p. 182.-Don's Gen. Syst. of Gard, and Bot. v. iv. p. 782.—Bab. Prim. Fl. Sard. p. 72.-Cow. Fl. Guide, p. 50.--Beesley's Hist. of Banb. p. 586.-Thymus Acinos, Linn Sp. Pl. p. 826.-Engl. Bot. t. 411.-Curt. Fl. Lond. t. -Huds. Fl. Angl. (2nd ed.) p. 263.-Willd. Sp. Pl. v. iii. pt. 1. p. 142.-Sm. Fl. Brit. v. ii. p. 641 ; Engl. Fl. v. iii. p. 109.-With. (7th edit.) v. iii. p. 721.-Lindl. Syn. p. 205.Lightf. Fl. Scot. v. i. p. 319.-Sibth. Fl. Oxon. p. 189.-Abbot's Fl. Bedf. p. 132.Purt. Midl. Fl. v. i. p. 280.-Relh. Fl. Cant. (3rd edit.) p. 246.-Hook. Fl. Scot. p. 185.-Rev G. E. Smith's Pl. of S. Kent, p. 32.-Fl. Devou. pp. 101 & 146.Winch's Fl. of Northumb. and Durh. p. 40.-Walker's Fl. of Oxf. p. 171.-Perry's Pl. Varvic. Sel. p. 50.-Baines' Fl. of Yorksh. p. 84.-Gulliv. Pl. of Banb. p. 12.Ocymum sylvestre, Johnson's Gerarde, p. 675. f. 1.—Clinopodium minus, sive vulgare, Park. Theatr. Bot. p. 21. f. 1.-Small Wild Basil, Pet. H. Brit. t. 32. f. 10.

LOCALITIES.-On dry hills, waste places, and in cultivated fields, especially on a sandy, gravelly, or chalky soil. Not uncommon in ENGLAND and WALES; more rare in SCOTLAND; not found in IRELAND?

Annual.-Flowers in July and August.

Root small, somewhat woody, fibrous. Stems from 6 inches to a foot long, spreading, ascending, oppositely branched from the base, bluntly 4-angled, clothed, all over, with short, soft, white, recurved hairs, which are most dense on two opposite sides, alternating between the joints. Leaves opposite, on short winged petioles, egg-shaped, acute, the upper ones somewhat approaching to spatulate, all bluntly serrated above the middle, their margins slightly revolute, and more or less ciliated; dark green, and slightly hairy above, paler beneath, with hairy veins, and very minute, mealy glands. Flowers on short, simple, hairy pedicels, in distant, axillary, 6- to 8-flowered whorls, with very minute ciliated bracteas at their base. Calyx (fig. 1.) tubular, protuberant at the base on the under side, covered with very minute, resinous glands; 13ribbed, the ribs with a single row of short, white, slightly incurved bristles; 2-lipped, the segments unequal, 3 upper ones shortest, triangular, recurved; 2 lower ones awl-shaped, straighter or incurved, all fringed on the margins; mouth closed with an appendage of long white hairs, which also appear on the interior surface of the 3 upper segments, whilst that of the 2 lower ones is smooth. Corolla (fig. 2.) hairy, bluish-purple, upper lip short, blunt, emarginate; lower lip 3-lobed, lateral lobes rounded, entire, central one broader, with a shallow notch, and a roundish, dark-purple spot in front near the base; throat white, with short, thick, white hairs within on the lower side. Seeds oblong, 3-sided, smooth.

It is sometimes found with white flowers.

Acinos vulgaris is a native of other parts of Europe besides Britain, as Sweden, Portugal, Naples, Greece, about Petersburgh, and of the Caucasus.

The whole plant has a pleasant aromatic smell, but commonly much weaker than in Thymus Serpyllum, t. 127.

ARRHENATHERUM*.

Linnean Class and Order. TRIA'NDRIA †, DIGY'NIA.

Natural Order. GRAMI'NEE, Juss. Gen. Pl. p. 28.-Sm. Gram. of Bot. p. 86.; Engl. Fl. v. i. p. 71.-Lindl. Syn. p. 293.; Introd. to Nat. Syst. of Bot. p. 292.-Rich. by Macgilliv. p. 393.-Loud. Hort. Brit. P. 542.-Mack. Fl. Hibern. p. 294.-Hook. Brit. Fl. (4th edit.) p. 426.—GRAMINA, Linn.-GRAMINALES; sect. FESTUCINE; type, AVENACEE; Burn. Outl. of Bot. v. i. pp. 359 and 369.

GEN. CHAR. Inflorescence panicled. Panicle loose. Spikelets (see fig. 1.) 2-flowered; upper floret perfect, lower with stamens only. Calyx (fig. 2.) of 2 unequal, awnless glumes, shorter than the paleæ, 2-flowered. Corolla (fig. 3.) of 2 unequal paleæ, the larger emarginate, of the staminiferous floret, with a twisted awn above the base; of the perfect floret (see fig. 3.) with a short, straight bristle below the point; the smaller narrower, and awnless. Nectary (fig. 4.) a cloven, smooth, membranous scale. Filaments (see fig. 3.) 3 in each floret. Anthers notched at each end. Styles (see fig. 5.) short, widely spreading. Stigmas (see fig. 5.) large, feathery. Seed (fig. 7.) coated with the hardened, permanent corolla (see fig. 6).

The loose panicle; the 2-flowered calyx, of 2 unequal glumes; the lowermost floret with stamens only, and a long twisted awn above the base, and the upper one perfect with a short, straight bristle below the point; will distinguish this from other genera in the same class and order.

One species British.

ARRHENATHERUM AVENA'CEUM. Common Oat-like Dog-grass. Oat-like Soft-grass.

SPEC. CHAR.

ARRHENATHE 'RUM AVENA'CEUM, Beauvois.- Lindl. Syn. p. 305. -Hook. Brit. Fl. p. 38.-Macr. Man. Brit Bot. p. 267.-Bab. Prim. Fl. Sarn. p. 108.-Dick. Fl. Abred. p. 23.-Irv. Lond. Fl. p. 97.-Luxf. Reig. Fl. p. 8-Leight. Fl. of Shropsh. p. 61.-Beesley's Hist. of Banh. p. 591.-Mack. Fl. Hibern. p. 302.— Arrhenathérum elatius, Gray's Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 132.-Bab. Fl. Bath. p. 57.— Holcus avenaceus, Engl. Bot. t 813.-Knapp's Gram. Brit. t. 39.-Greaves' Brit. Grasses, t. 48.-Sm. Fl. Brit. v. i. p. 90.; Engl. Fl. v. i. p. 108.-Sibth. Fl. Oxon. p. 40.-Thomps. Pl. of Berw. p. 10.-Davies' Welsh Bot. p. 9.-Hook. Fl. Scot. p. 28.-Grev. Fl. Edin. p. 18.-Sincl. Hort. Gram. Wob. (3rd edit.) p. 169, with a plate. Fl. Devon. pp. 13 & 122.-Johnst. Fl. Berw. v i. p. 22.-Winch's Fl. of Northumb. and Durh. p. 6.-Walker's Fl. of Oxf. p. 21.-Cow. Fl. Guide, p 34.-Baines' Fl. of Yorksh. p. 119.-Gull. Pl. of Banb. p. 2. -Mack. Catal. Pl, of Irel. p. 13.-Avena elatior Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 117.-Schreb. Gram. v. i. p. 25. t. 1.-Curt. Fl Lond. t. 191.-Leers' Fl. Herb. p. 40. t. 10. f. 4.-Huds. Fl. Angl. (2nd ed.) p. 53.-Willd. Sp. Pl. v. i. pt. 1. p. 443.—With. (7th ed.) v. ii. p. 192.

Fig. 1. A Spikelet; a, the Calyx; b, the Staminiferous Floret; c, the perfect one. Fig. 2. Calyx-Fig. 3. A perfect Floret.--Fig. 4. Nectary.-Fig. 5. Germen, Styles, and Stigmas.-Fig. 6. A Ripe Floret inclosing the Seed.-Fig. 7. A Seed,→ All a little magnified.

From arren, Gr. male; and ather, Gr. an awn.
† Sce folio 56, note †.

Lightf. Fl. Scot. v. i. p. 105.-Mart. Fl. Rust. t. 7.-Abbot's Fl. Bedf. p. 25.Relh. Fl. Cant. (3rd ed.) p. 45.—Purt. Mid. Fl. v. i. p. 84.-Murr. North. Fl. p. 78.-Gramen nodosum, avenaced panicula, Ray's Syn. p. 406.-Scheuchz. Agrost. p. 237. t. 4. f. 27, 28.-Gramen avenaceum, panicula acerosâ, semine papposa, Dill. in Ray's Syn. p. 406.-Gramen caninum nodosum, Johns. Ger. p. 23, with a figure.-Gramen avenaceum elatius, jubá longâ splendente, Moris, v. iii. p. 214. sect. 8. t. 7. f. 37.-Gramen avenaceum elatius, radice tuberculis prædita, Moris. ibid. f. 38.

LOCALITIES.-In pastures, hedges, and by road-sides; common.

Perennial.-Flowers in June and July.

Root fibrous, downy, knotty, from the swollen joints of the base of the culm. Culm from 2 to 3 feet high, or more, smooth, simple, leafy, jointed, the joints usually smooth, but sometimes downy. Leaves of the culm 6 or 7 inches to a foot long, and about a quarter of an inch broad, striated, rough, especially at the margins, their upper surface with a few scattered, slender, white hairs. Sheaths long, striated, smooth, with a few long, deflexed hairs on the margin at their summits, just below the stipula. Stipula (ligula) short, blunt. Punicle long, upright, or a little drooping, loose, shining; its branches numerous, rough, unequal, half-whorled, and directed to one side. Calyx-glumes nearly white, almost transparent; the inferior one smallest, spear-shaped, single-nerved, nearly smooth, with a rough keel; superior one larger, about as long as the florets, pointed, bifid, with 3 rough, reddish-green ribs. Palea of the Corolla of nearly the same shape as the glumes of the calyx, but larger; the lower floret (fig. 1, b.) least perfect, but most conspicuously awned; their inner paleæ narrow, membranous, and flat. Anthers strap-shaped, cloven, hanging out at one side. Styles very short. Stigmas (fig. 5.) long, spreading horizontally, feathery on the upper side. Seed (fig. 7.) nearly cylindrical, coated with the hardened corolla (see fig. 6).

Arrhenatherum bulbósum, of DUMORTIER, LINDLEY, and some other authors, differs from this only in being a larger plant with a bulbous base to the culm, and occasionally hairy joints.

The produce of this grass is said to be very great, but it is so excessively bitter as to be unpalatable to cattle in general; and the bulbous-rooted variety is a very troublesome weed when it occurs on arable land; nevertheless, the animated description of Miss KENT, has conferred on it no inconsiderable degree of interest. I have seen it," observes that elegant writer, (in Loud. Mag. Nat. Hist. v. i. p. 237.), "six feet high, with leaves two feet long, and more than one inch wide, with its panicle of flowers gently drooping to one side, at least one foot six inches in length, and so finely polished, that, but for their green colour, we might think it was composed of silver oats. Yet it is not green ;` neither is it white, nor gold-colour, nor purple, but it is a union of all these it is the offspring of silver and of gold, of the amethyst and the emerald. It is, indeed, very variable; but, in the full pride of its beauty, this grass is truly magnificent. The light purple pyramids that quiver in every field and meadow, must be well known to every reader. In fine, the student who has leisure to investigate their beauties, will find the family of grasses peculiarly interesting, and much more various and beautiful than, from the apparent homeliness of many, they might be supposed to be."