Cal. o f 2 valves, containing feveral
florets. Outer valve o f the corolla bearing a twitted
awn on its back.
S p e c . C h a r . Panicle much branched, loofe. Calyx
unequal, containing about three florets. Receptacle
hairy. Leaves flat, a little downy.
S yn . A vena flavefcens. Linn. Sp. P I. 118. Sm. FI.
B rit. 1 4 2 . Hudf. 53. W ith. 1 6 5 . Hull. 26.
Relb. 5 1. Sibtb. 4 9 . Abbot. 25. Curt. Lond.
fa ß . 3. t. $.
Gramen avenaceum pratenfe elatius, paniculä flavef-
cente, locuftis parvis. Rail Syn. 407.
C oM M O N in chalky or limeftone countries) fometimes on
dry fandy foils, where the fhining yellow of the panicle is
feen in its greateft perfection. It is a perennial grafs, flowering
in July.
Root creeping, efpecially when luxuriant. Stems ereCt,
curved at the bottom, {lender, about a foot high, leafy, with
about 3 joints. Leaves narrow, taper-pointea, more or left
downy, efpecially their Iheaths; and the joints of the item
are often furnithed underneath with a circle of deflexed hairs.
Stipula briftly, {hort. Panicle fpreading, many-flowered,
fometimes a little drooping; its branches capillary, rough,
z ig za g ; its ultimate fubdivifions alternate. Spikelets fmall,
fpreading, fhining with yellow and a pale tinge of red,
compofed of 2 or 3, rarely 4, florets. Calyx-valves acute,
with a rough keel; one of them twice as large as the other,
and having a pair of lateral nerves. Outer petal much like
the larger valve of the calyx, but bearing below its fummit
a longifh rough awn, twilled when dry. Common receptacle
of the florets briftly.
We can confirm Mr. Curtis’s opinion of the value of this
graft, as being highly agreeable to cattle, and forming a great
fhare of the bell upland pafturage in open dry countries.