Dactylis
(from daktulis, a finger's breadth; apparently in allusion to the size of the clusters). ORD. Gramineae. This genus is closely allied to Festuca, from which it differs in that the spikelets are densely crowded in thick, one-sided clusters, arranged in an irregular short spike or slightly-branched panicle. The only species is that described below; it is one of the best and strongest-growing kinds of our native grasses, and is well adapted for sowing alone on marshy land.
D. glomerata (glomerate). Cock's-foot Grass. fl., spikelets several-flowered, crowded in one-sided clusters, forming a dense, branching panicle; glumes and lower palet herbaceous, keeled, awn-pointed, rough, ciliate on the keel, the five nerves of the latter converging into the awn-like point; the upper glume commonly smaller and thinner. June. l. flaccid, but rough on the edges. h. 1ft. to 2ft. In meadows, pastures, woods, and waste ground throughout Europe, Central and Russian Asia (except the extreme north); abundant in Britain. Perennial. (Sy. En. B. 1788.) D. g. variegata (variegated) is a very pretty form of this and is extensively employed for bedding purposes.