Further characters of the leaves are derived from their texture, apex, margins, mid-ribs and venation, hairiness, and especially the presence and characters of the longitudinal ridges which run along the upper or lower surface in many cases.
The venation is parallel from base to apex in nearly all our grasses, but such is not always the case—e.g. in the exotic Panicum plicatum the mid-rib, which enters the leaf with several vascular bundles, gives off strong and weak veins below, which first diverge and then run in arches which converge upwards: this leaf is also remarkable in being plaited (plicate) in vernation. In Arundo Donax also the veins, though approximately parallel, do not all run to the apex of the tapering leaf; the outer ones end above in the margins and are shorter than the mid-rib.
As regards texture, the leaves of most grasses are thin and herbaceous; but in some they are dry and harsh to the touch. They are thin and dry in Agropyrum caninum, Hordeum pratense, H. murinum, Avena pratensis, &c., very hard and leathery (coriaceous) in Psamma, Nardus, species of Festuca, Aira, Agropyrum junceum, Elymus, &c. In aquatic grasses like Glyceria, the leaf is almost spongy owing to the large air-chambers developed in the tissues. These are easily visible with a lens.
The apex is in most cases slender and tapering—acuminate; but in some it is merely brought to a point (acute) as in Catabrosa, Glyceria and several species of Poa and Avena, &c., usually flat, but somewhat hooded or curved up in some Poas. In cases where the leaves are setaceous or subulate, the apex is like a thin tapering bristle, and even flatter leaves may be so inrolled at the tips as to have the apex prolonged into a sharp needle-like pungent or spinescent point—e.g. Hordeum pratense, Avena pratensis to a slight extent, and pronounced in Elymus, &c. In Sesleria the apex is rounded with a short, sharp, prickle-like median projection (mucronate).
The passage of blade into sheath has already been described, but the base of the blade may have its margins projecting as horizontal shelves, like a Byron collar, round the sides of the throat of the sheath, sometimes tinged with yellow or pink—e.g. Lolium, Holcus, Bromus inermis, Hordeum; the ends of these may project as auricles or ears—e.g. Festuca elatior, Elymus, Agropyrum, Anthoxanthum, Bromus asper, Hordeum, &c. In Festuca ovina the ears are short, stiff, and erect (Fig. [13]).
The margin may be perfectly even, as in most grasses, or it is more or less scabrid or scaberulous, as in Aira cæspitosa, Poa maritima, Festuca elatior, Avena pratensis, Agrostis, Milium, Phleum, Briza, the minute teeth (serrulæ) pointing up or down.
The surface may be bright green, or glaucous, harsh, hairy or glabrous, and is not uncommonly also scabrid, like a file or emery-paper, and sometimes only when rubbed in one direction up or down, owing to the minute teeth being directed all one way. These teeth are developed on the ridges.
All our ordinary grass leaves are parallel-veined, and the vascular strands (the veins) can usually be seen on holding the leaf up to the light. In most cases the tissue is raised over the veins, as ridges or “ribs," and according to the height of these ridges the thinner parts between look like deep or shallow furrows (cf. Figs. [8]-16 and Chapter IV.). If the leaf is held up to the light the ridges appear dark in proportion to their opacity—i.e. height or thickness—and the furrows light in proportion to the thinness of the tissues there. If the contrast is very great, as in Aira cæspitosa (Fig. [23]), the furrows seem like transparent sharp lines, and when, as in Poa, which is practically devoid of ridges, the difference of thickness is small they appear merely as fine striæ. These characters must be determined on the fresh leaves, however, because the contraction in drying draws the ridges closer together and tends to obliterate the lines.
Fig. 14. Digraphis arundinacea. Transverse section of mid-rib and half the leaf (× about 6).