# Manual of the New Zealand Flora/Gramineæ

Additions and Corrections
Order XCII. GRAMINEÆ.
Annual or perennial, erect or creeping herbs, rarely (bamboos) shrubby or arborescent. Stem (culm) branched at the base, cylindrical or slightly compressed, jointed, generally hollow between the joints; joints (nodes) solid, swollen. Leaves alternate, distichous, usually long and narrow, entire, parallel-veined; sheath long, split to the base on one side, at its junction with the blade usually furnished with an erect membranous appendage called the ligule. Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual, minute, solitary in the axils of small bracts (glumes) which are imbricated in 2 opposite rows, forming little spikes or spikelets. Spikelets usually many, ai-ranged in spikes, panicles, or fascicles. Glumes placed alternately on each side of the axis (rhachilla) of the spikelet, the first or lowest 1–6 (commonly the first 2) empty and known as empty glumes or outer glumes, or simply as glumes. The succeeding 1 or several are called flowering glumes, each of them having in its axil a very short branchlet bearing on its upper side a 2-nerved bractlet called the palea; the branchlet ending in a flower, which is thus enclosed by the flowering glume and palea. Occasionally 1 or more glumes at the top of the spikelet are empty or enclose rudimentary flowers only. Perianth wanting, unless represented by 2 (rarely 3) minute scales (lodicules). Stamens usually 3, rarely 1, 2, or 6, hypogynous; filaments capillary; anthers pendulous, versatile, fugacious. Ovary 1-celled; styles 2 or rarely 3, free or connate at the base, feathery with simple or branched stigmatic hairs; ovule solitary, erect, anatropous. Fruit a seed-like utricle or grain (caryopsis) either free within the flowering glume and palea, or adhering to one or both. Seed erect, usually adherent to the membranous pericarp, rarely separable (Sporobolus); albumen copious, farinaceous; embryo very small, roundish, on one side of the base of the albumen.
One of the largest of the families of plants, found in all climates and situations, but most numerous in temperate regions. Genera about 325; species ​probably not less than 3500. In usefulness to man it is exceeded by no other order. The nutritious herbage forms the chief pasturage of our flocks and herds; the cereal grains, as wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, millet, maize, &c., constitute a very large proportion of our food; sugar is obtained from the sugar-cane and sorghum; while few plants are applied to a greater variety of uses than the various kinds of bamboos. Many species are cultivated for ornamental purposes, from the dwarf varieties used for edgings and lawns to the pampas-grass and giant-bamboo. Of the 33 indigenous genera, one only (Simplicia) is endemic; 4 (Microlæna, Echinopogon, Dichelachne, and Amphibromus) are found elsewhere in Australia and Tasmania alone; and 2 others (Ehrharta and Asperella) have a very restricted range, but are not indigenous in Australia. The remaining 26 are widely distributed in either temperate or tropical regions or in both, and some are cosmopolitan. In addition to the indigenous species, a large number of grasses have become naturalised, and every year adds to the list. Most of these are natives of the Northern Hemisphere, and many have been purposely introduced and widely spread through the country on account of their value for pasturage or fodder. The remainder are either weeds of cultivation or inhabitants of waste-places or roadsides, a large proportion having followed the footsteps of civilised man all round the world. A few Australian and subtropical species have also established themselves, but the number of these is not nearly so large as might have been anticipated. Many of the naturalised species have so completely amalgamated with the indigenous flora as to present all the appearance of true natives, and will certainly be taken as such by a beginner unacquainted with their history. It will therefore be advisable, when determining any species, to make frequent reference to the list of naturalised species given in another part of this work, and to become acquainted with their distinguishing characters, which, in the majority of cases, can be learned from any British Flora.
I am deeply indebted to Professor E. Hackel, of St. Poelten, Austria, so well known for his wide acquaintance with the order, for undertaking a critical examination of the whole of the New Zealand species, and for furnishing me with very full and complete notes, with permission to use the same for the purposes of this work. In drawing up the following account I have largely availed myself of the results of his work, and with few exceptions have adopted the systematic disposition of the species recommended by him.
Division A. PANICACÆ.
Spikelets articulated on their pedicels below the glumes and falling away at maturity; usually 2-flowered, the upper flower perfect and producing seed, the lower flower always male; rhachilla not continued beyond the upper flower.
Tribe I. ANDROPOGONEÆ.
Spikelets usually 1-flowered, generally in pairs, rarely in threes or solitary, on the rhachis of a spike or branches of a panicle, all hermaphrodite or some of them male, in the latter case so placed that a male spikelet stands by the side of a hermaphrodite one. Flowering glumes hyaline, often awned, usually much smaller than the empty ones.
| Panicle long, dense, cylindrical. Spikelets awnless, almost concealed by long silky hairs | 1. Imperata. |
Tribe II. ZOYSIEÆ.
Spikelets usually 1-flowered, solitary or in clusters on the rhachis of a spike or raceme. Flowering glumes membranous, never awned, usually smaller than the outer glumes.
| Small creeping usually maritime grass. Leaves short, rigid. Spike short, stiff. Spikelets appressed to the rhachis | 2. Zoysia. |
Tribe III. PANICEÆ.
Spikelets with 1 terminal hermaphrodite flower with or without a male one below it. Flowering glumes awnless, cartilaginous or coriaceous, in fruit hardened and enclosing the grain. Outer glumes thinner in texture than the flowering glumes, rarely awned.
| Spikelets 1-flowered, plano-convex, sessile in 2 or 4 rows in one-sided spikes which are either in pairs or form the branches of a simple panicle. Empty glumes 2 | 3. Paspalum. |
| Spikelets with 2 hermaphrodite flowers, panicled; outer glumes 2, persistent after the rest of the spikelet has fallen away | 4. Isachne. |
| Spikelets with 1 hermaphrodite flower and sometimes a male flower below; outer glumes 2 or 3, not awned, the lowest often very small | 5. Panicum. |
| Stems weak, decumbent; leaves broad, ovate to lanceolate. Spikelets as in Pancium, but outer glumes awned | 6. Oplismenus. |
| Spikelets enclosed, each one or 2–3 together, in an involucre of rigid spines or bristles, often connate into a cup below | 7. Cenchrus. |
| Stout wide-creeping sand-plant. Inflorescence dioecious; males in spikes clustered in heads; females in dense globular heads with long radiating pungent-pointed bracts | 8. Spinifex. |
Division B. POACEÆ.
Spikelets not articulated on the pedicel below the glumes, the rhachilla continuous with the pedicel, and the articulations above the outer glumes and frequently also between the flowering glumes. Flowers 1 to many, the lowest flower perfect, the uppermost often male or imperfect. (Lower flower imperfect in Phalarideæ.)
Tribe IV. PHALARIDEÆ.
Spikelets with 1 terminal hermaphrodite flower, with or without 1 or 2 male or rudimentary flowers below. Outer glumes 4, the lower 2 sometimes small, the 2 inner sometimes serving as flowering glumes for male flowers.
| First and second outer glumes smaller than the third and fourth. Flowering glumes obtuse | 9. Ehrharta. |
| First and second outer glumes minute, many times smaller than the third and fourth. Flowering glumes acute | 10. Microlæna. |
| First and second outer glumes as large as the third and fourth, both of which usually contain a male flower | 11. Hierochlœ. |
Tribe V. AGROSTIDEÆ.
Spikelets 1-flowered; rhachilla frequently produced beyond the flower. Outer glumes 2, usually as long or longer than the flowering glume.
| Spikelets panicled. Outer glumes usually longer than the flowering, which are rigid and convolute and awned. Awn long, terminal, bent, usually twisted below the bend | 12. Stipa. |
| Panicle short and dense, cylindrical, bristly from the long awns. Flowering glume hyaline, 3-fid, middle lobe produced into a long awn. Rhachilla evidently produced | 13. Echinopogon. ​ |
| Panicle dense, cylindrical. Outer glumes compressed, fringed on the keel. Flowering glume hyaline, with a short dorsal awn. Rhachilla not produced | 14. Alopecurus. |
| Panicle long, narrow and spike-like in the New Zealand species. Spikelets small, awnless. Flowering glume usually exceeding the outer glumes. Seed loose in the pericarp and finally expelled from it | 15. Sporobolus. |
| Spikelets panicled. Outer glumes very minute. Flowering glume awnless, acuminate, pubescent. Palea almost as long as the glume | 16. Simplicia. |
| Spikelets small, panicled. Flowering glume hyaline, much smaller than the outer glumes, awned on the back or awnless. Palea usually short, often minute or wanting. Rhachilla not produced | 17. Agrostis. |
| Spikelets small, panicled. Flowering glume hyaline, smaller than the outer glumes or almost equalling them, awned on the back. Palea more than half as long as the flowering glume. Rhachilla produced beyond the palea, silky | 18. Deyeuxia. |
| Panicle long, narrow, dense, bristly from the long awns. Flowering glume hardly shorter than the outer glumes, with a long and fine awn from the back near the tip | 19. Dichelachne. |
Tribe VI. AVENÆ.
Spikelets 2- or several-flowered, usually panicled. Flowering glumes generally shorter than the outer glumes, usually awned; awn geniculate and often twisted, rarely straight.
* Awn of the flowering glumes dorsal, rising from below the terminal teeth of the glume, not from between them. :
| Spikelets 2-flowered. Flowering glumes erose or 2 toothed at the tip, shortly awned | 20. Deschampsia. |
| Spikelets 2–6-flowered. Flowering glumes sharply 2-toothed at the tip; teeth sometimes almost awned; awn from the back just below the teeth | 21. Trisetum. |
| Spikelets 5–10-flowered. Flowering glumes rounded at the back; awn dorsal, straight or bent | 22. Amphibromus. |
| ** Awn of the flowering glumes rising from between the terminal lobes or teeth of the glume. ||
| Spikelets several-flowered. Flowering glumes rounded at the back, often ciliate or hairy; awn rigid, often twisted or flattened at the base | 23. Danthonia. |
Tribe VII. CHLORIDEÆ.
Spikelets 1–many-flowered, crowded in two rows on one side of a flat rhachis or spike; spikes in racemes or digitate.
| Spikes digitate or scattered at the top of the culm. Spikelets compressed, several-flowered, awnless. Outer glumes persistent; flowering glumes deciduous | 24. Eleusine. |
Tribe VIII. FESTUCEÆ.
Spikelets 2–many-flowered, usually panicled or racemed. Flowering glumes generally exceeding the outer glumes, awnless or with 1 or several straight awns, which are usually terminal, rarely dorsal. Rhachilla produced beyond the uppermost flower.
| Tall reed-like grasses with silvery panicles. Flowering glumes covered with long hairs, membranous. Rhachilla long, glabrous | 25. Arundo. |
| Spikelets 3–5 flowered, usually rounded on the back. Flowering glumes 2–3-toothed, middle tooth often mucroniform or slightly awned | 26. Triodia. |
| Panicle spiciform. Spikelets 2–5-flowered, shining, compressed. Flowering glumes scarious, mucronate or shortly awned | 27. Kœleria. |
| Spikelets 2–many-flowered, compressed. Flowering glumes keeled at the back, acute or obtuse, awnless, often (together with the rhachilla) clothed at the base with tangled hairs. Hilum punctiform | 28. Poa. |
| Spikelets 3–many-flowered. Flowering glumes rounded at the back, obtuse, awnless, 5–9-nerved. Lodicules distinct. Hilum punctiform | 29. Atropis. |
| Spikelets 2–many-flowered. Flowering glumes rounded on the back, more rigid than in Poa, acute or awned. Ovary naked or hairy. Hilum long, linear | 30. Festuca. |
| Spikelets 3–many-flowered. Flowering glumes rounded on the back or slightly keeled, mucronate or awned, 5–9-nerved. Ovary villous at the top | 31. Bromus. |
Tribe IX. HORDEÆ.
Spikelets 1–many-flowered, sessile in alternate notches on opposite sides of the rhachis of a simple spike, either solitary or several together. Glumes awned or not.
| Spikelets solitary in the notches of the rhachis, 2–many-flowered, placed flatwise on the rhaihis. Outer glumes conspicuous | 32. Agropyrum. |
| Spikelets solitary (or in non-New-Zealand species in pairs) at the notches of the rhachis, 2–4-flowered, placed flatwise on the rhachis. Empty glumes either wanting or reduced to 2 small bristles | 33. Asperella. |
1. IMPERATA, Cyr.
Tall erect perennial grasses. Leaves long. Panicles long, terminal, densely spiciform or narrow-thyrsiform, silky-silvery. Spikelets all similar, numerous, densely clothed with long silky hairs, usually arranged in pairs on the continuous branches of the panicle, one sessile or almost so, the other distinctly stalked, all 1-flowered. Empty glumes 3, subequal, narrow, membranous, awnless, 3–9-nerved, the 2 outer clothed with long hairs. Flowering glume usually much smaller, hyaline. Palea small, broad, hyaline, nerveless. Lodicules wanting. Stamens 1 or 2. Stigma long, exserted from the tip of the spikelet. Grain oblong, with an embryo half its length or more.
A genus of about 6 species, found in the tropical or warm temperate regions of both hemispheres. One of the New Zealand species is very widely diffused, the other is endemic in the Kermadec Islands.
| Panicle densely spiciform, cylindric, obtuse, shining. Stamens 2 | 1. I. arundinacea. |
| Panicle not so dense, narrow-lanceolate, acuminate, not shining. Stamen 1 | 2. I. Cheesemanii. |
​1. I. arundinacea, Cyr. Pl. Rar. Ic. ii. 26, t. 11; var. Kœnigii, Benth. Fl. Hongk. 419.—Culms 1–3 ft. high, slender, erect, glabrous, 3–4-noded. Leaves erect, narrow, often exceeding the culms; sheaths rather loose, with a dense erect tuft of hairs at the nodes; ligules short, membranous, truncate; laminae linear from a very narrow base, acuminate, rather rigid, flat or convolute; margins scabrid; midrib stout. Panicle densely spiciform, 3–6 in. long, cylindric, obtuse, silvery-white and shining from the long and silky hairs which conceal the glumes; branchlets very numerous, appressed; pedicels capillary or setaceous, clavate at the apex. Spikelets about ⅙ in. long, completely enveloped by fine silky hairs ⅓ in. long. Empty glumes ovate-lanceolate, obtuse or subacute, hyaline, 5–7-nerved or the uppermost nerveless. Flowering glume ⅓–½ as long as the upper empty glume, ovate, acute, glabrous, hyaline, nerveless. Palea about ½ as long as the glume, quadrate, truncate, nerveless. Stamens 2. Stigmas long, purple.—Hack. in D.C. Monog. Phan. vi. 94; Stapf. Fl. Capen. vii. 321.
North Island: Auckland—Near Kaitaia, R. H. Matthews!
Perhaps introduced only, but it is one of those species which might be expected to be indigenous in the extreme north of the colony, and I have consequently given it the benefit of the doubt. The species, in some of its forms, is found in all warm countries; var. Kœnigii is common throughout Africa, and in Australia and Tasmania, stretching northwards to India, China, and Japan.
2. I. Cheesemanii, Hack. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxv. (1903) 378.—Perennial, innovation-shoots extravaginal. Culms 1–3 ft. high, simple, stout, erect, glabrous, 3-noded. Leaves numerous, rather shorter than the culms; sheaths loose, bearded at the mouth but otherwise glabrous, the uppermost sheathing the base of the panicle, the lowest scale-like; ligules short, truncate, membranous; laminae linear from a narrow base, acute or acuminate, ½–¾ in. broad, flat, nerved, glabrous; margins scabrid above. Panicle narrow-lanceolate, gradually narrowed upwards into an acute point, 5–10 in. long, ¾–1¼ in. broad, dense but not so much so as in I. arundinacea, greyish-white with long soft hairs that conceal the glumes, not shining; branches numerous, erecto-patent, flexuose, simple or with short branchlets in the lower half, pedicels clavate above. Spikelets about ⅛ in. long, enveloped by long soft hairs ¼–⅓ in. long. Outer glume as long as the spikelet, lanceolate, subacute, membranous, obscurely 5-nerved, laxly pilose along the back, ciliolate at the apex; the 2nd similar but 3-nerved; 3rd ⅓ shorter, broadly ovate, obtuse, hyaline, nerveless. Flowering glume ⅓ shorter than the outer empty glumes, ovate, acuminate, tridentate, hyaline, nerveless. Palea broad, truncate, fimbriate-ciliate. Stamen 1. Stigmas long, purple.—I. arundinacea, Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 175 (not of Cyr.).
Kermadec Islands: Cliffs on the north side of Sunday Island, abundant. T.F.C., Miss Shakespear!
Closely allied to I. exaltata, Brong., but a much smaller plant, with a smaller and less branched panicle, larger and broader spikelets on more clavate pedicels, and with the outer glume 5-nerved.
2. ZOYSIA, Willd.
Small perennial creeping grasses. Culms branched at the base, rigid, erect. Leaves distichous, subulate, often pungent-pointed. Spikelets few, ovoid, 1-flowered, sessile or shortly pedicelled, not distichous, jointed on and closely appressed along a rigid notched unjointed rhachis, forming a short spike. Glumes 2; the outer one empty, broad, convolute, coriaceous, shining and nerveless; the inner flowering one included within the outer and much smaller than it, membranous, hyaline. Palea still smaller, short, nerveless, hyaline, sometimes wanting. Lodicules wanting. Stamens 3. Styles long, distinct; stigmas elongate. Grain free, enclosed within the hardened outer glume.
A small genus of 2 or 3 closely related species, found on the shores of southern and eastern Asia, Mauritius, Australia, and New Zealand.
1. Z. pungens, Willd. in Ges. Naturf. Fr. Neue Schr. iii. (1801) 441.—Rhizome long, creeping, branched, rigid and wiry. Culms numerous from the rhizome, often branched at the base, erect, rigid, glabrous, usually from 1 to 3 in. high, but sometimes taller and attaining 4–6 in. or even more. Leaves more or less spreading, subulate, flat or convolute, coriaceous; sheaths short, grooved, tipped with a few cilia; ligule wanting. Spike terminal, ⅛–¾ in. long; spikelets usually 3–5, but in small specimens often reduced to one, and in large ones sometimes as many as 7–9. Outer glume smooth and shining, convolute, coriaceous, tip often produced into a short awn. Flowering glume thin and hyaline, included within the outer glume.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 312; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 324; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 506; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 13a. Rottboella uniflora, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 267; Raoul, Choix, 39.
North and South Islands: Abundant on sandy shores from the North Cape to Banks Peninsula and Okarito, less common in dry places inland, ascending to 2000 ft. at Lake Taupo and in Canterbury and Otago. Also not uncommon on the shores of Australia and Tasmania, extending northwards to India, Malacca, and China.
3. PASPALUM, Linn.
Annual or perennial grasses, of various habit. Spikelets 1-flowered, orbicular or oblong, obtuse or rarely acute, not awned, sessile or very shortly pedicelled, arranged in one or two rows on one side of a slender spike; spikes solitary, binate, digitate, or panicled. Glumes 3; 2 outer empty, membranous, usually subequal or rarely ​the lowest smaller or absent; upper or flowering glume much firmer, cartilaginous or almost coriaceous, 5–7-nerved. Palea similar in texture to the flowering glume but rather smaller, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2, cuneate. Stamens 3. Styles 2, distinct to the base, rather long. Grain ovoid or oblong, free, enclosed within the hardened flowering-glume and palea.
Species about 160, scattered through the tropics of both hemispheres, but most abundant in America. The three species found in New Zealand are widely distributed.
| Rhizome not creeping. Culms usually erect, 1–3 ft. Spikelets orbicular-ovoid, obtuse | 1. P. scrobiculatum. |
| Rhizome long, creeping. Culms ascending, 6–24 in. Leaves flat, ⅙–⅓ in. broad. Lateral spikes sessile. Spikelets oblong-ovoid, acute | 2. P. Digitaria. |
| Rhizome long, creeping. Culms ascending, 2–8 in. Leaves involute, 1/12 in. broad. Spikes all peduncled. Spikelets oblong, acute | 3. P. distichum. |
1. P. scrobiculatum, Linn. Mant. i. 29.—Rhizome short. Culms tufted, erect or decumbent at the base, usually sheathed throughout by the leaves, glabrous, 1–3 ft. high. Leaves linear or linear-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, ¼–½ in. broad, glabrous or slightly hairy towards the base, flat or wrinkled; margins rough; ligule short, broad, membranous; sheaths rather lax. Spikes varying in number from 2 to 6, 1–2 in. long, alternate towards the top of the culm, usually rather distant, spreading or erect; rhachis 1/12 in. broad, flat, margins ciliate. Spikelets in 2 or rarely 3–4 rows, imbricate, sessile or very shortly pedicelled, sometimes geminate on a common pedicel, ovoid-orbicular, obtuse, glabrous. Empty glumes subequal, thin and membranous, with, a prominent midrib; the outer one with a single marginal vein on each side; the upper one with 2 marginal veins. Flowering glume similar in size and shape to the empty glumes, hard and coriaceous, brown, shining, minutely pitted. Palea coriaceous like the flowering glume, the margins produced into membranous inflected auricles.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i, 291; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 323; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 460; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 10a. P. orbiculare, Forst. Prodr. n. 35; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 140; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 266; Raoul, Choix, 89.
North Island: Auckland—Lowland stations from the North Cape to the East Cape, not uncommon.
An abundant plant in all warm countries outside America.
2. P. Digitaria, Poir. Encycl. Suppl. iv. 316.—Rhizome long, branched, creeping and rooting. Culms erect or ascending, sheathed throughout by the leaves, glabrous, 6–24 in. high. Leaves numerous, distichous, 2–8 in. long, ⅙–⅓ in. broad, flat, glabrous or sparingly hairy towards the base; ligules short, membranous, truncate; sheaths compressed, striate, margins pilose above. Spikes rather ​slender, 1–2 in. long, usually 2 but sometimes 3 or even 4, the lateral ones sessile or nearly so; rhachis flat, margins scabrid. Spikelets in 2 rows, nearly sessile, imbricate and appressed to the rhachis, ovate-oblong, acute, flattened, pale-green. Empty glumes equal, acute, membranous, pubescent or glabrous; the lower one 3-nerved; the upper 5-nerved, sometimes an additional minute empty glume is present at the base of the spikelet. Flowering glume coriaceous, smooth, shining, faintly nerved. Palea smaller, coriaceous, margins inflexed but not auricled.—Stapf. in Fl. Capen. vii. 370.
North Island: Auckland—Near Ahipara, T.F.C.; Bay of Islands and Whangarei, Petrie! marshes by the lower Waikato, T.F.C.; Coromandel, Petrie!
Probably introduced into New Zealand, as in Australia, South Africa, India, and other countries, but the localities it affects give it the appearance of being indigenous. It is a common plant in many parts of America, from Virginia southwards. It can be distinguished from P. distichum by its greater size, much broader flat leaves, and by the lateral spikes being sessile.
3. P. distichum, Linn. Amœn. Acad. v. 391.—Rhizome long, branched, creeping and rooting. Culms numerous, ascending, sheathed throughout by the leaves, glabrous, 2–8 in. high. Leaves numerous, distichous, 2–5 in. long by about 1/12 in. broad, linear, acute, strict, spreading, usually involute; ligules short, truncate; sheaths thin, pale, loose, bearded at the mouth. Spikes 2, both peduncled and jointed on the top of the culm, usually spreading, 1–1½ in, long; rhachis narrower than the spikelets. Spikelets in two rows, sessile or nearly so, imbricate and appressed to the rhachis, oblong, acute or almost acuminate, flattened, glabrous, pale. Empty glumes equal, acute, thin and membranous, faintly 3–5-nerved. Flowering glume rather shorter than the empty glumes, coriaceous, pale, very indistinctly nerved. Palea coriaceous like the flowering glume, margins slightly auricled.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 291; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 323; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 460; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 10b.
North Island: Auckland—Salt marshes from the North Cape to the Bay of Plenty and the Waikato River, abundant.
Widely distributed in all warm countries.
4. ISACHNE, R. Br.
Perennial or rarely annual grasses. Culms tufted, or decumbent or creeping at the base. Spikelets small or minute, loosely panicled, not at all or very obscurely articulate on the pedicels, 2-flowered; both flowers hermaphrodite, or the lower flower sometimes male, and the upper flower sometimes female. Empty glumes 2, subequal, persistent or separately deciduous, convex, membranous, awnless. Flowering glumes 2, rather smaller than ​the empty glumes, equal or the lower larger, convex or almost hemispherical, subcoriaceous. Palea as long as the flowering glume. Lodicules very minute. Stamens 3, rarely more. Grain free within the hardened glume and palea, generally falling away with them.
Species about 20, widely spread in most tropical or subtropical regions. The single New Zealand species ranges through Australia to India and China.
1. I. australis, R. Br. Prodr. 196.—Culms slender, creeping or decumbent at the base, ascending above, glabrous or nearly so, 6-18 in. high. Leaves short, 2–6 in. long, ⅙–¼ in. broad, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, acute, flat, minutely rough on both surfaces, margins scaberulous; sheaths smooth, ciliate at the mouth and on the margins above. Panicle erect, usually open, ovoid or pyramidal in outline, 2–4 in. long; branches numerous, sparingly divided, very slender, flexuose, minutely scaberulous. Spikelets all pedicelled, small, globose or nearly so, obtuse, about 1/12 in. long. Empty glumes membranous, glabrous, many-nerved. Flowering glumes firm and coriaceous, unequal in size; the lower much the larger, smooth, shining; upper sometimes minutely pubescent. Lower flower usually male; upper female. Palea coriaceous like the flowering glume.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 291; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 324; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 625; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 12.
North Island: Abundant in swamps from the North Cape to the East Cape, Lake Taupo, and Taranaki. Sea-level to 1800 ft.
Greedily eaten by cattle. In summer and autumn it often affords a large amount of nutritious pasturage in swampy districts.
5. PANICUM, Linn.
Annual or perennial grasses, of very various habit. Spikelets lanceolate to ovate or broadly oblong, rarely globose, acuminate or acute or obtuse, articulate on the pedicel, laxly or densely paniculate, or very shortly pedicelled along one side of slender simple or branched spikes, seldom awned, glabrous or pubescent, never with bristles or spines at the base, with a single terminal hermaphrodite flower, sometimes with a male one below it. Glumes 4; the lowermost small, sometimes minute, empty; the 2nd and 3rd unequal or subequal, membranous, awnless or rarely awned, empty or the 3rd containing a rnale or rudimentary flower; 4th or flowering glume shorter or as long as the 3rd, firmer and more coriaceous, hardening in fruit. Palea like the flowering glume but smaller, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2. Grain enclosed in the hardened flowermg glume and palea, oblong or ellipsoid; hilum punctiform.
As characterized above, this is a heterogeneous assemblage of about 300 species, found in all warm climates, but rare or absent in temperate countries. ​The single New Zealand species belongs to the section Digitaria, often kept as a distinct genus, in which the spikelets are almost sessile on one side of simple digitate spikes.
1. P. sanguinale, Linn. Sp. Plant. 57.—Annual. Culms creeping or rooting at the base, then spreading or erect, 6–18 in. long. Leaves 1–6 in. long by ⅙–⅓ in. broad, flat, flaccid, pubescent or glabrous; sheaths thin, rather loose, often pilose and bearded at the nodes; ligules truncate, membranous. Spikes few or many, usually 3–6, varying in length from 1 to 4 in., crowded at the end of the culm, strict, spreading or erect; rhachis triquetrous or flattened, margins scaberulous. Spikelets geminate, one sessile, the other pedicelled, oblong-lanceolate, acute, greenish or purplish, 1/15–1/12 in. long. Outer glume very minute, ovate, acute; 2nd small, ovatelanceolate, 3-nerved, about ½ the length of the flowering glume; 3rd rather longer than the flowering glume, oblong, acute, 6–7-nerved, the nerves often ciliate; 4th or flowering glume oblong, firm and subcoriaceous, acute or acuminate.—Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 469; Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 175.
Kermadec Islands: Not uncommon in shady places. North and South Islands: Abundant as a naturalised weed.
The Kermadec Islands plant, which is the only one which can be considered as indigenous, is referred by Hackel to the variety microbachne (Panicum microbachne, Presl.), and is a much more delicate and slender plant than the type, which is now plentiful as a naturalised weed in cultivated ground in most parts of New Zealand, as in all warm countries.
6. OPLISMENUS, Beauv.
Weak, delicate grasses. Culms decumbent and often rooting at the base, branched, ascending above, leafy. Leaves thin, flat, broad, ovate to lanceolate. Spikelets 1-flowered, jointed on the pedicel, in little clusters on the branches of a simple panicle or spike. Glumes 4, the 3 outer membranous, empty or the 3rd with a rudimentary palea; the outer short, 3-nerved, with a long straight rigid awn; 2nd rather longer, awn short or almost wanting; 3rd the largest, 5-nerved, usually awnless; 4th or flowering glume rather shorter than the 3rd, lanceolate, firm, smooth, awnlegs, hardened in fruit. Palea coriaceous like the flowering glume. Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Grain oblong, enclosed within the hardened flowering glume and palea.
Species probably not more than 4 or 5, widely distributed in the warm regions of both hemispheres.
1. O. undulatifolius, Beauv. Agrost. 54.—Culms prostrate and rooting at the base, ascending above, slender, weak, sparingly branched, 6–18 in. long. Leaves 1–3 in. long by ¼–⅓ in. broad, rarely more, lanceolate, acuminate, flat, glabrous or sparsely pilose; sheaths and nodes more or less pilose. Spike slender, 2–4 in. long; ​rhachis glabrous or pilose with spreading hairs. Spikelets small, 1/12–1/8 in. long, in distant sessile clusters of 2–6 or the uppermost solitary, sometimes the lower clusters are produced into a short spike-like branch. Empty glumes 3, concave, membranous, nerved, pilose, the lower one with a stout rigid awn ⅕–½ in. long. Flowering glume pale, coriaceous, nerveless, shining.—O. setarius, Roem. and Schult. Syst. ii. 481; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 492. O. æmulus, Kunth, Rev. Gram. i. 44; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 292. Orthopogon æmulus, R. Br. Prodr. 194. Panicum imbecille, Trin. Sp. Gram. Ic. ii. t. 191; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 323. Hekaterosachne elatior, Steud. Syn. Pl. Gram. 118.
Kermadec Islands, North Island: Abundant throughout in shaded lowland stations. South Island: Recorded from Nelson (Travers) and Canterbury (Lyall), but I have seen no specimens.
An abundant plant in all warm climates, and barely distinct from the widely diffused O. compositus, Beauv.
7. CENCHRUS, Linn.
Annual or perennial grasses, usually tall. Leaves flat, flaccid. Spikelets narrow, with a single terminal hermaphrodite flower with or without a male flower below it, enclosed 1–4 together in an ovoid or globose involucre of numerous bristles or spines, the inner of which are broad and flattened, connate at the base and hardened in fruit; the involucres sessile in a terminal spike or raceme, and deciduous with the spikelets. Glumes 4; the outer much the smallest, sometimes minute, empty; 2nd equalling the 3rd or a little shorter, empty; 3rd usually containing a palea and sometimes 3 stamens; 4th or flowering glume rather shorter than the 3rd and more rigid. Stamens 3. Styles often connate at the base. Grain enclosed in the flowering glume and palea, free from them.
Species about 12, in the warm regions of both hemispheres and in temperate North America.
1. C. calyculatus, Cav. Ic. v. 39, t. 463.—Culms tufted, tall, stout, glabrous, 2–4 ft. high or more. Leaves long, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, ⅓–⅔ in. broad, flat, glabrous, scaberulous on the margins and veins above; sheaths long, rather lax; ligule split into numerous fine erect bristles. Spike 5–10 in. long by ½ in. broad, stout, dense; rhachis angular, pubescent. Involucres about ⅓ in. long, sessile or very shortly pedicelled, spreading or at length deflexed, broadly ovoid; inner bristles 8–12, connate at the base, compressed, unequal in length, sometimes one much longer than the rest, lower ⅔ plumose with soft spreading hairs, upper ⅓ rough and scabrous; outer bristles numerous, much shorter, spreading, subulate, scabrous throughout. Spikelets 1 or 2 within the involucres; outer empty glume half the length of the 2nd, ovate, acute, 1-nerved; 2nd ​rather shorter and broader than the 3rd, 3-nerved; 3rd with a palea and male flower, 5–7-nerved; 4th or flowering glume rather shorter and narrower, firmer in texture.—Cheesem in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 175. C. anomoplexis, Lab. Sert. Austr. Caled. 14, t. 19.
Kermadec Islands: Sandy soil on the north side of Sunday Island, not common, T.F.C. Also a native of New Caledonia and others of the Pacific islands.
8. SPINIFEX, Linn.
Usually wide-creeping hard and stout branching grasses. Leaves long, involute, silky. Inflorescence dioecious. Male spikelets 2-flowered, sessile or shortly pedicelled, articulate on long erect spikes which are arranged in umbels surrounded by leafy spathaceous bracts. Glumes 4, all membranous, awnless; 2 lowest empty; 3rd and 4th each with a palea and 3 stamens. Female spikelets 1- or rarely 2-flowered, numerous, each one solitary at the base of long rigid pungent stellately spreading spines, surrounded by short lanceolate bracts, the whole inflorescence forming a large globose head. Glumes 4, subequal, narrow; 2 lowest empty; 3rd with a palea and sometimes with a rudimentary male flower; 4th with a female flower. Lodicules 2, large. Styles long, free; stigmas plumose. Grain free withm the hardened flowering glume and palea.
A small genus of 4 species, 3 of which are found in Australia, one of them extending to New Zealand and New Caledonia, the fourth stretching from Ceylon and India to Java, China, and Japan.
1. S. hirsutus, Labill. Pl. Nov. Holl. ii. 81, t. 230, 231.—Stems creeping and rooting, branched, often many feet long, stout, knotted, silky or woolly. Leaves 1–2 ft. long, coriaceous, flexuous, densely clothed with soft silky hairs, margins strongly involute; sheaths long, broad, the inner smooth and shining; ligules split into a dense brush of erect silky hairs. Male spikes numerous, 2–4 in. long, arranged in a terminal umbel, with or without a cluster of 2–3 placed lower down the culm. Spikelets about ⅓ in. long. Glumes silky, 5–7-nerved. Female heads large, globose, 6–12 in. diam.; spines very numerous, spreading all round, slender, subulate, pungent-pointed. Spikelets very narrow, acute or acuminate, ½ in. long. Glumes 7–9-nerved.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 292; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 322; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 503; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 8, 9. S. sericeus, R. Br. Prodr. 198; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 122; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 268; Raoul, Choix, 40. Ixalum inerme, Forst. Prodr. n. 564.
North Island: Abundant on sandhills near the sea. South Island: Nelson— Sandy shores of Blind Bay, T.F.C; Cape Farewell, H. H. Travers. Canterbury—Travers, Armstrong.
​Also common in Australia and New Caledonia. It is a valuable plant for fixing the surface of moving sand-dunes.
9. EHRHARTA, Thunb.
Perennial or annual grasses, of very varied habit. Leaves flat or convolute. Spikelets laterally compressed, 1-flowered, pedicellate, arranged in a panicle or simple raceme; rhachilla disarticulating above the 2 lowest glumes, obscurely produced above the flower. Glumes 5; the 2 lowest short, empty; 3rd and 4th longer, awned, frequently hairy at the base, also empty, 4th the longest, often with a callus at its base; 5th or flowering glume shorter, thinner, never awned, usually with a callus or tuft of hairs at its base. Palea narrow, keeled, finely and closely 2-nerved. Stamens 6 in the great majority of the species, 2 only in the New Zealand ones. Styles short or rather long; stigmas plumose. Grain ovoid or elliptic, compressed, enclosed within the flowering glume and palea, but free from them.
A genus of 27 species, all but the two following natives of South Africa, one of them extending northwards to eastern tropical Africa and Arabia.
| Culms 6–18 in. Panicle 2–4 in., many-spiculate. Two lowest empty glumes acute | 1. E. Colensoi. |
| Culms 1–5 in. Raceme small, of 2–5 spikelets. Two lowest empty glumes broad, obtuse | 2. E. Thomsoni. |
1. E. Colensoi, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 288, t. 65a.—Culms numerous, tufted, branched at the base, glabrous, many-noded, 6–18 in. high. Leaves numerous, distichous, suberect, the upper ones 4–6 in. long by ⅙–⅕ in. broad, flat, faintly nerved, glabrous, tapering from the base to a slender point, the lowermost with the blades much reduced in size and almost scale-like; ligules very short, jagged; sheaths short, close, firm, thin, striate, glabrous. Panicles contracted, inclined or drooping, 1½–4 in. long; rhachis slender, smooth; branches short, suberect, in small specimens sometimes reduced to single spikelets. Spikelets compressed, linear-oblong, about ¼ in. long; pedicels short, slender. Two lowest glumes about half the length of the 3rd and 4th respectively, acuminate, 3–5-nerved; 3rd and 4th narrower, awned, silky-hairy at the base, 5–7-nerved. Flowering glume shorter than the 4th and about equal to the 3rd, oblong, obtuse, glabrous. Palea linear; rhachilla produced behind it as a minute appendage.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 319; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 1.
North Island: Ruahine Mountains, Colenso! H. Hill! Petrie! Mount Egmont, T.F.C.; Tararua Mountains, H. H. Travers! South Island: Nelson—Mount Arthur, Mount Owen, T.F.C.; Mount Rochfort, Mount Faraday, Townson! Canterbury and Westland—Mountains above Arthur's Pass, T.F.C.; Kelly's Hill, Petrie! Otago—Clinton Saddle, Lake Te Anau, Petrie! 3000–5500 ft.
​2. E. Thomsoni, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xii. (1880) 356, t. 10.—A small densely tufted species. Culms short, stout, much branched, spreading, quite glabrous, 1–5 in. high. Leaves numerous, distichous, spreading, ⅓—½ in. long, 1/12–1/8 broad, lanceolate, acute, strongly nerved; ligule reduced to a mere line; sheaths pale, strongly grooved. Inflorescence reduced to a short stout erect raceme of 2–5 spikelets, sometimes hardly longer than the leaves; pedicels short, stout, often appressed to the rhachis. Spikelets ⅙–⅕ in. long, compressed. Two outer glumes small, subequal, broadly oblong or rounded, obtuse, less than ⅓ as long as the 3rd and 4th respectively; 3rd and 4th ovate-lanceolate, rigid, keeled, awned, 5-nerved, silky at the base, keel and awns minutely scabrid. Flowering glume shorter, oblong, obtuse or subacute, 3–5-nerved. Palea linear. Stamens 1–2.
South Island: Nelson—Mount Rochfort, Dr. Gaze! Townson! Otago—Longwood Range, Kirk! Stewart Island—Port Pegasus, Thomson and Petrie! Kirk! Rakiahua, P. Goyen! Auckland Islands—F. R. Chapman! Sea-level to 4000 ft.
A very curious and distinct little species.
10. MICROLÆNA, R. Br.
Slender perennial grasses; culms simple or branched. Leaves flat or convolute when dry. Spikelets laterally compressed, 1-flowered, pedicellate, arranged in a narrow lax panicle; rhachilla disarticulating above the 2 outer glumes. Glumes 5; the 2 outer very small, persistent; 3rd and 4th long, narrow, produced into long awns, the 4th much the longest; 5th or flowering glume shorter, acute, not awned. Palea linear. Lodicules 2, rather large, thin. Stamens 4 or 2. Styles distinct; stigmas plumose. Grain enclosed within the flowering glume and palea but free from them.
A small genus of 5 species, confined to Australia and New Zealand. One of the New Zealand species is also found in Australia, the remaining two are endemic.
* The two outer glumes distant from the 3rd and 4th. :
| Leaves flat, thin, ⅛–⅕ in. broad. Panicle 3–9 in., narrow. Stamens 4 | 1. M. stipoides. |
| ** The 2 outer glumes not distant from the 3rd and 4th. ||
| Culms not branched. Leaves broad, ¼–½ in. Panicles 1–2 ft., compound. Stamens 2 | 2. M. avenacea. |
| Culms branched. Leaves 1/10–1/5 in. broad. Panicle reduced to a simple raceme 1–3 in. long, rarely branched at the base. Stamens 4 | 3. M. polynoda. |
1. M. stipoides, R. Br. Prodr. 210.—Rhizome creeping and rooting, branched. Culms numerous from the rhizome, often branched below, erect or ascending, slender, glabrous, 1–2 ft. high or more. ​Leaves rather short, 3–9 in. long, ⅛–⅕ in. broad, thin, flat, acute, glabrous, timely scaberulous on the midrib beneath; ligules veryshort, reduced to a mere rim; sheaths thin, usually finely pubescent. Panicle narrow, slender, lax, branched at the base, 3–9 in. long; branches erect, capillary. Spikelets narrow, about ⅔ in. long without the awns, on filiform pedicels. Two outer glumes minute, persistent, many times smaller than the 3rd and 4th, and separated from them by an elongated bearded portion of the rhachilla; 3rd and 4th long and narrow, produced into slender awns, the 4th longer than the 3rd, its awn often more than 1 in. long, nerves 5–7, with the awns rough and scabrid. Flowering glume much shorter, acuminate but not awned, faintly 7-nerved. Palea linear. Lodicules large. Stamens 4.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 289; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 320; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 552; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 2.
North Island: Not uncommon throughout, but most plentiful in lowland districts. South Island, Stewart Island: In various localities, chiefly near the sea. Sea-level to 2000 ft.
Widely distributed in Australia, ranging from Queensland to Tasmania and West Australia. It is a most valuable pasture and lawn grass, deserving of far more attention than has hitherto been given to it.
2. M. avenacea, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 320.—Culms tufted, tall, stout, erect or spreading, compressed, glabrous, 1–4 ft. high. Leaves mostly towards the base of the culms and shorter than them, broad, flat, ¼–½ in. diam., glabrous, striate, scaberulous on the margins and principal veins; sheaths long, smooth, deenly striate; ligules broad, bearded at the sides. Panicle 1–2 ft. long, sparingly branched, compound, lax, nodding, pale-green; branches long, slender, almost capillary, angled, scaberulous. Spikelets very narrow, about ⅓ in. long without the awns, usually 1 in. with them; pedicels slender, thickened above. Two lowest glumes small, many times less than the 3rd and 4th, not separated from them by a conspicuous interspace as in M. stipoides, 1-nerved, obtuse, sometimes notched at the tip, the outer one half the length of the 2nd; 3rd and 4th long, narrow, empty, 5–7-nerved, rough and scabrous, hairy at the base, produced into long awns. Flowering glume much shorter than the 4th, acuminate but not awned, faintly 5–7-nerved. Palea linear, acuminate, 1-nerved. Stamens 2.—Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 3. Diplax avenacea, Raoul, Choix, 11, t. 3; Hook, f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 289.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Abundant in woods throughout. Sea-level to 2500 ft. December–January.
3. M. polynoda, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 320.—Culms 3–8 ft. long, much branched, straggling, often scrambling among shrubs and bushes, hard, solid, terete, as thick as a goose-quill at the base, quite glabrous, conspicuously swollen at the nodes. Leaves numerous, rather distant, the lowermost reduced to sheaths, upper ​3–9 in. long, 1/10–1/5 in. broad, linear, finely acuminate, flat, seriate, margins scaberulous; sheaths smooth, grooved; ligules short, with a few long hairs on each side. Panicle usually reduced to a simple raceme 1–2½ in. long with few spikelets, but sometimes 3–3½ in., the lower portion with 1 or 2 short erect 2–3-spiculate branches. Spikelets narrow, compressed, ½–¾ in. long with the awns. Two lowest glumes small, whitish, many times less than the 3rd and 4th, not separated from them by a distinct interspace, the lowest ⅓ the length of the 2nd; 3rd and 4th narrow, unequal, empty, awned, rough and scabrous on the sides and awn, hairy at the base. Flowering glume shorter than the 4th, acuminate, 5–7-nerved. Palea linear, 1-nerved. Stamens 4.—Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 4. M. ramosissima. Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxi. (1889) 105. Diplax polynoda, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 290.
North Island: Auckland—Whangarei Heads, T.F.C.; Great Barrier Island, Kirk! Cabbage Bay, Adams; Coromandel, T.F.C.; Thames, Kirk; Te Aroha, Adams. Hawke's Bay—Dannevirke, base of the Ruahine Range, Colenso! South Island: Nelson—Motueka Valley, T.F.C. Canterbury—Armstrong. Otago—Near Dunedin, Buchanan! Petrie! Sea-level to 1500 ft. December–January.
11. HIEROCHLOE, Gmel.
Erect sweet-scented perennial grasses. Leaves flat. Spikelets in an open or close panicle, laterally compressed, shining, with 1 terminal hermaphrodite flower and 1–2 male flowers below it. Glumes 5; 2 outer empty, equal or nearly so, acute, keeled, scarious, 1–3-nerved; 3rd and 4th subsimilar, often shortly awned, each enclosing a narrow palea and usually 3 stamens; 5th rather smaller, obtuse or mucronate, 5-nerved, enclosing a hermaphrodite flower and a linear 1–2-nerved palea. Lodicules 2. Styles free; stigmas plumose. Grain oblong, free within the slightly indurated flowermg glume and palea.
Species 12 or 13, distributed throughout the temperate and frigid zones of both hemispheres. All the species have a vanilla-like fragrance when drying. Of the three found in New Zealand, one is widely spread in the south temperate zone, another extends to Victoria and Tasmania, the third is endemic in the Auckland Islands.
* Two outer glumes about equal to the florets. :
| Culms 2–3 ft. Leaves long, ¼–½ in. broad. Spikelets ¼ in. long; outer glumes equalling or slightly exceeding the florets | 1. H. redolens. |
| Culms 6–18 in. Leaves short, 1/12–1/5 broad. Spikelets ⅕ in. long; outer glumes usually slightly shorter than the florets | 2. H. Fraseri. |
| ** Two outer glumes much longer than the florets. ||
| Culms 1–2 ft. Leaves involute, subcoriaceous. Spikelets ⅓ in. long | 3. H. Brunonis. |
​1. H. redolens, R. Br. Prodr. 209.—Culms tufted, leafy, decumbent at the base, erect or ascending above, stout or rather slender, 1½–3 ft. high or even more. Leaves numerous, shorter than the culms or almost equalling them, ¼–½ in. broad, flat, deeply striate, smooth or minutely scaberulous, bright shining green; sheaths long, compressed, deeply striate; ligules broad, scarious. Panicle pale yellowish-brown, shining, open or dense, inclined or nodding, very variable in size, usually from 4 to 12 in. long, more rarely elongated and reaching 14 or 18 in.; rhachis slender, glabrous; branches very slender, almost capillary, more or less hairy or almost glabrous, lower 2–3 in. long. Spikelets ¼ in. long and broad, shortly pedicellate; pedicels shorter than the spikelets, pilose. Glumes all thin and membranous; outer 2 equalling or slightly exceeding the 3rd and 4th, ovate, acuminate, with a stout continuous midrib and a short basal lateral vein on each side; 3rd and 4th each enclosing a male flower, ovate-oblong, obtuse, 5-nerved, pubescent, silky-ciliate on the margins and keel, with a short awn from the back a little below the tip; 5th smaller than the 4th, glabrous below, slightly hairy above, mucronate or very shortly awned. Palea linear-oblong, 1–2-nerved.—Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 92; Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 300; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 321; Fl. Tasm. ii. 108; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 558; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 6. H. antarctica, R. Br. Prodr. 209. Holcus redolens, Forst. Prodr. n. 563. Torresia redolens, Roem. and Schult. Syst. ii. 516; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 269.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands, Campbell Island: Abundant in moist places throughout. Sea-level to 3000 ft.
Also in Fuegia, Tasmania, and Victoria. It varies much in size and degree of robustness, and appears to pass by easy gradations into the next species.
2. H. Fraseri, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 93.—Smaller and more slender than H. redolens, with narrower leaves. Culms tufted, sometimes densely so, slender, quite smooth and glabrous, 6–18 in. high, rarely more. Leaves much shorter than the culms, 3–9 in. long, strict, erect, flat, ⅕–⅓ in. broad, quite smooth; ligules broad, scarious. Panicle pale yellowish-brown, often tinged with purple, short, ovate, open, shining, 1½–4 in. long; branches often few, capillary, usually glabrous. Spikelets ⅕ in. long and broad, shortly pedicelled; pedicels glabrous or more or less bearded. Glumes all thin and membranous; outer 2 usually slightly shorter than the 3rd and 4th, obtuse or subacute, 3-nerved but the lateral nerves often short; 3rd and 4th each enclosing a male flower, oblong, obtuse, 5-nerves, pubescent, margins silky-ciliate for their whole length, awn short, straight, from the back a little below the tip; 5th smaller tnan the 4th, glabrous or nearly so at the base, pubescent or ciliate above, tip produced into a short awn. Palea linear, 1–2-nerved.—H. redolens var. Fraseri, Benth. Fl. Austral. ​vii. 559. H. borealis, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 300; Fl. Tasm. ii. 108 (not of Roem. and Schult.). H. alpina, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 322 (not of Roem. and Schult.); Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 7.
Var. recurvata, Hack. MS.—Awn of 4th glume inserted on the middle of the back of the glume, slightly geniculate above. Spikelets rather larger.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Not uncommon in mountain districts from the East Cape and the Ruahine Mountains southwards. Sea-level to 4500 ft.
Also in Tasmania. A puzzling plant, large states of which cannot be clearly separated from H. redolens, although usually differing in the smaller size, slender habit, shorter and more open panicles, and smaller spikelets, with the empty glumes rather shorter than the 3rd and 4th. Sir J. D. Hooker referred it to H. borealis in the Flora, and to H. alpina in the Handbook. But Professor Hackel remarks that it differs from both of these species in the short blunt outer glumes, and from H. alpina, in addition, in the much longer branches of the panicle, and in the awn of the 4th glume being usually inserted just beneath the apex and not geniculate. Var. recurvata approaches H. alpina in the awn of the 4th glume, but the panicle, &c., is different.
3. H. Brunonis, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 93, t. 52.—Culms laxly tufted, inclined at the base, erect above, glabrous, leafy, 1–1½ ft. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, ⅕–⅓ in. broad, rather strict, suberect, linear-subulate, involute, subcoriaceous, glabrous, deeply striate on the inner face, pale shining green; sheaths compressed, striate; Hgules ovate, scarious. Panicle inclined or nodding, shining, rather dense, ovate-lanceolate, 3–5 in. long by 1–1½ in. broad; rhachis slender, glabrous; branches suberect, the lower about 1 in. long. Spikelets ⅓ in. long, pedicelled; pedicels sparsely pilose. Glumes all membranous; outer 2 much longer than the 3rd and 4th, sometimes nearly twice as long, lanceolate, long-acuminate, glabrous, 3-nerved; 3rd and 4th each enclosing a male flower, ovate-oblong, obtuse, 5-nerved, deeply bifid at the tip, pubescent or pilose, margins silky-ciliate, awn rather long, rising from the back a little distance below the base of the lobes; 5th similar to the 4th but smaller and much less pubescent, usually glabrous at the base. Palea linear-oblong, 1–2-nerved.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 322.
Auckland and Campbell Islands: Abundant on the hills. Sir J. D. Hooker, Kirk! Buchanan! Sea-level to 1400 ft.
The long empty glumes readily separate this from any form of H. redolens.
12. STIPA, Linn.
Tufted perennial grasses. Leaves usually convolute, rarely flat. Spikelets narrow, terete, 1-flowered, in an open or contracted panicle; rhachilla disarticulating above the 2 outer glumes. Glumes 3; the 2 outer empty, usually persistent, keeled, acute, rarely awned; 3rd or flowering glume rigid, convolute, terete, 527-nerved, usually with a bearded callus at the base, tapering upwards into an ​entire or minutely 2-lobed tip, with a long terminal geniculate awn often spirally twisted below the bend. Palea 2-nerved, enclosed within the flowering glume. Lodicules usually 3, large. Stamens 3, seldom fewer. Styles distinct, rather short. Grain narrow, terete, tightly enclosed by the hardened flowering glume and palea.
A genus of over 100 species, spread over the temperate and tropical regions of both hemispheres. Two of the New Zealand species extend to Australia, the third is endemic.
| Tall, 2–5 ft. Panicle 1–2½ ft., lax, nodding. Spikelets minute, 1/10–1/8 in. Stamen 1 | 1. S. arundinacea. |
| Densely tufted, 1–3 ft. Leaves long, terete. Panicle 4–9 in., narrow, strict, erect. Spikelets ¾ in. | 2. S. teretifolia. |
| Tufted, 1–2 ft. Leaves short, filiform. Panicle 4–8 in., lax, erect. Spikelets ¼ in. | 3. S. setacea. |
1. S. arundinacea, Benth. in Journ. Linn. Soc. xix. (1881) 81.—Rhizomes short, creeping, scaly. Culms very densely tufted, tall, erect, nodding, rigid, quite glabrous, 2–5 ft. high. Leaves from the distant nodes of the culms, the lowermost reduced to appressed sheaths, upper 6–12 in. long, ⅛–⅕ in. broad, coriaceous, flat or involute, margins and midrib slightly scaberulous; sheaths very long, closely appressed, finely ciliate along the margins; ligules short, truncate. Panicles very large and lax, nodding, 1–2½ ft. long; rhachis very slender, glabrous; branches in distant whorls of 5–8, capillary, again compound, spreading, finely scaberulous, 3–6 in. long. Spikelets minute, 1/10–1/8 in. long, greenish-purple. Two outer glumes almost equal, lanceolate, acummate, membranous, scaberulous along the keel, lower 1-nerved, upper 3-nerved; 3rd or flowering glume much shorter, sessile on a short glabrous callus, rigid, convolute, pubescent towards the tip; awn slender, scabrid, deciduous, about ⅓ in. long. Palea linear-oblong, 2-nerved. Stamen 1.—Apera arundinacea, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 295, t. 67; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 326; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 17. A. purpurascens, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxi. (1889) 106.
North and South Islands: Auckland—East Cape, Bishop Williams. Hawke's Bay—Petane, A. Hamilton! Dannevirke and Cape Turnagain, Colenso! Wellington—Wairarapa, Buchanan! South Karori, Kirk. Nelson—Foxhill, Wangapeka, T.F.C. Marlborough—Pelorus Valley, Rutland! Canterbury—Akaroa, Raoul, Kirk! Otago—Near Dunedin, Buchanan! Petrie! G. M. Thomson! Horse Ranges and Kaitangata, Petrie. Sea-level to 1500 ft.
A very handsome species. It is closely allied to S. verticillata, Nees (Streptachne ramosissima, Trin.), an Australian species which is often grown in gardens, and which has established itself in several localities, but which differs in the rather larger spikelets with a much longer persistent awn, and in having 3 stamens.
2. S. teretifolia, Steud. Syn. Pl. Gram. 128.—Culms densely tufted, forming large tussocks, rigid, erect, smooth and polished, quite glabrous, 1½–3 ft. high. Leaves longer or shorter than the ​culms, slender, smooth, rigid, terete, about 1/30 in. diam., tips acicular; sheaths long, margins scarious; ligules membranous, entire. Panicle narrow, strict, erect, 4–9 in. long; rhachis smooth; branches few, erect, capillary, and with the pedicels glabrous. Spikelets narrow, about ¾ in. long without the awn. Two outer glumes subequal, lanceolate, acuminate, finely 3-nerved, membranous, pale whitish-green; 3rd or flowering glume much shorter, rigid and convolute, lanceolate, acuminate, densely clothed with long silky hairs, shortly bifid at the apex; awn from between the lobes, often over 1 in. long, curved or abruptly bent, minutely pubescent. Palea ¾ the length of the flowering glume, linear, silky, 2-nerved. Stamens 3.—Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 567. Dichelachne stipoides, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 294, t. 66; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 325; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 14.
North Island: Rocky or sandy places near the sea, from the North Cape to the Bay of Plenty, abundant.
Not uncommon in Australia and Tasmania. Hooker quotes Agrostis rigida, A. Rich., as a synonym, but Richard's description does not suit, and his plant was gathered in the French Pass, near Nelson, far beyond the southern limit of S. teretifolia.
3. S. setacea, R. Br. Prodr. 174.—Culms tufted, slender, wiry, erect, glabrous, 1–2 ft. high. Leaves numerous towards the base of the culms and much shorter than them, very slender, almost filiform, erect, smooth, involute; sheaths closely appressed, smooth; ligules narrow, membranous. Panicle lax, strict, erect, glabrous, 4–8 in. long; rhachis smooth; branches whorled, capillary, each with 2–5 spikelets; pedicels minutely scaberulous. Spikelets ¼ in. long without the awn, pale whitish-green. Two outer glumes almost equal, lanceolate, acuminate, very thin and membranous, almost hyaline, glabrous; 3rd or flowering glume much shorter, rigid, convolute, brownish, densely villous, entire at the tip; awn very slender, glabrous, 1–1½ in. long. Palea linear, silky, 2-nerved. Stamens 3.—Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. ii. 110, t. 157b; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 568; Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiv. (1882) 386; Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xix. (1887) 326. S. Petriei, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 17 ii.
South Island: Otago—Cromwell, Kurow, Duntroon, and other localities in the interior of Otago, Petrie! 500–1500 ft.
A common Australian plant, stretching from Queensland to Tasmania. It is probably naturalised only in New Zealand.
13. ECHINOPOGON, Beauv.
An erect or ascending glabrous grass. Leaves flat. Spikelets 1-flowered, crowded in a short and dense spike-like panicle; rhachilla disarticulating above the 2 outer glumes, produced beyond, the flower into a short bristle. Glumes 3; 2 outer subequal, persistent, empty, awnless, keeled, acute; 3rd or flowering glume ​broad, thin, 5-nerved, 3-lobed at the tip, the lateral lobes short and acute, the middle one produced into a straight stiff awn. Palea shorter than the flowering glume, narrow, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2. Stamens 3. Styles distinct; stigmas shortly plumose. Grain free within the flowering glume.
The genus is confined to the following species, which has a wide range in Australia as well as in New Zealand.
1. E. ovatus, Beauv. Agrost. 42, t. 9.—Culms laxly tufted, decumbent at the base, erect above, slender, stiff, minutely scabrid above, 9–24 in. high. Leaves 1–6 in. long, ⅛–¼ in. broad, flat, striate, margins and both surfaces harsh and scabrid; sheaths rather long, closely appressed, deeply striate, scabrid with reversed projections; ligule short, membranous, lacerate. Spike-like panicle varying in size from ½–1½ in. long, ovoid-globose to narrow-oblong, bristling with the long awns; branches short, densely packed. Spikelets compressed, 1/10–1/8 in. long without the awns. Two outer glumes subequal, lanceolate, acute, sharply keeled, keel very prominent, green, ciliate; 3rd or flowering glume equalling or slightly exceeding the empty glumes, broad, furnished at the base with a pencil of silky hairs, awn rigid, scabrous, ¼–⅓ in. long. Palea linear-oblong, 2-nerved, with a hairy bristle-like continuation of the rhachilla at its back.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 298; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 325; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 599; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 13b. Agrostis ovata, Forst. Prodr. n. 40; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 128; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 247; Raoul, Choix, 39. Cinna ovata, Kunth, Enum. i. 208. Hystericina alopecuroides, Steud. Syn. Pl. Gram. 35.
North and South Islands: Not uncommon in dry places throughout. Sea-level to 2500 ft.
14. ALOPECURUS, Linn.
Annual or perennial grasses. Leaves flat. Spikelets strongly laterally compressed, 1-flowered, densely crowded in a cylindric spike-like panicle, articulated on the top of the very short pedicels. Glumes 3; the 2 outer subequal, often connate below, sharply keeled, acute or obtuse, not awned, often fringed on the keels; 3rd or flowering glume about as long as the outer glumes, convolute, hyaline, usually with a slender bent dorsal awn. Palea generally wanting. Lodicules absent. Stamens 2 or 3. Styles distinct or connate. Grain laterally compressed, free within the flowering glume and palea.
Species about 20, in the temperate and cool regions of both hemispheres, several of them excellent fodder-grasses. The single New Zealand species is widely distributed.
1. A. geniculatus, Linn. Sp. Plant. 60.—Culms creeping and rooting at the base, erect above, rather slender, glabrous, 9–18 in. ​high. Leaves short, soft, flat, ⅛–⅙ in. broad; upper sheaths long, grooved, more or less inflated; ligules long, membranous. Spike 1–2 in. long, ¼–⅓ in. broad, dense, cylindric, greenish-yellow; branches short, the ultimate ones bearing a single spikelet. Spikelets numerous, closely imbricating, much compressed, 1/10–1/8 in. long. Two outer glumes slightly connate at the base, obtuse or subacute, membranous, pubescent, ciliate along the keel; 3rd or flowering glume rather shorter than the empty ones, thin, convolute, truncate and erose at the tip; awn slender, not twice the length of the glume, almost basal, straight or recurved. Anthers linear, orange-yellow.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 290; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 321; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 555; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 5.
North Island: Auckland—Lower Waikato, H. Carse! East Cape district, Bishop Williams! Hawke's Bay—Colenso! Wellington—Wairarapa, Buchanan! near Wellington, Kirk! South Island: Not uncommon in marshy places throughout. Sea-level to 3500 ft. Marsh Foxtail.
An abundant grass in marshy places in most temperate regions. The allied species A. pratensis (Meadow Foxtail) and A. agrestis (Slender Foxtail), descriptions of which will be found in any British flora, have become naturalised in several localities in both Islands.
15. SPOROBOLUS, R. Br.
Annual or perennial grasses, of very various habit. Leaves flat or convolute. Spikelets small, often minute, 1-flowered, awniess, arranged in a narrow spike-like or effuse panicle; rhachilla very short, obscurely jointed above the 2 outer glumes, not produced beyond the flower or very rarely so. Glumes 3, membranous, nerveless or 1–3-nerved; 2 outer unequal, empty, persistent or separately deciduous; 3rd or flowering glume longer than or equalling the 2nd. Palea usually almost as long as the flowering glume, 2-nerved, often splitting between the nerves. Lodicules 2, small. Stamens 2–3. Styles short, distinct. Grain free within the flowering glume and palea; the pericarp lax, usually deciduous.
Species about 80, dispersed through the tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres, but most numerous in America.
1. S. indicus, R. Br. Prodr. 170.—Perennial. Culms tufted, stout, rigid, perfectly glabrous, 1–2 ft. high. Leaves mostly at the base of the culms and shorter than them, 4–12 in. long, 1/12–1/8 broad, usually involute, tapering to a fine point, glabrous, margins smooth; sheaths pale, compressed, often ciliate on the margins; ligules reduced to a ciliate rim. Panicle erect, spike-like, very narrow, 3–9 in. long, sometimes interrupted below; branches short, crowded, erect and appressed to the rhachis. Spikelets very numerous, crowded, ½ in. long. Two outer glumes unequal, the lowest not much more than one-half the length of the 2nd, hyaline, nerveless, or the 2nd 1-nerved; 3rd or flowering glume nearly twice ​as long as the 2nd, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 1–3-nerved. Palea almost as long as the flowering glume. Stamens usually 2. Grain obovoid or roughly quadrangular, reddish; pericarp thin.—Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 622. S. elongatus, R. Br. Prodr. 170; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 295; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 327; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 18.
North and South Islands: Lowland districts from the North Cape to Nelson and Marlborough, abundant, especially in the northern part of the North Island. Ratstail.
A common grass in all warm countries. Although now presenting all the appearance of a true native, it is certainly introduced into New Zealand. Bishop Williams informs me that it made its first appearance at the Bay of Islands in 1840, shortly after the arrival of a ship called the "Surabayo," which, while on a voyage from Valparaiso to Sydney, laden with horses and forage, put into the Bay of Islands in a disabled state, and was there condemned and her cargo sold. Erigeron canadensis and other weeds appeared at the same time.
16. SIMPLICIA, T. Kirk.
A slender decumbent grass. Leaves flat. Spikelets minute, 1-flowered, solitary and pedicelled on the branches of a slender panicle; rhachilla disarticulating above the 2 outer glumes, produced above the flower into a minute bristle. Glumes 3; 2 outer minute, unequal, empty, hyaline, persistent; 3rd or flowering glume much longer than the outer glumes, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate or shortly awned, keeled, obscurely 1–3-nerved. Palea almost as long as the flowering glume, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2. Stamens 1–2. Styles distinct; stigmas shortly plumose. Grain oblong, free within the flowering glume and palea.
A peculiar monotypic genus, endemic in New Zealand. Professor Hackel considers it to be intermediate between Sporobolus and Agrostis, differing from the former in the rhachilla being produced beyond the flower, and from the latter in the minute unequal empty glumes, large palea, &c. Mr. Kirk compared it to Muhlenbergia.
1. S. laxa, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxix. (1897) 497.—Culms weak, decumbent, very slender, filiform, 8–18 in. long. Leaves 1–4 in. long by 1/20–1/8 in. broad, flat, flaccid, glabrous or minutely ciliate along the nerves; sheaths long, glabrous or pubescent; ligule long, membranous. Panicle very slender, narrow, 2–6 in. long; rhachis filiform; branches few, filiform, erect, smooth or minutely scaberulous. Spikelets lanceolate, pale-green, about 1/12 in. long. Two outer glumes minute, unequal, glabrous, the lower ⅔ the length of the upper, which is ¼ the length of the flowering glume; 3rd or flowering glume acuminate or shortly awned, pubescent with short stiff erect hairs. Palea almost as long as the flowering glume, acute, pubescent. Ripe grain not seen.
North Island: Wellington—Dry River, Ruamahanga, Lower Wairarapa, Kirk! South Island: Otago—Deep Stream, Waikouaiti, Petrie!
17. AGROSTIS, Linn.
Annual or perennial grasses, of very various habit. Leaves usually flat, sometimes setaceous, often flaccid; ligules membranous. Spikelets small, 1-flowered, arranged in effuse or contracted panicles with capillary whorled branches; rhachilla disarticulating above the 2 outer glumes, not produced beyond the flower. Glumes 3; 2 outer equal or subequal, empty, keeled, acute, not awned, usually 1-nerved; 3rd or flowering glume membranous or hyaline, glabrous or hairy, usually truncate, 5-nerved or rarely 3-nerved, with a dorsal awn or unawned, callus glabrous or with a few minute hairs. Palea usually short, often minute or wanting, thin and delicate, hyaline, 2-nerved or nerveless. Lodicules 2. Stamens 3. Styles very short, distinct; stigmas plumose. Grain oblong, free within the flowering glume.
Species about 100, found in all parts of the world, but most abundant in temperate regions, and penetrating as far into the arctic and antarctic zones as any other grasses. Of the 7 species admitted in this work, one is generally distributed in high southern latitudes, two or possibly three are found in Australia, the remainder are endemic.
*Awn of flowering glume distinctly exserted beyond the empty glumes. :
| Culms 3–18 in. Panicle contracted, 1–4 in. Spikelets ⅙ in. long; pedicels almost hispid | 1. A. magellanica. |
| ** Awn of flowering glume often wanting; when present not exceeding the empty glumes. |
| Minute, softly pulvinate, seldom more than 1 in. high. Panicle usually sunk among the leaves | 2. A. muscosa. |
| Slender, strict, densely tufted, 2–9 in. Panicle narrow, almost spike-like, ½–2 in. long | 3. A. Muelleri. |
| Tufted, 4–18 in.; innovation-shoots intravaginal, without leafless scales at the base. Panicle 2–5 in., contracted, rather dense; branches numerous. Spikelets 1/10–1/8 in., empty glumes scabrid on the keel | 4. A. Dyeri. |
| Laxly tufted, 6–18 in.; innovation-shoots extravaginal, with leafless scales at the base. Panicle 2–6 in., lax; branches in whorls of 3–5. Spikelets ⅙ in., empty glumes smooth | 5. A. Petriei. |
| Weak, very slender, 6–18 in. Panicle 2–6 in., lax and spreading; branches few, capillary, trichotomously divided. Spikelets minute, 1/15, in. | 6. A. parviflora. |
| Laxly tufted, very slender, 6–15 in. Panicle linear, 1½–4 in. by 1/10–1/6 in.; branches short, erect. Spikelets 1/12–1/10 in., pale, shining | 7. A. tenella. |
Two common European species, A. vulgaris (Red-top) and A. alba (Fiorin), are copiously naturalised in most parts of the colony. They come nearer to A. Dyeri than to any other of the indigenous species, but differ in the creeping rootstocks, laxer panicles, and in the florets having a well-developed palea. Descriptions of them will be found in any British Flora.
1. A. magellanica, Lam. Ill. i. 160.—Culms tufted, very variable in size, 3–18 in. high, erect or shortly decumbent at the base, ​stout or slender, quite glabrous, leafy. Leaves numerous, shorter than the culms, 1/12–1/8 broad, involute, striate, scaberulous on the margins and veins; sheaths long, contracted at the mouth, deeply grooved, pale; ligules oblong, membranous, truncate at the apex, lacerate. Panicle 1–4 in. long, ¼–¾ in. broad, contracted, linear-oblong, rather dense, erect or inclined; rhachis stout, scabrid; branches numerous, whorled, erect, scaberulous. Spikelets ⅙ in. long, light-green or purplish; pedicels usually shorter than the spikelets, scabrid, thickened at the tips. Two outer glumes subequal, lanceolate, acuminate, ciliate or almost hispid along the keel, sides scaberulous; 3rd or flowering glume ½ the length of the 2nd or rather shorter, membranous, glabrous, truncate at the apex and more or less evidently 4-cuspidate, awn from half-way down the back, straight or fiexuous or slightly recurved, usually longer thaa the spikelet. Palea very short, hardly exceeding the ovary, sometimes wanting.—Hook. f. in Phil. Trans. clxviii. (1879) 21. A. antarctica, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. ii. 374, t. 132; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 327. A. multicaulis, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 95.
South Island: Otago—Head of Clinton Valley, near Lake Te Anau, Petrie! Auckland and Campbell Islands: Sir J. D. Hooker, Kirk! Antipodes Island: Kirk! Macquarie Island: A. Hamilton.
Also found in Chili, Fuegia, the Falkland Islands, Kerguelen Island, Marion and Heard Islands. Sir J. D. Hooker, in his memoir on the flora of Kerguelen Island (Phil. Trans. Vol. clxviii.) has reduced both A. antarctica and A. multicaulis to A. magellanica, Lam. Professor Hackel concurs in this, remarking that A. antarctica only differs from the typical A. magellanica in the less-pointed outer glumes, and that A. multicaulis is only a dwarfed state, not separable as a distinct variety.
2. A. muscosa, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii. (1881) 385.—Minute, very densely tufted, forming small rounded cushion-like patches 1–2 in. diam., and less than 1 in. high. Culms densely packed, much branched at the base, leafy throughout. Leaves longer or shorter than the culms, pale glaucous-green; blades spreading, flaccid, involute, almost capillary; sheaths shorter or longer than the blades, lax, whitish, membranous, grooved; ligules long, subulate. Panicle very short and dense, often concealed among the leaves, contracted into a close rounded head ⅛–⅙ in. diam., usually many-spiculate, but in depauperated states the spikelets may be reduced to 2–6, or in large states the panicle may be lengthened to ¼–⅓ in.; branches short, sparsely hairy. Spikelets about 1/12 in. long, pale-green. Two outer glumes subequal, ovate-lanceolate, acute, with a green scabrid keel and thin hyaline margins; 3rd or flowering glume about ¼ shorter, ovate-oblong, truncate, 5-nerved, awn wanting. Palea wanting. Grain broadly oblong.—A. Spencer, Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxix. (1897) 539 (name only). A. æmula var. spathacea, Berggr. in Minneskr. Fisiog. Sallsk. Lund. (1877) 32, t. 7, f. 41–47.
North Island: Omatangi, near Lake Taupo, Berggren! Lake Rotoaira, Kirk! Mount Egmont, T.F.C.; Tararua Ranges, T. P. Arnold! South Island: Nelson—Mount Owen, T.F.C. Canterbury—Broken River Basin, Enys! Kirk! T.F.C.; Mackenzie Plains, T.F.C. Otago—Not uncommon in the eastern and southern portions of the province, Petrie! Kirk! Altudinal range usually from 1500 to 4500 ft., but descending to sea-level in Southland.
3. A. Muelleri, Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 576.—Culms compactly tufted, slender, strict, erect, smooth, 1–2-noded, the nodes near the base of the culm, 2–9 in. high. Leaves crowded near the base of the culms and usually much shorter than them, very narrow, often filiform, strict, erefct, involute, smooth and glabrous; sheaths long, grooved, glabrous; ligules scarious, narrow-oblong. Panicle very narrow, almost spike-like, ½–2 in. long, erect, purplish or palegreen; rhachis smooth or obscurely scabrid; branches in fascicles of 2–5, unequal, short, erect, capillary, scabrid. Spikelets about 1/10 in. long. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, oblong-lanceolate, acute, green or purplish, usually scabrid or ciliate on the keel, but sometimes glabrous, margins thin and hyaline; 3rd or flowering glume about ⅓ shorter, thin and membranous, truncate, minutely denticulate, smooth, faintly 5-nerved, awn usually absent but sometimes present from the middle of the back. Palea wanting. Grain oblong.—A. gelida, F. Muell. in Trans. Vict. Inst. (1855) 43 (not of Trin.). A. canina var. Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 328; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 20, f. a. (?) A. subulata, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 95, t. 53.
Var. paludosa, Hack. MS.—Culms 3-noded, the uppermost node higher up the culm than in the type. Panicle broader and laxer. Spikelets straw-coloured.
North Island: Ruahine Mountains, Colenso, A. Hamilton! South Island: Common in mountain districts throughout. Var. paludosa: Swamps by the Broken River, Kirk! Tasman Valley, T.F.C. 2500–5500 ft. Also in Australia.
Very closely allied to A. Dyeri, from which it only differs in its smaller size and narrow panicle. Var. paludosa has a very distinct appearance, and I had placed it as a separate species, but Professor Hackel considers that it is only entitled to the rank of a variety.
4. A. Dyeri, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxii. (1890) 441.—Perennial; innovation-shoots intravaginal, not clothed at the base with leafless scales. Culms tufted, 4–18 in. high, slender, erect or geniculate at the base, glabrous, 2–3-noded, the upper node considerably below the culm. Leaves shorter than the culms, 1/12–1/8 in. broad, flat or convolute when dry, striate, scaberulous on the margins and both surfaces; sheaths terete, grooved, glabrous, the upper long; ligules oblong, obtuse, membranous, lacerate. Panicle elongated, usually from 2 to 5 in. long, but shorter in depauperated forms, erect, usually more or less contracted, rarely open, green or brownish-green; rhachis slender, scaberulous above; branches in rather distant fascicles placed alternately on opposite sides of the ​rhachis, strict, erect, capillary, scaberulous, simple or branched from the base or above; pedicels longer or shorter than the spikelets. Spikelets 1/10–1/8 in. long. Two outer glumes subequal, lanceolate, acute, 1–3-nerved, scabrid on the keel; 3rd or flowering glume about ⅓ shorter than the 2nd, oblong, truncate, minutely 4-toothed, awnless. Palea wanting. Anthers small.—A. canina, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 296; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 328; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 19 (not of Linn.). A. parviflora, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 20c (not of R. Br.).
Var. aristata, Hack. MS.—Flowering glume awned. Other characters as in the type.
Var. delicatior, Hack. MS.—More slender. Panicle broader, much more lax. Spikelets ⅓ smaller. Flowering glume awned.
North and South Islands: Mountain districts from the East Cape, Taupo, and Mount Egmont southwards, abundant. 1000–5000 ft.
Sir J. D. Hooker referred this plant, both in the Flora and in the Handbook, to the northern A. canina, Linn., and no doubt it is closely allied to that species. But Professor Hackel informs me that it does not exactly match any form of A. canina, and in his opinion must be treated as a distinct species, differing from A. canina in the innovation-shoots being always intravaginal, in the more scabrid leaves, in the narrower and more contracted panicle, and in the rather larger spikelets. It usually constitutes a large proportion of the subalpine pastures in elevated districts in both Islands.
5. A. Petriei, Hack. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxv. (1903) 379.—Perennial; innovation-shoots extravaginal, clothed at the base with leafless scales gradually increasing in size. Culms tufted, slender, erect, 6–18 in. high, glabrous, 3–5-noded, upper node almost at the middle of the culm. Leaves 2–5 in. long, 1/15–1/12 in. broad, linear, acute, flat or convolute when dry, glaucous, scabrid on the margins and both surfaces; sheaths terete, glabrous; ligules long, oblong, obtuse, denticulate. Panicle 2–6 in. long, oblong, open, lax-flowered; rhachis smooth; branches in whorls of 3–5, capillary, scaberulous, again branched; pedicels hardly thickened at the tips, about equal in length to the spikelets. Spikelets linear-lanceolate, ⅛ in. long, pale-green. Two outer glumes equal, lanceolate, acute, 1-nerved, smooth; 3rd or flowering glume ¼ shorter, thin and membranous, obtuse, minutely denticulate, 5-nerved; awn from the middle of the back, straight, about as long as the empty glumes, rarely wanting, callus set with short hairs. Palea wanting. Anthers large.
Var. mutica, Hack. MS.—Awn wanting.
South Island: Otago—Cromwell, Nevis Valley, Dunstan Mountains, Petrie! Lake Wakatipu, Kirk! 1000–2500 ft.
According to Professor Hackel this is nearest to A. canina, which differs in its bright-green smooth leaves, much more compound and closer panicle, smaller spikelets, in the scabrid keel of the empty glumes, and small anthera. A. Dyeri ​is separated by the innovation-shoots being intravaginal and not clothed with leafless scales, to say nothing of the broader leaves, dense panicle, and spikelets with the empty glumes scabrid on the keel.
6. A. parviflora, R. Br. Prodr. 170.—Culms laxly tufted, very slender, weak, often decumbent or prostrate at the base, erect or ascending above, quite smooth, 6–18 in. long. Leaves chiefly towards the base of the culms, the lowermost soon withering, 2–6 in. long, usually narrow and often almost filiform, but in luxuriant specimens broader and sometimes 1/12–1/10 in. diam., flaccid, flat or involute, smooth or the margins minutely scabrid; sheaths long, grooved, quite smooth; ligules long, membranous, lacerate. Panicle varying in length from 2 to 6 in. or more, compound, very lax and slender, drooping; primary branches long, capillary, scaberulous, erect at first but soon spreading, trichotomously divided, lowermost in clusters of 4–6, upper in distant pairs; secondary branches from above the middle, again divided; pedicels thickened at the tips. Spikelets very minute, about 1/15 in. long, shining, pale-green, sometimes tinged with purple. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, lanceolate, acute, membranous, slightly scabrid on the keel, margins hyaline; 3rd or flowering glume about ¼ shorter, broad, truncate, hyaline, delicately 5-nerved, awnless. Palea wanting.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 296; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 328. A. scabra, Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 576 (not of Willd.).
North Island: Inland Patea and shores of Cook Strait, Colenso! South Island: Pelorus Valley, J. Macmahon! near Westport, Townson! near Dunedin, Petrie!
I am greatly puzzled with this species, which can be recognised without much difficulty by the weak habit, very slender lax spreading panicle, and minute spikelets, which are smaller than those of any other New Zealand species. It was originally referred to A. parviflora by Hooker in the Flora, but does not quite match the plate of that species given in the "Flora Tasmanica" (t. 158), nor any Australian specimens that I have seen. Bentham referred the Australian plant to A. scabra, Willd., a North American species; but that is a larger and more erect plant, with a more copiously divided panicle, and with narrower spikelets, much more scabrid on the keel. Professor Hackel, who has examined my specimens, says, "Not easy to name. Surely not A. scabra, Willd., but very near the North American A. perennans, Tuck. It is most probably A. parviflora, R. Br., but without seeing one of Brown's types I cannot be quite sure of the identity." It should be mentioned that most of the specimens referred to A. parviflora by New Zealand botanists are nothing but small states of A. Dyeri, Petrie, (the A. canina of the Handbook), as, for instance, the plant figured as A. parviflora by Buchanan in his New Zealand Grasses, t. 20c. All such specimens can be at once distinguished by the strict habit, contracted panicle, and larger spikelets.
7. A. tenella, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxii. (1890) 442.—Apparently annual. Culms laxly tufted, erect, very slender, quite smooth and glabrous, 3–4-noded, 6–15 in. high. Leaves few, much shorter than the culms, erect, very narrow, filiform or setaceous, involute, finely striate; sheaths rather long, close, smooth; ​ligules oblong, obtuse, lacerate. Panicle very long and narrow, 1½–4 in. by 1/10–1/6 in. broad, erect, pale-green; rhachis minutely scaberulous; branches few, fascicled, very short, erect; pedicels short, capillary, scaberulous. Spikelets 1/12–1/10 in. long, pale. Two outer glumes subequal, lanceolate, acute, shining, 1-nerved, slightly scabrid on the keel, smooth on the sides; 3rd or flowering glume about ¼ shorter, ovate-lanceolate, thin and hyalme, truncate, minutely denticulate, glabrous, faintly 5-nerved, awn wanting. Grain oblong.
South Island: Canterbury—Broken River, Petrie! Porter River, Kirk! Otago—Macrae's, Lake Wakatipu, Petrie! 1000–3000 ft.
A very distinct species, easily recognised by the very slender habit, excessively narrow pale-green panicle, and small shining spikelets.
18. DEYEUXIA, Clarion.
Annual or perennial grasses. Leaves flat or involute; ligules membranous. Spikelets small, 1-flowered, arranged in effuse or contracted or spike-like panicles with capillary whorled branches; rhachilla disarticulating above the 2 outer glumes, produced beyond the flower into a silky bristle. Glumes 3; 2 outer equal or subequal, persistent, empty, keeled, acute, not awned, usually 1-nerved; 3rd or flowering glume shorter than the empty glumes or equalling them, thin and hyaline or rigidly membranous or almost coriaceous, 5-nerved, entire or 2–4-dentate, callus at the base silky; awn generally present, straight or twisted, inserted above or below the middle of the glume. Palea more than half as long as the flowering glume or almost equalling it, thin, 2-nerved or 2-keeled. Stamens 3. Styles distinct, short; stigmas plumose. Grain oblong or obovoid, enclosed w thin the flowering glume and palea.
Species over 100, widely dispersed through the temperate regions of both hemispheres, particularly abundant in Andine South America. It is not at all easy to separate Deyeuxia from the allied genera Agrostis and Calamagrostis, and of late many authors, including Hackel, have placed the majority of species under the latter genus. It appears to me, however, that there is much to be said in favour of the arrangement proposed in Hooker's "Flora of British India" (Vol. vii., p. 253), where Agrostis is limited to species in which the rhachilla is not produced at the back of the flower, and in which the callus of the flowering glume is naked or nearly so, Calamagrostis containing those in which there is also no prolongation of the rhachilla, but which have the callus villous with long hairs, while in Deyeuxia the species have both an elongated rhachilla and hairy callus. Understood in this sense, there are 7 New Zealand species of the genus, 3 of which extend to Australia and Tasmania, the remaining 4 being endemic.
* Flowering glume ⅓–½ shorter than the empty glumes, thin and hyaline. Panicle very broad and lax; branches long, spreading, capillary. :
| Spikelets 1/12–1/8 in. Flowering glume silky, truncate, minutely 4-denticulate; awn from the middle of the back | 1. D. Forsteri. ​ |
| Spikelets ⅙–¼ in. Flowering glume silky at the base only, 2 lateral nerves produced into short awns, dorsal awn from below the middle of the back | 2. D. Billardieri. |
| ** Flowering glume not much shorter than the empty glumes, rigidly membranous. Panicle narrow, contracted. ||
| Slender, 4–12 in. Leaves filiform. Panicle 1–2½ in. Spikelets ⅛ in. long; callus-hairs very long | 3. D. setifolia. |
| Slender, 9–36 in. Leaves narrow, involute. Panicle 2–5 in. Spikelets ⅙–¼ in.; awn from below the middle, exserted; callus-hairs short. Rhachilla obviously produced | 4. D. avenoides. |
| Tall, slender, 2–4 ft. Leaves flat, ⅙–¼ in. broad. Panicle 4–6 in. Spikelets ⅙–¼ in.; awn short, almost terminal. Rhachilla obviously produced | 5. D. Youngii. |
| Tall, stout or slender, 1–3 ft. Leaves flat or involute. Panicle 2–6 in. Spikelets ⅛ in.; flowering glume 4-cuspidate; awn from near the base. Rhachilla not produced or very obscurely so | 6. D. quadriseta. |
| Slender, 1–3 ft. Leaves flat, flaccid. Panicle 3–6 in., lax but narrow. Spikelets ¼–⅓ in.; callus-hairs long; awn from about the middle. Rhachilla obviously produced | 7. D. Petriei. |
1. D. Forsteri, Kunth, Rev. Gram. i. 77.—Annual or rarely perennial, very variable in size and habit. Culms tufted, erect or decumbent at the base, slender, smooth, 2–4-noded, 6–24 in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, very narrow and involute or broader and flat, 1/12–1/8 diam., almost glabrous or scaberulous on the margins and principal veins; sheaths smooth, grooved, the uppermost usually long; ligules long, narrow, membranous. Panicle 3–12 in. long, usually very lax and spreading when mature, but contracted in the young state; branches in distant whorls or clusters, the lowermost 2–6 in. loug or more, repeatedly trichotomously divided, finely capillary, scabrid; pedicels very slender. Spikelets numerous, pale-green, 1/12–1/8 in. long. Two outer glumes subequal, lanceolate, acuminate, membranous, 1-nerved, keel scabrid; 3rd or flowering glume ⅓–½ shorter, oblong, truncate, minutely 4-denticulate, hyaline, more or less silky on the sides and with a tuft of hairs at the base; awn from the middle of the back, slender, straight or bent. Palea narrow-linear, bifid at the apex. Rhachilla usually produced behind the palea as a short silky bristle, but often very small and hardly perceptible.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 298; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 579. Avena filiformis, Forst. Prodr. n. 46. Agrostis avenacea, Gmel. Syst. i. 171. A. Forsteri, Roem. and Schult. Syst. ii. 359; A. Rich. Fl Nouv. Zel. 131; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 253; Raoul, Choix, 39. A. æmula, R. Br. Prodr. 172; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 329; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 21. A. Solandri, F. Muell. Veg. Chath. Isl. 60.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Abundant throughout. Sea-level to 3000 ft.
Var. pilosa, Cheesem.—Coarser and more robust. Leaves broader, ¼–⅓ in. or even more, flat. Spikelets slightly larger.—D. pilosa, Buch. Man. ​N.Z. Grasses, 6. Agrostis pilosa, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 134, t. 23; Raoul, Choix, 39; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 297; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 329; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 22.
North and South Islands: Damp subalpine localities, not uncommon. Hardly more than a luxuriant state of the type.
Var. semiglabra, Hack. MS.—Flowering glume glabrous on the back, its callus sparingly pilose. Otherwise as in the type.
North and South Islands: Not uncommon.
Var. humilior, Hack. MS.—Root often perennial. Culms 3–10 in. high. Panicle very broad and spreading; branches few, distant, binate, few-flowered. —A. striata, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxi. (1889) 107.
North and South Islands: Probably not uncommon in mountain districts, Lake Waikaremoana, Hill! Clarence Valley, Lake Tennyson, Broken River, Tasman Valley, &c., T.F.C.; Lake Te Anau, Petrie!
Var. littoralis, Hack. MS.—Root annual. Culms 2–9 in., often forming a compact sward. Panicle rather narrow, contracted, many-flowered. Empty glumes linear-lanceolate, narrower than in the type.
Kermadec Islands, North and South Islands: Rocky or gravelly places near the sea, not uncommon.
Var. Lyallii, Hack. MS.—Culms 6–12 in. Leaves narrow, involute. Panicle lax; branches few, binate or ternate. Spikelets larger, ⅛–⅙ in. long. Flowering glume densely clothed with silky hairs.—A. Lyallii, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 297.
South Island: Near Westport, Townson! Okarito, A. Hamilton! Jackson's Bay, Kirk! Milford Sound, Lyall, Kirk! Catlin's River, Petrie! Auckland Islands: Kirk!
Var. micrathera, Hack. MS.—Habit of var. Lyallii, but larger and leaves broader. Spikelets still larger, ⅕–¼ in. long. Empty glumes linear-lanceolate, acuminate. Flowering glume short, ½ as long as the empty glumes, very thin, sparingly silky; awn from above the middle, short, delicate, hardly exserted beyond the empty glumes.
Antipodes Island, Campbell Island: Kirk! Possibly the same as Agrostis lentostachya, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 94, but I have not seen an authenticated specimen, and it is described as having no palea and a long awn.
D. Forsteri is one of the most generally diffused plants in New Zealand, and is certainly one of the most variable. In attempting to characterize its chief forms, I have mainly followed the grouping suggested to me by Professor Hackel, who has kindly examined sets of all the varieties contained in my herbarium. The species is as plentiful in Australia and Tasmania as in New Zealand.
2. D. Billardieri, Kunth, Rev. Gram. i. 77.—Culms tufted, usually rather stout, erect or decumbent at the base, 9–18 in. high, leafy throughout. Leaves shorter than the culms, ¼–½ in. broad, flat, striate, usually scabrid on the margins and veins; sheaths rather narrow, rough, the uppermost very long, usually enclosing the culm up to the base of the panicle; ligules long, membranous, lacerate. Panicle 4–12 in. long, very broad and lax, often as broad as long when fully expanded; branches numerous, in regular whorls, long, capillary, scabrid, trichotomously divided; pedicels thickened ​at the tips. Spikelets ⅕–¼ in. long, green or purplish. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, narrow-lanceolate, acuminate, 1-nerved or 3-nerved with the lateral veins very short, scabrid on the keel and sides; 3rd or flowering glume ¼–⅓ shorter, oblong, truncate, silky at the base, 5-nerved, the 2 lateral nerves produced on each side into short awns, the 2 outer of which are longer than the 2 inner; dorsal awn from below the middle, straight or bent, usually exceeding the spikelet. Palea about ⅔ as long as the flowering glume, linear, 2-nerved. Rhachilla produced into a silky bristle almost as long as the palea.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 298; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 580. Agrostis Billardieri, R. Br. Prodr. 171; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 130; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 252; Raoul, Choix, 39; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 329; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 23.
Var. tenuis, Petrie, MS.—Smaller and much more slender. Leaves narrow, involute. Panicle smaller, with fewer branches. Spikelets rather smaller.
North and South Islands, Chatham Islands: Abundant throughout in rocky or sandy places near the sea. Inland at Te Aroha, Upper Thames Valley. Var. tenuis: Catlin's River, Otago, H. J. Matthews.
Easily distinguished from D. Forsteri by the stouter habit and broader leaves, large spikelets, and by the more glabrous flowering glume, the lateral nerves of which are excurrent as short awns. It is a common Australian and Tasmanian plant.
3. D. setifolia, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 299, t. 65b.—Culms tufted, slender, wiry, smooth, 4–12 in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, narrow, setaceous or filiform; sheaths smooth, striate, the uppermost long, tight; ligules oblong, membranous. Panicle erect, 1–2½ in. long, ⅕–⅓ in. broad, narrow, contracted; branches few, short, erect, scaberulous, sparingly divided. Spikelets few, pale-green, ⅛ in. long; pedicels short, scabrid. Two outer glumes subequal, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, firm, spreading, keeled, 1–3-nerved, the lateral nerves usually short, keel scabrid; 3rd or flowering glume ¼–⅕ shorter, hard and almost coriaceous, silky at the base, the hairs almost as long as the glume, truncate and minutely 4-toothed at the tip; awn from the middle of the back, stout, scabrid, recurved, longer than the spikelet. Palea almost as long as the flowering glume, linear-oblong, 2-nerved. Rhachilla produced into a silky bristle half as long as the palea or more.—Agrostis setifolia, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 329; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 24b.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Not uncommon in mountain districts from the East Cape and Mount Egmont southwards. 3000-5000 ft.
Allied to the following species, but a much smaller plant, panicle smaller and more slender, spikelets not much more than half the size, and flowering glume much more silky at the base and broadly truncate at the tip.
​4. D. avenoides, Buch. Man. N.Z. Grasses, 6.—Culms tufted, erect, slender, rigid, smooth, 9–24 in. high. Leaves much shorter than the culms, narrow, in slender forms almost filiform, smooth, strongly involute; sheaths smooth, deeply grooved, the uppermost long; ligules short, broad. Panicle erect, 2–5 in. long, ¼–½ in. broad, narrow, contracted, usually dense; branches short, erect, sparingly divided. Spikelets pale-green, ⅕–¼ in. long; pedicels slaorter than the spikelets. Two outer glumes subequal, lanceolate, acuminate, sharply keeled, rigid, 1- or rarely 3-nerved, keel scabrid, sides smooth or minutely rough; 3rd or flowering glume slightly shorter, hard, convolute, scabrid, slightly silky at the base, minutely 2–4-cuspidate; awn from below the middle, stout, recurved, twisted below the bend, longer than the spikelet. Palea almost as long as the flowering glume, linear, hyaline, 2-nerved. Rhachilla produced into a silky bristle nearly ½ as long as the palea.—Agrostis avenoides, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 330; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 24a.
Var. brachyantha, Hack. MS.—Culms taller and more slender, 1–3 ft. high. Leaves narrower, filiform, often strict and wiry. Spikelets smaller, about ⅙ in. long; rhachilla shorter and more delicate.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Var. brachyantha common throughout, ranging from sea-level to 3500 ft., the typical state apparently confined to mountain districts in the South Island. Nelson—Wairau Gorge, T.F.C. Canterbury—Craigieburn Mountains, Petrie! Rangitata Valley, Sinclair and Haast; Tasman Valley, T.F.C. Otago—Not uncommon in upland districts. Hector and Buchanan! Petrie! Cockayne!
The typical state is well characterized by its large spikelets, which no doubt induced Hooker to give it the name of avenoides; but the var. brachyantha is an exceedingly puzzling form. Professor Hackel has no hesitation in placing it under D. avenoides, but most New Zealand botanists, including myself, have been accustomed to regard it as a state of D. quadriseta, to which it seems to show a very near approach, principally differing in the rather larger spikelets, with the rhachilla always produced at the back of the palea. It appears to me to be very much a matter of taste whether it should be placed under D. avenoides or D. quadriseta.
5. D. Youngii, Buch. Man. N.Z. Grasses, 6.—"Similar in habit to A. avenoides, but larger, 2–4 ft. high, more robust. Leaves flat, ⅙–¼ in. diam. Panicle 4–6 in. long, very slender, flexuous; branches very short. Spikelets ⅙–¼ in. long. Empty glumes oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, rigid, smooth, glabrous, nerveless; flowering glume as long, pedicelled, hard, scabrid, 2–4-cuspidate; awn very short, almost terminal. Palea as long as the glume; pedicel stout, with long silky hairs."—Agrostis Youngii, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 330; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 25.
South Island: Canterbury—Dry hillsides, sources of the Waitaki River, Haast.
​This is unknown to me, and I have therefore reproduced Hooker's description. It appears to differ from all forms of D. avenoides in the short "almost terminal" awn. Professor Hackel suggests that it may be a variety of D. quadriseta, but the large spikelets and produced rhachilla hardly support such a view.
6. D. quadriseta, Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 581.—Culms tufted, erect, stout or slender, smooth or rather rough, 1–3 ft. high. Leaves much shorter than the culms, variable in width, sometimes ⅛ in. broad and quite flat, at other times very narrow and setaceous or filiform, often involute, glabrous or minutely scaberulous; sheaths smooth or rough, grooved; ligules oblong, membranous. Panicle 1½–6 in. long, very narrow and spike-like, dense, cylindric, rarely broader and obscurely lobed, pale-green or brownish-green, shining; branches numerous, short, erect, branched from the base. Spikelets small, about ⅛ in. long, shortly pedicelled. Two outer glumes subequal, lanceolate, acuminate, keeled, keel mmutely scabrid, slightly hairy at the base, tip minutely but distinctly 4-awned; dorsal awn attached below the middle, sometimes almost basal, usually not much longer than the outer glumes. Palea almost as long as the flowering glume, narrow, 2-nerved. Rhachilla either not at all produced at the back of the palea or very obscurely so.—Agrostis quadriseta, R. Br. Prod. 171; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 296; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 330; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 26. Avena quadriseta, Labill. Pl. Nov. Holl. i. 25, t. 32.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Not uncommon throughout. Sea-level to 2500 ft.
Also abundant in Australia and Tasmania. The rhachilla is seldom produced at the back of the palea, so that the plant technically falls into Agrostis. But it is so closely allied to D. avenoides, which is an undoubted Deyeuxia, that I have decided to leave it in that genus.
7. D. Petriei, Hack., in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxv. (1903) 380 (sub. Calamagrostis).—Culms slender, erect, terete, 1–3 ft. high, glabrous, 3-noded, uppermost node near the middle of the culm. Leaves much shorter than the culms, about ⅛ in. broad, flat, rather flaccid, smooth or scaberulous on the upper surface; sheaths terete, close, scaberulous; ligules oblong, obtuse. Panicle 3–6 in. long, narrow but not very dense; rhachis smooth; branches short, binate or ternate, the lowermost often distant, short, erect, sparingly divided; pedicels shorter than the spikelets, smooth. Spikelets ¼–⅓ in. long, pale-green. Two outer glumes subequal, narrow-lanceolate, acute, rigidly membranous, 1-nerved, scabrid on the keel; 3rd or flowering glume about ⅙ shorter, lanceolate, subacute, minutely denticulate at the tip, firm but membranous, scabro-punctate on the back, callus with silky hairs ⅓ the length of the glume; awn inserted about the middle of the back, straight, equalling the empty glumes or rarely exceeding them. Palea almost as long as the flowering glume, ​linear, bidentate. Rhachilla produced into a hairy bristle at the back of the palea, about ⅓ its length.—D. scabra, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 26a (not of Benth.).
South Island: Otago—Swampy Hill (near Dunedin), Mount Pisa, Petrie! 1500–3500 ft.
This was referred by Mr. Buchanan to D. scabra, Benth. (Agrostis scabra, R. Br.; Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. ii. 116, t. 160), which differs from the New Zealand plant, as indicated by Professor Hackel, in the small spikelets; scabrid branches of the panicle; in the flowering glume being almost as long as the empty ones, much more coriaceous and obtuse, and with fewer shorter hairs on the callus; in the very short awn inserted far above the middle of the back of the glume; and in the process of the rhachilla being shorter and less hairy.
19. DICHELACHNE, Endl.
Tall slender grasses. Leaves narrow, flat or convolute. Spikelets 1-flowered, numerous, arranged in long and narrow usually dense panicles; rhachilla disarticulating above the 2 outer glumes, very slightly or not at all produced beyond the flower. Glumes 3; 2 outer subequal or slightly unequal, empty, persistent, narrow, sharply acuminate, keeled, membranous; 3rd or flowering glume almost as long, keeled, entire or shortly 2-fid, furnished with a long flexuous awn inserted on the back just below the tip, base of the glume with a hairy callus. Palea slightly shorter than the glume, narrow, 2-nerved. Stamens 2–3. Styles short, distinct; stigmas plumose. Grain narrow, enclosed in the slightly hardened flowering glume and palea.
The genus is confined to the two following species, both of which extend to Australia and Tasmania.
| Panicle dense. Spikelets ⅓ in. Awn 1 in., not twisted at the base | 1. D. crinita. |
| Panicle lax. Spikelets ¼ in. Awn ½–¾ in., usually twisted at the base | 2. D. sciurea. |
1. D. crinita, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 293.—Annual. Culms tufted, tall, slender, erect, 2–3 ft. high, leafy at the base. Leaves much shorter than the culms, flat or convolute, glabrous or the lower ones sometimes softly pubescent; margins smooth or slightly scaberulous; sheaths grooved, the upper rather long; ligules short, broad. Panicle very dense and spike-like, 3–6 in. long or more, bristling with the numerous awns which almost conceal the spikelets, pale-green, shining; branches numerous, short, erect. Spikelets ¼–⅓ in. long. Two outer glumes more or less unequal, very narrow, long-acuminate, membranous or hyaline, keel green and scabrous; 3rd or flowering glume distinctly shorter, convolute, smooth or slightly rough, produced into a hyaline entire or 2-fid tip; awn very long, about 1 in., straight or flexuous, not twisted at the base. Palea about ¼ shorter than the flowering glume, linear, 2-nerved.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 326; Fl. Tasm. ii. 111; Benth. ​Fl. Austral. vii. 574; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 15. D. Hookeriana and D. Forsteriana, Trin. and Rupr. in Mem. Acad. Petersb. Sèr. vi. 5 (1842), 3, 4. Agrostis crinita, R. Br. Prodr. 170; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 136; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 246; Raoul, Choix, 39. Anthoxanthum crinitum, Forst. Prodr. n. 18.
Var. intermedia, Hack. MSS.—Rather more slender; panicle narrower and laxer. A passage form into D. sciurea.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Plentiful in dry open situations throughout. Sea-level to 3000 ft. Also abundant in Australia and Tasmania.
2. D. sciurea, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 294.—Smaller than D. crinita and more slender. Culms tufted, 1–2 ft. high, slender, quite glabrous. Leaves chiefly at the base of the culms and much shorter than them, narrow, flat or convolute, sometimes almost setaceous, glabrous or the lower ones pubescent; sheaths smooth; ligules short, broad. Panicle 3–6 in. long, much more lax and open than in D. crinita; branches slender, capillary, scabrid. Spikelets ¼ in. long, rarely more. Two outer glumes equal or nearly so, long-acuminate, margins hyaline, keel smooth or scabrid; 3rd or flowering glume nearly as long, convolute, smooth or slightly scabrous, entire or 2-fid at the tip; awn ½–¾ in. long, flexuous, usually but not invariably twisted at the base, inserted on the back of the glume close to the tip. Palea narrow-linear, 2-fid.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 326; Fl. Tasm. ii. 111, t. 158a; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 574; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. xvi. (in part). D. Sieberiana, Trin. and Rupr. in Mem. Acad. Petersb. Sèr. vi. 5 (1842) 2. D. montana, Endl. Prodr. Fl. Ins. Norf. 24. Agrostis sciurea, R. Br. Prodr. 171. Stipa micrantha, Cav. Ic. v. 42; F. Muell. in Journ. Bot. (1878) 327 (not of Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 566).
Var. inæquiglumis, Hack. MSS.—Panicle with longer flaccid branches; spikelets more laxly arranged. Two outer glumes unequal, acute but not cuspidate, keel sharply scabrid; awn of flowering glume almost apical, not twisted at the base.
North Island: From the North Cape to Wellington; not so plentiful as D. crinita. South Island: Has been recorded from Marlborough (Buchanan), Canterbury (Armstrong), and Greymouth (Kirk), but I have seen no specimens.
Also in Australia, Tasmania, and Norfolk Island.
20. DESCHAMPSIA, Beauv.
Perennial grasses. Leaves narrow, flat or convolute. Spikelets rather small, 2-flowered, arranged in lax or contracted panicles; rhachilla disarticulating above the 2 outer glumes, produced between the flowering glumes and above the upper flower as a naked or hairy bristle, rarely ending in an imperfect flower. Glumes 4; 2 outer slightly unequal, persistent, empty, keeled, acute, membranous, shining; 3rd and 4th (or flowering glumes) membranous or ​almost hyaline, toothed at the apex; dorsal awn slender, twisted at the base, sometimes very small or wanting. Palea narrow, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2, ovate. Stamens 3. Styles distinct; stigmas plumose. Grain oblong, enclosed within the unaltered flowering glume and palea.
Species about 25, dispersed through most cold or temperate regions. One of the New Zealand species extends through the whole range of the genus; the remaining 6 are endemic. These constitute a somewhat anomalous group, differing from the true Deschampsiæ in the awn being almost terminal and very small, or altogether absent. They may ultimately form a separate genus.
* Awn from the middle of the back of the flowering glume or below it. :
| Tall, 1–4 ft. high. Panicle long, 4–12 in. Spikelets ⅕–¼ in. | 1. D. cæspitosa. |
| ** Awn from immediately below the tip of the flowering glume or wanting. ||
| † Rhachilla glabrous. |
| Forming dense patches ½–1½ in. high. Leaves short, curved. Panicle ¼–¾ in., dense. Spikelets straw-yellow, shining. Awn wanting or rarely present | 2. D. pusilla. |
| Slender, 3–9 in. Leaves shorter than the culms, involute. Panicle slender, lax, 1–3 in. long. Spikelets pale-green, apex of flowering glume irregularly denticulate. Awn wanting | 3. D. novæ-zealandiæ |
| Slender, 6–18 in. Leaves flaccid, flat or involute, often capillary. Panicle very slender, 3–6 in. Spikelets 1/10–1/8 in., pale-green; apex of flowering glume 3-toothed. Awn usually present | 4. D. Chapmani. |
| †† Rhachilla hairy. |
| Very slender, flaccid, 6–14 in. Leaves capillary. Panicle very slender, lax, 2–6 in. Spikelets small, 1/10 in.; apex of flowering glume 3-toothed. Awn usually present | 4. D. tenella. |
| Slender, tufted, 2–8 in. Leaves short, strict. Panicle lax, deltoid, ¾–2 in. Spikelets few, ⅛–⅙ in.; apex of flowering glume 3-toothed. Awn usually present. Hairs of rhachilla long, copious | 6. D. gracillina. |
| Slender, 3–6 in. Leaves short, flat. Panicle sparingly branched, lax, 1–2 in.; spikelets few. Flowering glume irregularly denticulate; awn wanting. Rhachilla with a minute empty glume at the apex | 7. D. venicillata. |
1. D. cæspitosa, Beauv. Agrost. 91, t. 18, f. 3.—Culms densely tufted, forming large tussocks, smooth, shining, rather stout or slender, leafy, 1–4 ft. high. Leaves rather stiff, narrow, flat or convolute, rough on the upper surface and margins; sheaths shining, smooth or rough; ligules long, membranous, acute. Panicles 4–12 in. long, usually rather narrow and dense in New Zealand examples, inclined or nodding above; branches in somewhat distant fascicles, capillary, smooth or minutely scaberulous. Spikelets ⅙–¼ in. long, shining, pale yellow-green or purplish. Two outer glumes keeled, acute or subacute, 1-nerved or the upper ​3-nerved; 3rd and 4th or flowering glumes equalling the empty glumes or rarely exceeding them, truncate, 4-toothed, silky at the base, the 4th separated from the 3rd by a distinct hairy internode, sometimes absent so that the spikelet becomes 1-flowered; awn from the middle of the back or below it, not twisted at the base or obscurely so, usually not far exceeding its glume. Rhachiila produced into a distinct hairy pedicel above the 4th glume.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 301; Fl. Tasm. ii. 118; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 334; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 587; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 37. Aira cæspitosa, Linn. Sp. Plant. 64. A. Kingii, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. ii. 376, t. 135. A. australis, Raoul, Choix, 12. Agrostis aucklandica, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 96.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands, Auckland Islands: Wet places from the Lower Waikato southwards, plentiful. Sea-level to 3500 ft.
An abundant grass in all cool and temperate regions. The New Zealand form has the spikelets rather larger and the awn of the flowering glume inserted somewhat higher up than is usual in northern specimens, and is distinguished as var. macrantha by Hackel.
2. D. pusilla, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxiii. (1891) 403.—Culms densely tufted, branched at the base, 1–2 in. high, forming small compact patches. Leaves numerous, shorter than the culms, setaceous, curved, convolute; sheaths broad, membranous, grooved; ligules large for the size of the plant, acute, much broader than the blade, decurrent along the margins of the sheath. Panicle small, contracted, sometimes almost spiciform, straw-yellow, shining, ¼–¾ in. long; branches few, short, small, the lowermost bearing 2–3 spikelets, the upper 1 only. Spikelets ⅛ in. long, 2-flowered, rarely 3-flowered. Two outer glumes almost equal in length, hyaline, the lower narrower, 1-nerved, the 2nd 3-nerved; 3rd and 4th or flowering glumes faintly silky or almost glabrous at the base, broadly oblong, hyaline, indistinctly 5-nerved, truncate, irregularly 3-toothed or erose, awnless or with a minute dorsal awn inserted just below the tip. Palea as long as the glume, deeply bifid, 2-nerved. Rhachiila elongated between the flowering glumes and produced beyond the upper flower into a short bristle, quite glabrous.
South Island: Otago—Hector Mountains, Petrie! Humboldt Mountains, Cockayne! 5000–6500 ft.
A very remarkable little plant, quite distinct from any of the following species.
3. D. novæ-zealandiæ, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxiii. (1891) 402.—Culms densely tufted, branched at the base, slender, smooth, leafy below, 3–9 in. high, rarely more. Leaves from ⅓ to ½ the length of the culms, very narrow, setaceous, involute; sheaths ​broad, pale, membranous, grooved; ligules long, scarious, acute, broader than the blade at the base. Panicle slender, erect, 1–3 in. long, usually lax but sometimes contracted; branches few, capillary, smooth or minutely scaberulous, sparingly divided. Spikelets few, small, 1/10–1/8 in. long, pale-green, shining, 2-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, the lower about ½ the length of the spikelet, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 1-nerved, the upper about ⅔ the length of the spikelet, broader and more obtuse, 3-nerved; 3rd and 4th or flowering glumes broadly oblong, hyaline, membranous, faintly 3–5-nerved, quite glabrous at the base, broadly truncate at the apex and irregularly minutely denticulate, awn wantmg. Palea bifid, 2-nerved, nerves faintly ciliate. Rhachilla elongated between the flowering glumes and produced beyond the upper flower into a slender bristle, quite glabrous.—D. Hookeri, Kirk in Journ. Bot. xxiv. (1891) 237 (in part).
South Island: Canterbury—Lake Lyndon, Petrie! Castle Hill, Kirk! Poulter River, Cockayne. Westland—Kelly's Hill, Petrie! Cockayne! Otago—Naseby, Pembroke, Mount St. Bathan's, Hector Mountains, Lake Te Anau, Petrie! 1000–5000 ft.
Although very closely allied to D. Chapmani and D. tenella this appears to be sufficiently distinct from both in the irregularly denticulate apex of the flowering glume and the total absence of the dorsal awn. Mr. Kirk united all three under the name of D. Hookeri.
4. D. Chapmani, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxiii. (1891) 401.—Culms tufted, branched at the base, quite smooth, leafy, 6–18 in. high. Leaves longer or shorter than the culms, very narrow, flat or involute, often almost filiform, flaccid; sheaths long, narrow, deeply grooved; ligules elongated, acute, broader than the blade at the base. Panicle very slender, 3–6 in. long or more, effuse or contracted, laxly and sparingly branched; branches capillary, minutely scaberulous, usually trichotomously divided. Spikelets few, small, about ⅛ in. long, pale-green, glistening, 2-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, much shorter than the spikelet, oblong-lanceolate, membranous, the lower short, 1-nerved, the upper ½ longer, equalling the lower flower or slightly exceeding it, 3-nerved; 3rd and 4th or flowering glumes broadly oblong, membranous, faintly 3–5-nerved, glabrous at the base or rarely with few very short hairs, truncate at the apex and more or less irregularly 3–5-toothed; awn usually present on both glumes, from the back a little distance below the tip. Palea bifid, 2-nerved, nerves ciliate. Rhachilla elongated between the flowering glumes and produced beyond the upper flower into a slender bristle, quite glabrous.—D. Hookeri, Kirk in Journ. Bot. xxiv. (1891) 237 (in part). Catabrosa antarctica, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 102, t. 56. Triodia antarctica, Benth. in Journ. Linn. Soc. xix. (1881) 111.
South Island: Canterbury—Arthur's Pass, Kirk! Otago—Clinton Saddle, Petrie! Milford Sound, Kirk! Auckland and Campbell Islands, Antipodes Island: Hooker, Kirk! Sea-level to 3500 ft.
​Very close to the following species, of which it may prove to be a variety, and from it is mainly separated by the glabrous rhachilla and rather larger spikelets.
5. D. tenella, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxiii. (1891) 402.—Culms tufted, branched at the base, extremely slender, flaccid, quite smooth, leafy throughout, 6–14 in. high. Leaves bright-green, very narrow, capillary, involute, flaccid, the uppermost often exceeding the young panicle; sheaths smooth, grooved; ligules long, acute, membranous, broader than the blade and decurrent along the margins of the sheaths. Panicle very slender, 2–6 in. long, contracted at first, but becoming lax and somewhat effuse; branches in pairs, few, rather distant, capillary, scabrid, trichotomously divided. Spikelets few towards the tips of the branches, small, 1/10 in long, pale, glistening, 2-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, much shorter than the spikelet, membranous, 1-nerved or the upper 3-nerved; 3rd and 4th or flowering glumes broadly oblong, delicately hyaline, faintly 5-nerved, silky at the base, truncate at the apex and 3-toothed, the middle tooth often bifid, the 4th always with a minute dorsal awn inserted just below the apex, the 3rd frequently awnless. Palea bifid, 2-nerved, the nerve finely ciliate. Rhachilla elongated between the flowering glumes and more or less silky, produced above the upper flower into a silky bristle.—D. Hookeri, T. Kirk in Journ. Bot. xxiv. (1891) 237 (in part). Catabrosa antarctica, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 308 (but not of Fl. Antarct. i. 102); Buck. N.Z. Grasses, t. 41b.
North Island: Ruahine Mountains, Colenso! Tararua Mountains, H. H. Travers! South Island: Nelson—Mount Arthur, A. McKay! Otago—Near Dunedin, Catlin's River, Clinton Saddle, Petrie! Sea-level to 4500 ft.
This differs from both D. novæ-zealandiæ and D. Chapmani in the silky rhachilla, and from the former in addition in the dorsal awn being present in at least the upper flower. It varies greatly in the size of the spikelets and in the proportionate length of the outer glumes. Mr. Petrie's original specimens from Catlin's River have the spikelets barely more than 1/12 in. long, and the upper outer glume is not half the length of the spikelet; but those from the Clinton Valley, and Mr. Colenso's from the Ruahine Range, have much larger spikelets with longer outer glumes.
6. D. gracillima, T. Kirk in Journ. Bot. xxiv. (1891) 237.—Culms tufted, usually with intravaginal branches near the base, erect, slender, glabrous, 2–8 in. high. Leaves towards the base of the culms and much shorter than them, strict, erect, very narrow, setaceous or filiform, convolute; sheaths rather lax, grooved; ligules long, membranous, usually split at the tip. Panicle erect, ovate or deltoid, open, ¾–2 in. long; branches few, binate, capillary, smooth or almost so. Spikelets ⅛–⅙ in. long, on pedicels longer than themselves, 2-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, 3-nerved, shorter than the spikelet; 3rd and 4th or flowering glumes densely ​silky at the base, oblong, membranous, 5-nerved, truncate at the tip and 3-toothed, the middle tooch entire or bifid or irregularly erose, the 3rd awnless or very obscurely awned, the 4th usually with a minute dorsal awn inserted just below the tip. Palea linear-oblong, bifid, 2-nerved, nerves finely ciliate. Rhachilla elongated between the flowering glumes and densely silky, produced above the upper flower into a long silky bristle.
Auckland Islands: Carnley Harbour, altitude 1000 ft., Kirk!
The densely tufted habit, short strict erect leaves, deltoid few-flowered panicle, large spikelets, and densely hairy rhachilla distinguish this from all its allies.
7. D. penicillata, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvii. (1895) 354.—Culms tufted, slender, glabrous, leafy, 3–6 in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, radical and cauline; blades short, ¾–1½ in. long, narrow, flat or involute, striate; sheaths pale, membranous, deeply grooved, the uppermost long, enclosing the culm up to the base of the panicle; ligules long, pointed, scarious, broader than the blade at the base. Panicle small, 1–2 in. long, few-flowered; branches few, capillary, the lower ones bearing 2–3 spikelets, the upper 1-spiculate. Spikelets ⅛–⅙ in. long, pale yellow-green, shining, 2-flowered. Two outer glumes almost equalling the flowering glumes, subequal, oblong-lanceolate, subacute, hyaline, 3-nerved; 3rd and 4th or flowering glumes oblong, very delicate, with white hyaline tips, 5-nerved, silky at the base, obtuse or almost truncate at the tip and irregularly minutely denticulate, awn wanting. Palea linear-oblong, 2-nerved, nerves silky. Rhachilla elongated between the flowering glumes and produced beyond the upper flower into a bristle bearing a minute empty glume at its summit, silky throughout.
Macquarie Island: In swamps, A. Hamilton!
I regret that I have only seen two small and immature specimens of this curious little plant, which is by no means closely related to any other New Zealand species.
21. TRISETUM, Pers.
Perennial or rarely annual grasses. Leaves flat. Spikelets rather small, usually 2-flowered, more rarely 3–6-flowered, arranged in a narrow dense or lax panicle; rhachilla disarticulating above the 2 outer glumes, more or less produced between the flowering glumes and beyond the upper flower into a short bristle. Two outer glumes persistent, empty, equal or unequal, acute, keeled, 1–3-nerved. Flowering glumes 2–3, rarely more, equalling or exceeding the empty glumes, membranous with broad hyaline margins, 2-toothed at the apex, the teeth often produced into bristles or short awns; dorsal awn from the back below the tip, slender, straight or bent, often twisted ​at the base. Palea strongly 2-nerved, 2-toothed. Stamens 3. Styles very short, distinct; stigmas plumose. Grain enclosed within the flowering glume and palea, free.
A genus of about 60 species, most plentiful in the north temperate zone, but also found on the high mountains of the tropics and in South America and Australasia. One of the New Zealand species is widely spread, the rest are endemic.
* Awn at least as long as the glume, inserted on the back a little distance below the tip. :
| Glabrous or sparsely pubescent, 6–24 in. Panicle 2–10 in., rather lax. Empty glumes lanceolate, unequal | 1. T. antarcticum. |
| Pilose, 2–3 ft. Panicle 2–10 in., very slender. Empty glumes oblong or oblong-obovate, subequal | 2. T. Youngii. |
| Puberulous or tomentose, 2–12 in. Panicle dense, cylindric, ½–2 in. | 3. T. subspicatum. |
| ** Awn very short, from between the terminal teeth of the glume. ||
| Puberulous, 6–12 in. Panicle dense, cylindric, 1–3 in. Teeth of flowering glumes short | 4. T. Cheesemanii. |
1. T. antarcticum, Trin. in Mèm. Acad. Petersb. Sèr. vi. 1 (1831) 61.—Perennial, very variable in size and degree of robustness. Culms tufted, slender, smooth or sparsely pubescent, 6–24 in. high. Leaves usually shorter than the culms, narrow, 1/15–1/6 in. broad, flat or involute, flaccid, smooth or the margins finely scaberulous; sheaths long, narrow, grooved; ligules short, truncate, hyaline, ciliolate. Panicle very variable, erect or inclined, contracted or rather lax, usually narrow, rarely broad and effuse, 1–10 in. long; branches short, slender, suberect, simple or again divided. Spikelets compressed, pale-green or brownish-green, shining, 2–3-flowered, rarely 1-flowered or 4-flowered, ⅕–¼ in. long. Two outer glumes unequal, the lower from less than ½ to ⅔ the length of the upper, lanceolate, acute, scabrid on the keel; margins broad, hyaline. Flowering glumes exceeding the empty glumes, oblong-lanceolate, 2-cuspidate at the apex, scabrous-pubescent on the back, margins hyaline; awn from the back a little distance from the tip, sometimes ¼-way down, not twisted, recurved, twice as long as the glume. Palea almost as long as the flowering glume. Rhachilla clothed with copious long silky hairs between the flowering glumes, produced beyond the upper flower into a silky bristle.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 301, t. 68b; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 335; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 39. Aira antarctica, Forst. Prodr. n. 41. Avena antarctica, Roem. and Schult. Syst. ii. 676; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 139; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 257; Raoul, Choix, 39. Danthonia pallida, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 256 (not of R. Br.).
Var. lasiorhachis, Hack. MSS.—Culms, leaf-sheaths, rhachis, and branches of the panicle densely pubescent. Other characters as in the type.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Abundant throughout. Sea-level to 4500 ft.
​2. T. Youngii, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 335.—Culms tufted, slender, erect, pilose or glabrous, 1–3 ft. high. Leaves mostly at the base of the culms and much shorter than them, 1/12–1/4 in. broad, flat, smooth, pilose with long soft hairs; sheaths grooved, glabrous or pilose; ligules shore, truncate, lacerate, hyaline. Panicle slender, very narrow, 2–8 in. long; rhachis pilose; branches short, close, suberect, few-flowered, also pilose. Spikelets compressed, pale-green or yellow-brown, shining, 1–3-flowered, about ⅕ in. long. Two outer glumes almost as long as the flowering glumes, subequal or the lower about ¼ shorter than the upper, oblong or oblong-obovate, suddenly acuminate, membranous, scabrid along the keel. Flowering glumes oblong-lanceolate, shortly 2-cuspidate, minutely rough on the back; awn from ⅕ to ¼ way down the back, rather stout, recurved, nearly as long again as the glume. Palea almost equalling the flowering glume. Ehachilla nearly glabrous, produced between the flowering glumes and above the upper flower.—Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 40b.
North Island: Mount Hikurangi, Adams and Petrie! Tararua Range, Buchanan! South Island: Not uncommon in subalpine localities, especially on the western side. 3000–5000 ft.
Best distinguished from T. antarcticum by the much broader oblong or oblong-obovate empty glumes; but it is usually a taller and more pilose plant, with a narrower panicle.
3. T. subspicatum, Beauv. Agrost. 88.—Culms densely tufted, stout or slender, pubescent or tomentose, in New Zealand specimens from 2 to 12 in. high, rarely more. Leaves numerous at the base of the culms and much shorter than them, firm, erect, rather strict, flat, more or less downy or almost glabrous, 1/12–1/6 in. broad; sheaths rather lax, deeply grooved; ligules short, scarious, lacerate. Panicle short and dense, cylindric or almost ovoid, rarely slightly lobed or interrupted at the base, ½–2 in. long; rhachis densely tomentose; branches short, erect. Spikelets compressed, whitish or yellowish-green, rarely purplish, shining, 2–3-flowered, ⅙–¼ in. long. Two outer glumes unequal, lanceolate, keeled, scabrid along the keel, the outer 1-nerved, the 2nd 3-nerved. Flowering glumes oblong-lanceolate, 2-cuspidate or shortly 2-awned at the tip, hairy at the base, keel scabrid above, sides minutely rough; awn from ⅙ to ¼ way down the back, longer than the glume, straight or recurved. Palea about ⅕ shorter than the flowering glume, 2-nerved, scabrid along the nerves.—Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 97; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 335; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 588; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 40a.
South Island: Not uncommon in alpine and subalpine localities throughout. Auckland Islands: Kirk! Campbell Island: Sir J. D. Hooker! Usually from 3500 to 5500 ft., but descends almost to sea-level in the Auckland Islands.
A common alpine grass in most countries, extending into both arctic and antarctic regions.
​4. T. Cheesemanii, Hack. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxv. (1903) 381.—Culms rather stout, erect, 3–12 in. high, naked and puberulous above, leafy below, 2-noded, the upper node in the lower ¼ of the culm. Leaves crowded at the base of the culms, flat, 1/10–1/8 in. broad, firm, erect, glaucous, finely scaberulous on the veins and margins; sheaths rather lax, subcompressed, minutely puberulous; ligules short, truncate, denticulate. Panicle very dense, cylindrical, 1–2½ in. long, ½ in. broad; rhachis tomentose; branches densely imbricate, short, binate or ternate. Spikelets elliptic-lanceolate, compressed, whitish-yellow, shining, 2-flowered, about ¼ in. long. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, lanceolate, acute, scabrid on the keel, minutely rough on the sides, the lower 1-nerved, the 2nd 3-nerved. Flowering glumes lanceolate, very shortly 2-cuspidate, slightly hairy at the base, minutely rough, faintly 5-nerved; awn very short indeed, from between the terminal teeth or just below them. Palea ¼ shorter than the glume, scabrid along the nerves. Rhachilla produced between the flowering glumes and beyond the upper flower, silky.
North Island: Mount Hikurangi, Petrie! South Island: Canterbury—Craigieburn Mountains, Petrie! Cockayne! Hooker Glacier, T.F.C. Otago—Petrie! 3000–5000 ft.
This has much of the habit and appearance of T. subspicatum, but differs from it, and from all the other species, in the very shortly bidentate flowering glume, with the intermediate awn springing almost from between the teeth, not from the back some distance below the teeth, as is usual in the genus.
22. AMPHIBROMUS, Nees.
Slender glabrous grasses. Leaves flat. Spikelets 5–10-flowered, arranged in a lax panicle; rhachilla slender, hairy, jointed between the flowers. Two outer glumes persistent, empty, acute, keeled, 5-nerved at the base, with scarious margins, awnless. Flowering glumes more rigid, rounded on the back, prominently 5-nerved, often split at the tip with the lobes produced into short awns; dorsal awn from about the middle of the back, straight or bent, often twisted. Palea thin, 2-toothed. Stamens 3. Styles short, distinct; stigmas plumose. Lodicules 2. Grain oblong, glabrous, enclosed within the flowermg glume and palea.
A small genus of 2 species, the present one and another endemic in Australia.
1. A. fluitans, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 374, t, 28.—Culms weak, branched, creeping and rooting at the base, erect or floating above, glabrous, 12–18 in. long. Leaves numerous, sheathing the culm up to the base of the panicle, narrow, flat, minutely scabrid on the margins and veins; sheaths rather broad and lax, compressed, grooved, longer than the internodes; ligules long, pointed, hyaline. Panicle 2–4 in. long, narrow, lax, ​few-flowered; branches few, short, capillary, scaberulous, the lowermost with 2–3 spikelets, the upper 1-spiculate. Spikelets compressed, pale-green, usually about ½ in. long without the awns, 4–7-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, small, the upper not one-half the length of the flowering glume above it. Flowering glumes silky at the base, firm and rather rigid when in fruit, 5–7-nerved, scabrous on the back and sides; awn from the middle of the back, long, straight, scabrid, not bent nor twisted. Palea hyaline, 2-nerved, strongly ciliate on the nerves.
North Island: Auckland—Marshes near Waiuku, Carse! Lakes Whangape and Waikare, T.F.C.; Lake Waihi, Kirk! Taranaki—Swamps near New Plymouth, T.F.C.
Distinguished from the Australian A. Neesii by the weak decumbent habit, smaller panicle, narrower spikelets, shorter outer glumes, and straight awn.
23. DANTHONIA, D.C.
Perennial or rarely annual grasses. Leaves very variable. Spikelets 3- to many-flowered, laterally compressed, arranged in a lax or dense panicle, rarely in a simple raceme; rhachilla disarticulating above the 2 outer glumes and between the flowering glumes. produced beyond the uppermost flower. Two outer glumes persistent, empty, equal or more or less unequal, keeled, acute or acuminate, 3–7-nerved, as long as the whole spikelet or slightly shorter. Flowering glumes 2 or more, rounded on the back, usually ciliate on the margins, 5–9-nerved, hairy, the hairs often collected into variously arranged tufts, 2-lobed at the tip, the lobes often produced into short awn-like bristles; awn from the sinus between the lobes, usually long and rigid and twisted, rarely reduced to a mucro; callus at the base of the glume, hairy. Palea broad, hyaline, 2-keeled. Lodicules 2. Stamens 3. Styles distinct; stigmas plumose. Grain oblong, ellipsoid, or obovoid, free within the flowering glume and palea.
Species not far from 100, widely dispersed in both hemispheres, but chiefly in the south temperate zone, particularly abundant in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Of the 13 species found in New Zealand, 2 extend to Australia, the rest are endemic.
* Two outer glumes shorter than the spikelet, very rarely almost equalling it. :
| † Culms tall, stout. Panicle large; spikelets numerous. ||
| Culms 2–5 ft. Leaves ¼–⅓ in., often pilose. Panicle 6–18 in., lax. Awn straight, not flattened nor twisted at the base | 1. D. Cunninghamii. |
| Culms 1½–2 ft. Leaves pilose. Panicle 3–4 in., lax. Flowering glume with separate tufts of hairs on the margins and back | 2. D. ovata. ​ |
| Culms 1–4 ft. Leaves involute. Panicle 4–6 in., ovate, dense. Awn seldom twisted | 3. D. bromoides. |
| Culms 2–5 ft. Leaves involute. Panicle 4–18 in., lax. Awn flattened and twisted at the base | 4. D. Raoulii. |
| †† Culms shorter, 6–18 in. Panicle small, 1–3 in. long; spikelets few, 3–12. ||
| Culms 6–18 in. Leaves involute, compressed. Spikelets 8–12. Nerves of flowering glume connected by transverse veinlets | 5. D. crassiuscula. |
| Culms 2–6 in. Leaves involute, flattened, erect, rigid, pungent-pointed, glaucous. Spikelets 3–8 | 6. D. pungens. |
| Culms 6–18 in., much branched below. Leaves very narrow, involute, terete, wiry. Spikelets 3–8; awn twisted | 7. D. australis. |
| Culms 6–12 in. Leaves flat or involute, not terete. Spikelets 4–8; awn not twisted | 8. D. oreophila. |
| Culms 9–14 in. Leaves flat, thin. Spikelets 6–12; awn twisted | 9. D. planifolia. |
| ** Two outer glumes longer than the spikelets. ||
| Culms 12–24 in., often pilose. Panicle 1–4 in., narrow. Flowering glume with two marginal tufts of hairs, but no transverse rings. Awn long | 10. D. pilosa. |
| Culms 3–30 in., usually glabrous. Panicle 1–4 in., narrow, compact. Flowering glume with 2 dense transverse rings of silky hairs. Awn long | 11. D. semiannularis. |
| Culms 3–12 in., glabrous. Panicle ¾–2 in. Flowering glume sparsely silky, transverse rings obscure. Awn hardly longer than the glume | 12. D. Buchanani. |
| Culms 8–9 in., glabrous. Panicle ½–1½ in. Flowering glume with 2 minute tufts of hairs on the margins (often confluent). Awn very short indeed | 13. D. nuda. |
1. D. Cunninghamii, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 332.—Densely-tufted, often forming large tussocks. Culms stout, 2–5 ft. high, ¼–½ in. diam. at the base, glabrous or more or less pilose. Leaves 1½–4 ft. long, ¼–⅓ in. broad, rigid and coriaceous, flat or concave, strongly nerved, midrib prominent beneath, glabrous or pilose on the margins and upper surface in the lower half of the leaf, margins scaberulous; sheaths rather lax, often ½ in. broad or even more, deeply grooved, usually silky-pilose in the grooves; ligules reduced to a transverse line of densely set short silky hairs. Panicle large, erect or inclined, effuse or compact, 6–18 in. long; branches few or many, solitary or binate or in alternate fascicles, 3–12 in. long; branchlets slender, capillary, scaberulous, few-flowered. Spikelets rather distant, pedicelled, ⅓–½ in. long without the awns, 3–7-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, lanceolate, acute or acuminate, membranous, 3-nerved, the upper one shorter than the flowering glume above it. Flowering glumes clothed with long silky hairs at the base and along the lower half of the margins, glabrous elsewhere, 7–9-nerved, deeply 2-fid at the tip with the points produced into short awns; awn from between the lobes, about ⅓ in. long, straight or recurved, not flattened nor twisted at the ​base. Palea nearly as long as the plume, linear-oblong.—Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 29. D. antarctica var. laxiflora, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 302. D. rigida, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 303, t. 69a (not of Raoul). D. pentaflora, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 343. Agrostis pilosa, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 254 (not of A. Rich.).
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: From the Bay of Islands southwards, but often local or absent from large districts. Sea-level to 3500 ft.
A handsome species, often attaining a large size. It is distinguished from all the forms of D. Raoulii by the flatter leaves, which are often softly pilose on the sheaths and margins, and by the rather smaller spikelets with a straight subulate awn, not flattened nor twisted at the base.
2. D. ovata, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. xxix. 2.—Culms 1½–2 ft. high, pilose below. Leaves 10–12 in. long, narrow, involute, pilose; ligule wanting or reduced to a narrow line of short hairs with a tuft of longer ones on each side. Panicle 3–4 in. long, erect, ovate; branches alternate, 1–1½ in. long. Spikelets alternate on the branches, ½ in. long, 4–6-flowered. Two outer glumes subequal, 3-nerved. Flowering glumes silky at the base, fringed on the margins and back with pencils of short hairs, 9-nerved, 2-fid at the tip, the divisions produced into short awns; central awn straight, not flattened nor twisted at the base. Palea bifid, margins with long straggling hairs.
South Island: Otago—Mount Eglinton, Southland, J. Morton.
The above description is an abstract of Mr. Buchanan's, the plant being unknown to me. It appears to differ from D. Cunninghamii in the smaller size, smaller panicle, and, according to Mr. Buchanan's plate, in the numerous separate tufts of short hairs on the margins and back of the flowering glume.
3. D. bromoides, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 303, t. 68a.—Densely tufted, forming tussocks 1–4 ft. high. Culms stout, often as thick as the little finger at the base, quite glabrous, leafy throughout. Leaves longer or shorter than the culms, involute, gradually narrowed into very slender almost filiform points, coriaceous, smooth, polished, deeply striate; margins smooth, often pilose with long hairs towards the base; sheaths long, pale, compressed, grooved, margins scarious; ligules reduced to a transverse band of short densely set silky hairs. Panicle short, ovate-lanceolate or ovate-oblong, contracted, densely many-flowered, 4–6 in. long; rhachis glabrous, angled; branches short, close, suberect, 1–3 in. long. Spikelets pedicelled, about ¾ in. long without the awns, rather broad, oblong or linear-oblong, 4–10-flowered, the upper flower usually imperfect. Two outer glumes about ⅔ the length of the spikelet, unequal, lanceolate, obscurely 3–5-nerved. Flowering glumes clothed in their lower half with long silky hairs on the margins and back, 7–9-nerved, sharply 2-fid at the tip, the divisions often pro​duced into short awns; intermediate awn from between the divisions, ½–¾ in. long, stout, erect or spreading, convex or shghtly flattened at the base, rarely twisted. Palea linear-oblong, 2-nerved, ciliate on the nerves.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 352. Bromus antarcticus, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 97, t. 54. Danthonia antarctica var. elata, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 302.
North Island: In various localities near the sea, rare and local. Auckland—Between Whangaroa and Mongonui, T.F.C; Bay of Islands, Kirk! T.F.C.; Maunganui Bluff, Petrie! Wellington—Hills near Wellington, Stephenson; near Cape Palliser, Buchanan! Auckland and Campbell Islands: Abundant on the hills, Hooker, Buchanan! Kirk!
I do not feel at all certain that the Auckland and Campbell Islands plant, originally described by Hooker as Bromus antarcticus, has been rightly merged by him with the North Island D. bromoides. It is much larger and stouter, with larger spikelets containing more numerous florets, and often forms tussocks 3–4 ft. high, attaining a size almost equal to that of D. Raoulii, whereas the typical bromoides is rarely more than 18 in. high. If further investigation should prove it to be distinct, there seems to be no reason why Hooker's name of D. antarctica (Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 302) should not be reapplied to it, for although he also included the plant now known as D. Cunninghamii it was as a separate variety, the Auckland Islands plant being evidently treated as the type of the species.
4. D. Raoulii, Steud. Syn. PI. Gram. 246.—Densely tufted, forming large brownish-green tussocks 2–5 ft. high. Culms stout or slender, smooch, often branched at the base. Leaves numerous, longer or shorter than the culms, variable in width at the base, gradually narrowed into long filiform points, strongly involute and rush-like when dry, coriaceous, smooth and polished on the back, ribbed on the inner face; margins smooth, glabrous or pilose just above the ligules; sheaths brownish, much broader than the blade, often lax and scarious towards the base, coriaceous above, glabrous or sparsely pubescent; ligules reduced to a transverse band of short dense hairs. Panicle variable in size, 4–18 in. long, lax; branches few or many, divided, slender, filiform, smooth and glabrous; pedicels long, often silky towards the tips. Spikelets ½–¾ in. long without the awns, 4–10-flowered. Two empty glumes unequal, from ½–⅔ the length of the spikelet, ovate-lanceolate, the lower 3-nerved, the upper 5-nerved, the lateral nerves usually short. Flowering glumes with long silky hairs at the base and on the margins for half their length or more, often also fringed on the lower part of the back, deeply bifid at the tip, the divisions usually produced into short scabrid awns, 7–9-nerved; central awn long, ⅓–½ in., straight or recurved, flattened and usually twisted at the base. Palea rather shorter than the glume, 2-nerved, silky on the nerves.—Buch. N.Z. Grasses, i. 30. D. rigida, Raoul, Choix, 12; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 303, t. 69a (not of Steud.).
Var. flavescens, Hack. MSS.—More robust; culms often ½ in. diam at the base. Leaves broader; sheaths sometimes ½–¾ in. across; lamina ¼–⅓ in. at the base. Spikelets rather larger.—D. flavescens, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 332; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 32.
​Var. Cheesemanii, Hack. MSS.—Culms slender. Leaves pale-green, complicate, compressed, not terete and rush-like when dry, strongly ribbed on both surfaces; margins and ribs on the back rough and scabrid. Panicle-branches scaberulous. Awn rarely twisted.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: From Mount Hikurangi and Mount Egmont southwards, abundant in hilly and mountain districts. Sea-level to 5000 ft. "Snow-grass." Var. Cheesemanii: Open forests near the source of the Takaka River, Nelson, altitude 3000 ft., T.F.C.
A most abundant plant in the elevated hilly districts of the South Island, often forming the major portion of the vegetation over large areas. I agree with Professor Hackel in considering D. flavescens to be simply a broad-leaved state of D. Raoulii, in point of fact the two forms graduate into one another so insensibly that it is impossible to draw a strict line of demarcation between them.
5. D. crassiuscula, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvii. (1885) 224.—Culms tufted, forming lax tussocks, stout, strict, erect, leafy, 6–18 in. high. Leaves shorter or rarely longer than the culms, distichous, rigid and coriaceous, curved, gradually narrowed to the tips but not drawn out into filiform points, strongly involute, compressed, smooth and polished on the back, with numerous thick veins in front, margins smooth; sheaths stout, much broader than the blade, smooth, grooved, margins thinner and scarious; ligules reduced to an obscure band of short stiff hairs. Panicle short, lax, broadly ovate, 1½–3 in. long; branches few, spreading, 2–3-spiculate, and with the rhachis more or less silky-pubescent. Spikelets about iin. long without the awns, 4–7-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, lanceolate, 3–5-nerved, the longer frequently ⅘ the length of the entire spikelet. Flowering glumes densely silky at the base, and with long silky hairs on the margins and back for about half their length, 7–9-nerved, the nerves connected by transverse veins at about the level of the awn, tip deeply bifid, the lobes pointed but not awned; central awn ¼–⅓ in. long, flat at the base and often twisted. Palea slightly shorter than the glume.
South Island: Canterbury—Mountains above the Broken River, T.F.C.; Upper Waimakariri, Cockayne! Westland—Kelly's Hill, Petrie! Otago—Mount Arnould, Hector Mountains, Petrie! mountains above Lake Harris, Longwood Range, Kirk! Stewart Island: Mount Anglem, Kirk! 3500–6000 ft.
Closely allied to D. Raoulii, but a smaller and proportionately stouter plant, with shorter compressed leaves not drawn out into filiform points, much smaller panicles with silky-pubescent branches, smaller spikelets with longer outer glumes, and with the nerves of the flowering glumes connected by transverse veinlets.
6. D. pungens, Cheesem. n. sp.—Culms densely tufted, branched at the base, forming irregular patches about 1 ft. across, smooth, slender, rigid, 2–6 in. high. Leaves mostly at the base of the culms and much shorter than them, distichous, 1½–3 in. long, about 1/10 in. broad at the base, gradually tapering upwards into a pungent point, ​strict, erect, rigid and coriaceous, involute, almost equitant at the base, finely striate, glaucous; margins thickened, smooth; sheaths compressed, grooved; ligules reduced to a narrow band of short white hairs. Panicle small, lax, ovate, 1–1½ in. long, of 3–8-spikelets; branches few, slender, silky. Spikelets about ⅓ in. long without the awns, 3–5-flowered. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, almost as long as the spikelet, lanceolate, membranous, 3–5-nerved. Flowering glumes silky at the base, and equally clothed with silky hairs for half their length, 7–9-nerved, deeply 2-fid at the apex, the lobes lanceolate, acute but not awned; central awn flattened and usually spirally twisted at the base. Palea almost as long as the flowering glume, ciliate on the nerves and silky on the margins near the base.
Stewart Island: Smith's Lookout, altitude 1000 ft., Kirk!
A curious little plant, at once recognised by the flattened rigid and pungent-pointed leaves.
7. D. australis, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 81.—Forming extensive patches on alpine or subalpine slopes. Culms much branched at the base, prostrate or decumbent and covered with the remains of the old leaves, ascending and then erect above, quite glabrous, 6–18 in. high. Leaves numerous towards the base of the culms and much shorter than them, distichous, imbricate, strict, rigid, erect or curved to one side, 2–6 in. long, about 1/40 in. broad, closely involute, smooth and polished, acute at the tip; sheaths short, closely overlapping, tight, much broader than the blade; ligules reduced to a line of silky hairs. Panicle small, lax, 1–2 in. long, of 3–8 spikelets on slender capillary silky-pubescent branches. Spikelets ½–⅔ in. long, 4–7-flowered. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, lanceolate, acuminate, membranous, 5–7-nerved, from ⅘ to ⅚ the length of the spikelet. Flowering glumes silky at the base and with the back and margins fringed with silky hairs for more than half their length, deeply 2-fid at the tip, the divisions produced into short scabrid awns, 7–9-nerved; central awn ⅓–½ in. long, slender, flat and spirally twisted at the base. Palea shorter than the glume, linear-oblong.—D. Raoulii var. australis, Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. iv. (1872) 224.
South Island: Not uncommon on the mountains of Nelson, Canterbury, and Westland, altitude 3500–6000 ft. "Carpet-grass"; "Hassock-grass."
A well-marked species, often covering acres on the higher mountains of Nelson and North Canterbury, usually affecting steep slopes. After the melting of the snow in early summer, which usually leaves the culms and leaves pointing downhill, these slopes are most slippery and treacherous to cross. There is a specimen in Mr. Petrie's herbarium marked "Campbell Island, J. Buchanan."
8. D. oreophila, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvii. (1895) 406.—Culms densely tufted, much branched at the base, slender, erect, leafy, 6–12 in. high. Leaves subdistichous, 2–5 in. long by 1/12–1/10 in. ​broad at the base, tapering upwards into long slender points, flat or involute, grooved, margins scaberulous above; ligules reduced to a transverse band of short dense hairs with a few longer ones on each side. Panicle about 1½ in. long, broadly ovate, lax, of 4–8 spikelets; branches few, capillary, glabrous or with a tuft of silky hairs at the forks. Spikelets ¼–⅓ in. long, 4–7-flowered. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, acute, membranous, 3–5-nerved, about ⅘ the length of the spikelet. Flowering glumes densely silky at the base and on the margins for half their length, a few silky hairs also along the lower part of the back, membranous, 9-nerved, deeply 2-fid at the tip, the lobes broad, acute but not awned; intermediate awn from between the lobes, about ⅕ in. long, reflexed, flattened at the base but not twisted. Palea linear-oblong, 2-nerved, ciliate on the nerves.—D. pallida, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvi. (1894) 271 (not of R. Br.).
South Island: Canterbury—Candlestick Range, Cockayne! Westland—Kelly's Hill, Petrie! 3500–4500 ft.
Allied to D. australis, but much less rigid and not so densely tufted, with broader flatter leaves; the panicle-branches are nearly glabrous and the spikelets smaller and paler; the terminal lobes of the flowering glume are broader and not awned; and the central awn is shorter and not twisted at the base. It is still nearer to D. planifolia.
9. D. planifolia, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiii. (1901) 328.—Culms apparently not tufted, sparingly branched at the base, erect, slender, glabrous, 9–14 in. high. Leaves chiefly at the base of the culms and much shorter than them, 2–5 in. long, 1/10–1/8 in. broad, gradually tapering to an acute point, flat, smooth, striate; sheaths rather lax, pale, grooved, the uppermost much longer than the blade; ligules a transverse band of long soft hairs. Panicle short, lax, ovate, 1½–2 in. long, of 6–12 spikelets; branches few, slender, silky with long hairs. Spikelets rather large, about ½ in. long, pale-green tinged with purple, 3–5-flowered. Two outer glumes subequal, lanceolate, acuminate, membranous, 3–5-nerved, about as long as the spikelet. Flowering glumes densely silky at the base, and with long silky hairs along the margins and back for half their length, deeply 2-fid at the apex, the lobes acute or acuminate, but scarcely awned, 7–9-nerved; intermediate awn from between the lobes, ⅓–½ in. long, more or less flattened and twisted at the base. Palea linear-oblong, deeply bifid, 2-nerved, nerves ciliate.
South Island: Otago—Clinton Saddle, to the west of Lake Te Anau, Petrie! 2500 ft.
This only differs from D. oreophila in the flatter and more membranous leaves, larger spikelets with longer empty glumes, and longer awn usually twisted at the base. I have seen few specimens, and these all from one locality. It is not improbable that further investigations may reduce the plant to a variety of D. oreophila.
​10. D. pilosa, R. Br. Prodr. 177.—Culms tufted, slender, glabrous or sparingly pilose, leafy at the base, 1–2 ft. high, rarely more. Leaves usually much shorter than the culms, narrow, often setaceous, involute or rarely flat, glabrous or pilose with spreading hairs; sheaths narrow, grooved, pilose or glabrous; ligules reduced to a transverse band of long soft hairs. Panicle 1–4 in. long, usually narrow and contracted, sometimes racemaform; branches short, erect. Spikelets about ½ in. long, 4–8-flowered. Two outer glumes exceeding the flowering glumes, subequal, lanceolate, acute, membranous, 7-nerved. Flowering glumes 7–9-nerved, deeply 2-lobed at the tip, the lobes produced into fine awns as long or longer than the glume, central awn from between the lobes, exserted beyond the spikelet, flattened and spirally twisted and often dark-coloured at the base, a tuft of silky hairs at the base of the callus or pedicel of the glume, a tuft on the margin on each side above the callus, sometimes connected by hairs on the back, and another marginal tuft on each side opposite to the base of the lobes, the sides and back between usually glabrous. Palea broad, obtuse or shortly bifid at the tip.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 303; Fl. Tasm. ii. 120; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 594; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 33. D. semiannularis var. pilosa, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 333. D. nervosa, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxviii. (1896) 612 (not of Hook. f.).
Var. racemosa, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 33(2)b.—Culms very slender, drooping. Panicle reduced to a slender raceme of 4–10 almost sessile spikelets.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Abundant throughout. Sea-level to 4000 ft.
D. pilosa is technically distinguished from D. semiannularis by the absence of the transverse ring of hairs on the flowering glume just below the lobes. In the typical state this ring is reduced to a small tuft of hairs on each margin of the glume, the sides and back between the tufts being quite glabrous. But occasionally there are a few hairs on the back of the glume as well, and sometimes these become so numerous as almost to form a transverse ring, thus breaking down the distinction between the two species. D. pilosa is also found in Australia, ranging from Queensland to Tasmania and West Australia.
11. D. semiannularis, R. Br. Prodr. 177.—Very variable in size, usually 1–2 ft. high, but often dwarfed to a few inches, and sometimes attaining 3 ft. Culms tufted, slender, smooth, glabroiis or sparingly pilose. Leaves shorter than the culms, narrow, flat or involute, often almost setaceous; sheaths grooved, glabrous or pilose with long spreading hairs; ligules reduced to a narrow transverse band of soft silky hairs, those on the outside the longest. Panicle 1–4 in. long, usually compact and more or less contracted; branches few, short, erect. Spikelets ¼–½ in. long without the awns, 3–8-flowered. Two outer glumes exceeding the flowering glumes, subequal, lanceolate, acute, membranous, 5–7-nerved. Flowering glumes 7–9-nerved, deeply 2-lobed at the tip, the ​lobes produced into fine awns often as long as the glume, central awn from between the lobes, usually exserted beyond the spikelet, flat and spirally twisted at the base, a ring of short silky hairs around the glume at the base, and a transverse ring of longer hairs (often arranged in separate tufts) just below the base of the lobes. Palea exceeding the base of the awn, narrow-oblong.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 304; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 333; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 595; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 34. D. unarede, Raoul, Choix, 11, t. 4. D. gracilis, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 303, t. 69b.
Var. setifolia, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 304.—Culms more densely tufted. Leaves very narrow, terete from the strongly involute margins, strict, wiry, erect. Panicle smaller, with fewer spikelets. Flowering glumes less copiously silky, the hairs of the upper transverse band shorter.—D. semiannularis var. alpina, Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. iv. (1872) 225; N.Z. Grasses, t. 34(2)a.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Abundant throughout, var. setifolia in mountainous situations. Sea-level to 4500 ft.
Also abundant throughout the whole of temperate Australia. In New Zealand this species and D. pilosa are now largely sown as pasture grasses, especially in the northern part of the colony. On stiff clay soils they are far more permanent than most introduced species, and might with advantage be substituted for them.
12. D. Buchanani, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 333.—Culms tufted, slender, smooth, quite glabrous, 3–12 in. high. Leaves mostly at the base of the stems and much shorter than them, strict, erect, wiry, very narrow, involute, filiform or nearly so; sheaths pale, glabrous, deeply grooved; ligules reduced to a band of short white hairs. Panicle small, contracted, ¾–2 in. long, of 4–12 spikelets; branches few, scaberulous. Spikelets pale-green, ¼–⅓ in. long, 3–5-flowered. Two outer glumes exceeding the flowering glumes and often the awns as well, subequal, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3–5-nerved. Flowering glumes 7–9-nerved, 2-lobed at the tip, the lobes produced into short awns, central awn from between the lobes, short, hardly equalling the length of the glume, straight or bent, not at all or very obscurely twisted at the base, a tuft of silky hairs at the base of the glume and on the margins higher up, usually connected by straggling hairs on the back and sides, forming an indistinct transverse ring. Palea oblong, 2-nerved; nerves ciliate.
South Island: Canterbury—Upper Waimakariri, Kirk! Petrie! T.F.C.; Mount Torlesse, Petrie! Otago—Lake district, Hector and Buchanan! Kurow, Mount Ida, Macrae's, Pembroke, Bendigo, Lake Te Anau, Petrie! 1000–3000 ft.
Very closely allied to D. semiannularis, with which Professor Hackel is disposed to unite it. But the spikelets are smaller, the awns shorter, often not exserted beyond the outer glumes, and the flowering glume is shorter and broader, and more sparingly silky. The plant figured by Mr. Buchanan in his New Zealand Grasses (t. 35) as Danthonia Buchanani is a slender form of Hierochlœ redolens.
​13. D. nuda, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 337.—Culms slender, tufted, branched at the base, quite glabrous, 3–9 in. high. Leaves much shorter than the culms, involute, filiform, quite smooth and glabrous; sheaths pale, grooved; ligules reduced to a band of silky hairs. Panicle small, erect, contracted, ½–1½ in. long, of 5–15 spikelets; branches few, short, pubescent. Spikelets greenish-white, small, ⅙–¼ in. long, 3–6-flowered. Two outer glumes usually exceeding the flowering glumes and awns, subequal, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3–5-nerved. Flowering glumes short and broad, ovate, 7–9-nerved, very shortly bifid at the tip, central awn from between the lobes, very short, ⅙–⅛ the length of the glume, not twisted at the base, a tuft of silky hairs at the base of the glume, and two small marginal tufts (sometimes confluent) on each side higher up, back of the glume quite glabrous. Palea oblong, shorter than the glume.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 333; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 36a. D. Thomsoni, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 36(2).
North Island: Mountains near the East Coast, Colenso. South Island: Nelson—Mount Arthur Plateau, T.F.C. Canterbury—Broken River, Petrie! T.F.C.; Poulter River, Cockayne! Lake Tekapo, T.F.C. Otago—Kahiku Hills, Buchanan; common in dry places in the eastern and central portions of the district, Petrie! Sea-level to 3500 ft.
The description given above is based upon South Island specimens, the plant not having been observed in the North Island since its original discovery by Mr. Colenso sixty years ago. As Hooker's description does not quite match the southern plant, the identity of the two must remain doubtful for the present.
24. ELEUSINE, Gaertn.
Annual or perennial grasses. Leaves long, flat or folded, firm or membranous. Spikelets 3- to many-flowered, laterally compressed, sessile and densely imbricate in 2 rows on one side of a flattened rhachis, forming linear spikes; spikes digitately arranged or irregularly scattered; rhachilla disarticulating above the outer glumes. Two outer glumes shorter than the flowering glumes, persistent, empty, unequal, keeled, obtuse or mucronate, membranous, 3–5-nerved. Flowering glumes similar to the outer glumes, 3-nerved at the base. Palea shorter than the glumes, complicate and 2-keeled. Lodicules 2, minute. Stamens 3; anthers short. Styles short, distinct; stigmas plumose. Grain broadly oblong, grooved; pericarp lax, hyaline.
Species 6, most plentiful in tropical Asia and Africa, the one found in the New Zealand area a weed in all warm countries.
1. E. indica, Gaertn. Fruct. i. 8.—Annual. Culms tufted, erect or decumbent at the base, branched, stout or slender, compressed, quite glabrous, 9–24 in. high. Leaves numerous, distichous, 4–9 in. long, ⅛–⅓ in. broad, flat, rather flaccid, acuminate; sheaths compressed, pale, margins ciliate; ligules almost obsolete. Spikes ​rather slender, straight, 1½–3 in. long, usually 3–6 in a terminal umbel, generally one inserted lower down; rhachis smooth or pubescent at the base. Spikelets about ⅙ in. long, densely imbricated, 3–6-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, the lower small, 1-nerved; the upper 3–5-nerved. Flowering glumes much larger, ovate when spread out, acute, 3-nerved. Grain oblong; pericarp very lax and membranous, enclosing the rugose seed.—Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 615; Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 176.
Kermadec Islands: Lower portions of Sunday Island and on Meyer Island, plentiful and apparently indigenous, T.F.C. North and South Islands: Naturalised near Auckland, Sinclair, and at Westport, Townson!
25. ARUNDO, Linn.
Tall perennial reed-like grasses. Culms densely tufted, stout, almost woody at the base. Leaves flat. Spikelets numerous, laterally compressed, 2–7-flowered, arranged in large decompound panicles; rhachilla disarticulating above the two outer glumes and between the flowering glumes. Two outer glumes persistent, empty, subequal, lanceolate, acun:iinate, membranous, glabrous. Flowering glumes ovate-lanceolate, 3–5-nerved, pilose along the back and towards the base with long silky hairs, 2-fid at the apex, with a cuspidate point or awn from between the lobes. Palea short, hyaline, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2, obovate. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous; styles distinct; stigmas plumose. Grain oblong, free within the flowering glume and palea.
A small genus of 6 or 7 species, dispersed through most tropical and warm-temperate regions. The two species found in New Zealand are endemic.
| Two outer glumes including the flowering glumes and their awns. Flowering glumes deeply bifid, the divisions long and bristle-pointed | 1. A. conspicua. |
| Two outer glumes shorter than the awns of the flowering glumes. Flowering glumes not so deeply bifid, the divisions scarcely bristle-pointed | 2. A. fulvida. |
1. A. conspicua, Forst. Prodr. n. 48.—Forming huge dense tussocks with numerous long curving leaves. Culms 3–10 ft. high, as thick as the finger at the base, slender, erect, smooth, hollow. Leaves long, narrow, coriaceous, flat or involute, strongly nerved, smooth or scabrid along the margins and on the nerves of the upper surface; sheaths long, smooth; ligules reduced to a transverse band of short stiff hairs. Panicle very handsome, silky-white or yellowish-white, copiously branched, 1–2 ft. long; branches drooping, very many-spiculate, smooth or pilose-scabrid. Spikelets 1–3-flowered, on short capillary pedicels. Two outer glumes subequal, ¾–1½ in. long, longer than or at least equalling the awns of the flowering glumes, narrow-lanceolate, gradually tapering into long ​acuminate points, membranous, 1-nerved, usually with a very short lateral nerve on each side near the base. Flowering glumes hyaline, 3-nerved, lower half densely clothed with long silky hairs, deeply 2-fid at the tip, the divisions produced into bristle-like awns; central awn from between the divisions, long, slender, scabrid. Palea shorter than the glume, pubescent on the nerves.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 299; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 331; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 27; Bot. Mag. t. 6232. A. australis, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 121; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 265. A. Kakao, Steud. Syn. Pl. Gram. 194. Achnatherum conspicuum, Beauv. Agrost. 146. Gynerium zeelandicum, Steud. Syn. Pl. Gram. 198. Calamagrostis conspicua, Gmel. Syst. 172. Agrostis conspicua, Roem. and Schult. Syst. ii. 364; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 127; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 250; Raoul, Choix, 39.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Abundant throughout in damp lowland situations. Toetoe-Kakaho; culms of, Kakaho.
The largest grass in the colony, forming a very characteristic feature of the vegetation in all swampy tracts, river-banks, sandhills, &c. The culms were formerly largely used by the Maoris for lining their meeting-houses, and were often dyed in elaborate patterns.
2. A. fulvida, Buch. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. vi. (1874) 242.—Habit and general appearance of A. conspicua, but rather smaller, culms seldom more than 6 ft. high. Panicle pale-fulvous, usually more compact, broader and more erect, 1–2 ft. long. Spikelets 1–3-flowered. Two outer glumes shorter, ⅓–⅔ in. long, not drawn out into such long points, and usually considerably shorter than the awns of the flowering glumes. Flowering glumes not so deeply bifid at the tip, the divisions scarcely awned; central awn exserted beyond the outer glumes.—N.Z. Grasses, t. 28. A. conspicua var. fulvida, Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. x. App. xliii.
North and South Islands: From the Bay of Islands to Foveaux Strait, not nearly so abundant as A. conspicua.
This does not differ from A. conspicua except in the outer glumes not including the awns of the flowering glumes, and in the terminal lobes of the flowering glumes being shorter and scarcely awned. It would probably be better treated as an extreme form of A. conspicua than as a separate species.
The widely distributed Phragmites communis, Trin., the common Reed of Europe, has been recorded by Baron Mueller as a native of New Zealand on the strength of a specimen said to have been collected by Dr. Haast at the Grey River, Westland (Veg. Chath. Is. 61). But it has not been collected by any other explorer, and there are no native specimens in any New Zealand herbarium. Probably Dr. Haast's specimen was not truly indigenous. Phragmites can be distinguished from Arundo by the lowermost flower of the spikelet being male, and by the flowering glume being glabrous, the long silky hairs being confined to the rhachilla.
26. TRIODIA, R. Br.
Perennial grasses, of very various habit. Leaves narrow, rigid. Spilcelets 2- to many-flowered, arranged in a lax or narrow panicle; rhachilla disarticulating above the 2 outer glumes and between the flowering glumes. Two outer glumes longer or shorter than the flowering glumes, somewhat rigid, empty, keeled, acute, awnless. Flowering glumes more or less imbricated, rounded on the back at the base, coriaceous or chartaceous, often hairy on the margins and callus, 3-nerved, 3-lobed or 3-toothed at the apex, the lobes equal or the central one produced into a short awn or mucro. Palea broad, thin, with 2 almost marginal keels. Lodicules 2. Stamens 3. Styles short, distinct; stigmas plumose. Grain usually compressed on the back, free within the flowering glume and palea.
Species from 25 to 30, mostly in the temperate regions of both hemispheres, a few in tropical America. The New Zealand species belong to the subgenus Rhombolytrum, characterized by the lateral teeth of the flowering glume being very small or almost obsolete, the middle tooth being also small and mucronate. It contains a few Chilian and North American species in addition to the three found in New Zealand, all of which are endemic.
| Densely matted; culms 1–3 in. Panicle often reduced to a single spikelet. Outer glumes ovate. Flowering glumes silky on the margins, distinctly 3-toothed at the apex | 1. T. exigua. |
| Culms tufted, 2–6 in. Panicle of 8–12 spikelets. Outer glumes lanceolate. Flowering glumes sparsely silky, 5–7-nerved, minutely 3-toothed at the apex | 2. T. pumila. |
| Culms tufted, 2–4 in. Panicle of 6–15 spikelets. Outer glumes broadly ovate. Flowering glumes glabrous, 9-nerved, obscurely 3-toothed or irregularly erose at the apex | 3. T. australis. |
1. T. exigua, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiv. (1882) 378.—Small, densely matted, forming a compact sward. Rhizomes long, creeping, branched. Culms erect from the rhizome, slender, wiry, glabrous, 1½–4 in. high. Lower leaves reduced to sheathing scales; upper shorter than the culms, ½–2 in. long, very narrow, convolute, filiform, rigid, erect or curved, acute or almost pungent at the tip, quite glabrous; sheaths closely appressed, pale, membranous, grooved; ligules reduced to a line of short stiff hairs. Panicle frequently reduced to a single spikelet, sometimes 2–3, rarely as many as 4–5; pedicels short, slender, minutely scaberulous. Spikelets about ⅕ in, long, ovoid-oblong, 2–4-flowered. Two outer glumes subequal, as long as the flowering glumes or very slightly shorter than them, concave, ovate, subacute, rigid, the lower one 5-nerved, the upper 7-nerved. Flowering glumes broadly ovate, silky on the margins and back towards the base, minutely scaberulous above, 9-nerved, shortly 3-toothed at the apex, the middle tooth mucroniform, not much longer than the lateral teeth. Palea broad, ciliate on the keels.—Danthonia pauciflora, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 36b (not of R. Br.).
South Island: Nelson—Clarence Valley, T.F.C. Canterbury—Upper Waimakariri and Broken River, Enys! Kirk! Cockayne! T.F.C. Otago—Not uncommon in the dry plains of the central and north-western portions of the district, Petrie! 500–3000 ft.
A curious little species, with much of the habit of small states of Zoysia pungens.
2. T. pumila, Hack. MSS.—Culms tufted, slender, glabrous,, much branched at the base, 2–8 in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, very narrow, involute, filiform, strict, erect, 1–2 in. long; sheaths pale, membranous, deeply grooved, glabrous or sparingly pilose with long soft hairs; ligules reduced to a transverse ring of hairs. Panicle ½–1 in. long, strict, erect, much contracted, of 3–15 spikelets; branches very short, erect, pubescent. Spikelets ⅙–⅕ in. long, lanceolate, 2–3-flowered. Two outer glumes exceeding the flowering glumes, subequal, lanceolate, acute or subacute, 3–5-nerved. Flowering glumes broadly ovate, sparsely silky-pilose on the margins and back, faintly 5–7-nerved, minutely 3-toothed at the apex, the central tooth mucroniform. Palea bifid at the tip, 2-keeled, ciliolate on the keels.—Atropis pumila, Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiv. (1882) 379.
South Island: Canterbury—Upper Waimakariri and Broken River, Kirk! T.F.C.; mountains near Lake Tekapo, T.F.C. Otago—Not uncommon in mountainous districts, Buchanan! Petrie! Kirk! Aston! Altitudinal range usually from 2000 to 5000 ft., but descending to sea-level in the south of Otago.
Referred to Atropis by Mr. Kirk, but clearly a Triodia, and closely allied to the following species, from which it differs in the longer and narrower spikelets, narrow outer glumes, and silky flowering glumes, which are distinctly though minutely 3-toothed at the apex.
3. T. australis, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxii. (1890) 442.—Culms densely tufted, much branched at the base, erect or spreading, quite glabrous, leafy below, 2–4 in. high. Leaves usually shorter than the culms, narrow, involute, filiform, deeply striate; sheaths broad, grooved, pale; ligules reduced to a narrow band of short white hairs with a longer tuft on each side. Panicle small, strict, erect, contracted, ½–¾ in. long, of 6–15 spikelets; branches 4–6, short, pubescent. Spikelets about ⅙ in. long, 2–4-flowered. Two outer glumes rather shorter than the flowering glumes, subequal, broadly ovate, obtuse, 7-nerved; margins broad, pale. Flowering glumes very broadly ovate or rounded, glabrous, firm, 9-nerved, minutely and irregularly 3-toothed or erose at the tip. Palea broad, 2-keeled, the keels ciliolate.
Var. mucronulata, Hack. MSS.—Sheaths pilose with long hairs. Spikelets 3–5-flowered, the outer glumes distinctly shorter than the flowering glumes, which are more evidently 3-toothed, the middle tooth produced into a short mucro.
South Island: Otago—Sides of mountain-streams. Clark's Diggings, Mount Cardrona, Old Man Range, Maungatua, Blue Mountains, Petrie! Var. mucronulata: Swamps in the Tasman Valley, Canterbury, T.F.C. 2000–5000 ft.
27. KŒLERIA, Pers.
Perennial or annual grasses. Leaves narrow; ligules hyaline. Spikelets 2–5-flowered with the uppermost flower sterile, laterally compressed, shining, densely crowded in spike-like panicles; rhachilla disarticulating above the outer glumes and between the flowering glumes, produced beyond the uppermost flower. Two outer glumes persistent, empty, unequal, keeled, acute or acuminate, margins hyaline. Flowering glumes exceeding the outer glumes, with broader hyaline margins, 3–5-nerved, entire or bifid, acuminate or mucronate or shortly awned. Palea white and hyaline, 2-toothed. Lodicules 2. Stamens 3. Styles short, distinct; stigmas plumose. Grain oblong, laterally compressed, free within the flowering glume and palea.
Species 12 or 15, mainly in the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, rarer in the south temperate zone. The single New Zealand species is also found in South America.
1. K. Kurtzii, Hack. in Bolet. Acad. Sc. de Cordoba, xvi. (1900) 261.—Culms densely tufted, erect, rather slender, glabrous or pubescent, 6–24 in. high. Leaves crowded near the base of the culms, 2–9 in. long, ⅙–⅛ in. broad, flat, soft or almost flaccid, glabrous or more or less pubescent, sometimes almost villous; sheaths long, rather tight, striate, pubescent or villous; ligules short, truncate, ciliolate. Panicle 1–5 in. long, cylindric, usually dense and spike-like, but sometimes irregularly interupted or lobed; branches short, erect, minutely villous-pubescent. Spikelets pale-green or pale purplish-green, shining, about ⅕ in. long, 2–3-flowered. Two outer glumes broadly hyaline, acute, 3-nerved, often scabrid on the keel. Flowering glumes oblong-lanceolate, glabrous or minutely rough on the back, 5-nerved, tip minutely 2-toothed or almost entire, with a very short scabrid awn inserted just below the teeth.—K. cristata, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 305; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 334; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 38 (not of Pers.). K. micrathera, Griseb. in Goett. Abh. xxi. (1879) 292 (but not Trisetum micratherum, Desv.).
South Island: Abundant in hilly and mountainous localities throughout. Sea-level to 4500 ft.
Also in temperate South America (Argentina), and probably also in Australia. Professor Hackel distinguishes it from the northern K. cristata by the ​flowering glume being minutely 2-toothed at the apex with a short awn protruding from below the sinus, whereas in E. cristata the flowering glume is entire and not awned. I find that the awn varies much in length, and is frequently almost obsolete.
28. POA, Linn.
Annual or perennial grasses. Leaves flat or convolute; ligules hyaline. Spikelets usually 2–6-flowered, laterally compressed, in lax or contracted rarely spiciform panicles; rhachilla disarticulating above the two outer glumes and between the flowering glumes, glabrous or sparsely hairy. Two outer glumes persistent, empty, keeled, membranous, 1–2-nerved, usually shorter than the flowering glumes. Flowering glumes obtuse or acute, not awned, keeled, 5–7-nerved or rarely 3-nerved, nerves often conniving near the top, callus and marginal nerves often clothed with crisped or tangled woolly hairs. Palea shorter than the flowering glume, 2-keeled. Lodicules 2. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous; styles short, distinct; stigmas plumose. Grain ovoid or oblong or linear-oblong, compressed, often grooved, free or adherent to the palea; hilum small, basal, punctiform.
A large genus of over 100 species, comprising several important fodder-grasses, abundant in all temperate and cold climates, in the tropics found only on high mountains. The species are in all countries highly variable and difficult of discrimination, but nowhere more so than in New Zealand. Of the 23 species admitted in this work, two extend to Australia and Tasmania, the remainder are endemic. In addition to the indigenous species, several others from the Northern Hemisphere are now well established in most districts, the most abundant being P. annua, Linn., and P. pratensis, Linn., descriptions of which will be found in any British Flora.
A. Two outer glumes reaching more than half-way up the flowering glumes immediately above them. Flowering glumes acuminate, often incurved at the tip. Anthers 1/15–1/10 in. long, linear. :
| Culms 1–4 ft., leafy throughout. Leaves flat, ⅓–¾ in. broad. Panicle 3–10 in. Flowering glumes prominently 5-nerved, callus and lower part of keel and margins villous with crisped hairs | 1. P. foliosa. |
| Culms 3–18 in., leafy at the base. Leaves flat, 1/12–1/4 in. broad. Panicle 1–4 in. Flowering glumes faintly 5-nerved, glabrous except a tuft of crisped hairs on the callus | 2. P. novæ-zealandiæ. |
| Culms 6–24 in., densely tufted. Leaves terete, filiform. Panicle 1–3 in. Flowering glumes prominently 5-nerved, densely scabrid, rarely with crisped hairs at the base | 3. P. litorosa. |
| Culms 8–18 in., naked and decumbent below, branched and erect above. Leaves flat, flaccid. Panicle 1–2 in. Flowering glumes faintly 5-nerved, smooth and glabrous or a tuft of crisped hairs on the callus | 4. P. ramosissima. |
| Culms 6–18 in., branched, distichously leafy. Leaves flat, 1/10 in. broad. Panicle 1–3 in. Flowering glumes prominently 5-nerved, sharply scabrid on the keel, lower part of keel and callus with crisped hairs | 5. P. polyphylla. ​ |
| B. Two outer glumes reaching more than half-way up the flowering glumes immediately above them. Flowering glumes obtuse or subacute, rarely acute. Anthers 1/20–1/10 in. long, linear. ||
| * Culms long or short; rhizome tufted or stoloniferous. Leaves flat or complicate or involute, not terete nor polished, not specially rigid, never pungent-pointed. ||
| † Rhizome tufted. Ligules reduced to a truncate rim. ||
| Culms 6–36 in., usually stout. Leaves flat or concave, 1/10–1/4 in. broad. Panicle large; branches usually ternate or quinate. Spikelets ¼–⅓ in. Flowering glumes minutely scaberulous, keel scabrid, callus and lower part of glume usually with a few crisped hairs | 6. P. anceps. |
| Culms 4–12 in., slender. Leaves narrow, sometimes filiform. Panicle 1½–3 in.; branches usually binate. Spikelets ⅙–⅕ in. Flowering glumes as in P. anceps but smoother | 7. P. seticulmis. |
| †† Rhizome creeping or stoloniferous; ligules short, truncate. ||
| Culms 1–9 in. Leaves narrow, setaceous. Panicle ½–2 in., few-flowered. Spikelets ⅛–⅙ in. Flowering glumes usually smooth, callus and lower part of keel and margins with crisped hairs | 8. P. pusilla. |
| Culms 6–18 in. Leaves narrow, complicate or flat, flaccid. Panicle 2–5 in., broad, lax. Spikelets ⅓ in. Flowering glumes with the surface and nerves above minutely scabrid, keel sharply scabrid, callus and lower part of glume with long crisped hairs | 9. P. dipsacea. |
| Culms 12–18 in. Leaves narrow, complicate, erect, rigid. Panicle 2–5 in., broad, lax. Spikelets ¼ in. Flowering glumes smooth above, lower portion of keel and margins villous, callus with silky hairs | 10. P. Cheesemanii. |
| ††† Rhizome creeping, stoloniferous; ligules a transverse band of short dense hairs. ||
| Culms 12–24 in. Leaves rigid, erect. Panicle 1½–3 in., dense. Spikelets ¼–⅓ in. Flowering glume prominently 5-nerved, surfaces scaberulous, keel sharply scabrid, callus and lower part of keel with sparse crisp hairs | 11. P. chathamica. |
| ** Culms tufted, strict, erect, smooth and polished. Leaves terete or nearly so, erect, rigid, acute or pungent-pointed. ||
| † Ligules almost obsolete. |
| Culms 1–3 ft., forming dense tussocks. Panicle 2–9 in., lax. Flowering glumes prominently 5-nerved, callus and base of keel with a tuft of long crisped hairs | 12. P. cæspitosa. |
| †† Ligules long, hyaline, sheathing. |
| Culms 2–18 in. Leaves shorter than the culms. Panicle ½–3 in. Flowering glumes faintly 5-nerved, smooth or nearly so, callus with a tuft of crisped hairs | 13. P. Colensoi. |
| Culms 2–6 in. Leaves imbricated, very short and rigid, with acicular points. Panicle ½–1 in., few-flowered. Flowering glumes villous with short silky hairs below the middle, minutely rough above | 14. P. acicularifolia. ​ |
| *** Culms ½–1 in., densely tufted and compacted, forming patches 2–6 in. across. |
| Leaves minute, ⅙–½ in. long. Panicle reduced to 1–3 spikelets | 15. P. pygmæa. |
| C. Two outer glumes reaching more than half-way up the flowering glumes immediately above them. Flowering glumes broad, obtuse. Anthers small often minute, 1/25–1/15 in. long, oblong. ||
| Culms 6–18 in., stout or slender, leafy throughout. Panicle 2–6 in., many-flowered. Spikelets ⅙–⅓ in., green or purplish-green. Flowering glumes prominently 5-nerved, glabrous or rarely with a tuft of hairs on the callus | 16. P. Kirkii. |
| Culms 3–12 in., slender and delicate, leafy at the base. Panicle 1–3 in., few-flowered. Spikelets 1/10–1/8 in. long, silvery-brown. Flowering glumes faintly 5-nerved, silky with short white hairs | 17. P. Lindsayi. |
| Culms 2–4 in., leafy throughout. Panicle lax, few-flowered. Spikelets 3–6, turgid, ⅛–⅙ in. long, purplish-brown. Flowering glumes glabrous | 18. P. incrassata. |
| Culms 1–5 in., leafy throughout. Panicle contracted, few-flowered. Spikelets compressed, 1/10–1/8 in., green tinged with purplish-red. Flowering glumes quite glabrous, margins white and membranous | 19. P. exigua. |
| Culms 1–3 in., leafy at the base. Panicle contracted into an oblong head ¼–⅓ in. long. Spikelets 4–12, ⅙ in. long, pale glaucous-green. Flowering glumes silky with short crisped hairs | 20. P. Maniototo. |
| Culms 2–8 in., rigid. Leaves rough with minute asperities. Panicle ¾–2 in. long, dense and spiciform, many-flowered. Spikelets ⅛ in. Flowering glumes quite glabrous, margins white and membranous | 21. P. sclerophylla. |
| D. Two outer glumes not reaching half-way up the flowering glumes immediately above them. Flowering glumes broadly oblong or ovate-oblong, obtuse or acute, glabrous. Anthers minute, 1/60–1/50 in., oblong. ||
| Culms 3–14 in., blender, leafy, flaccid. Spikelets 1/10–1/8 in. Flowering glumes broadly oblong, obtuse, faintly 3–5-nerved | 22. P. imbecilla. |
| Culms 6–12 in., slender, leafy, flaccid. Spikelets 1/10–1/8 in. Outer glumes very minute. Flowering glumes oblong-ovate, acute, prominently 3-nerved | 23. P. breviglumis. |
1. P. foliosa, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 338 (excl. var. b).—Often forming large tussocks. Culms densely tufted, 1–4 ft. high, ⅓–⅔ in. diam. at the base, stout, erect, leafy, compressed below. Leaves very numerous, subdistichous, usually exceeding the culms, 1–4 ft. long, ⅓–¾ in. broad, gradually narrowed into acuminate points, flat, coriaceous, glabrous, minutely scabrid above, somewhat glaucous beneath; sheaths rather lax, broad, compressed, striate, glabrous; ligules short, membranous, entire or dentate. Panicle large, linear-oblong, dense, contracted, inclined or nodding, 3–10 in. long, 1–3 in. broad; rhachis stout, grooved, glabrous; branches suberect, much divided, slender, glabrous, multi-spiculate. Spikelets shortly pedicelled, much compressed, rather large, ¼–⅓ in. long, ​3–5-flowered. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, keeled, acuminate; the lower subulate-lanceolate, 1-nerved; the upper broader and larger, about ⅔ the length of the whole spikelet, lanceolate, 3-nerved. Flowering glumes ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, incurved at the tip, prominently 5-nerved; callus, together with the back and margins for half their length, clothed with crisped silky hairs; upper portion of the glume scabrid. Palea ⅓ shorter than the glume, linear-oblong, bifid at the tip.—Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 42. Festuca foliosa, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 99, t. 55.
Stewart Island: Herekopere Island and headlands near the South Cape, Kirk! The Snares: Kirk! Chapman! Auckland and Campbell Islands: Abundant, Hooker, Buchanan! Kirk! Chapman! Antipodes Island: Kirk! Macquarie Island: Fraser, Professor Scott, A. Hamilton!
Easily distinguished from all other New Zealand species by the great size, very broad flat leaves, and large dense panicle. It is closely allied to the Kerguelen Island P. Cookii, Hook, f., and to the well-known tussock grass of the Falkland Islands and Fuegia, P. flabellata, Hook. f. (Dactylis cæspitosa, Forst.). The flowers seem to be partly if not altogether unisexual, most of the specimens that I have seen being females with the anthers much reduced in size.
2. P. novæ-zealandiæ, Hack. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxv. (1903) 381.—Perennial, tufted, innovation -shoots intravaginal or mixed. Culms erect, 3–18 in. high, slender, glabrous, 3-noded, upper node about the middle of the culm. Leaves usually much shorter than the culms, 2–10 in. long, 1/12–1/4 in. broad, linear, suddenly acuminate at the tip, flat or those of the innovation-shoots complicate, erect, quite glabrous, finely striate; sheaths lax, compressed; ligules ovate, acuminate, often dentate. Panicle broadly ovate to ovateoblong or linear-oblong, dense, nodding or more rarely erect, 1–4 in. long; rhachis smooth, terete; branches binate or ternate, once or twice divided, smooth, capillary. Spikelets pale-green or whitish-green, much compressed, elliptic-oblong, ¼–⅓ in. long, 5–6-flowered. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, acuminate, glabrous; lower subulate-lanceolate, 1-nerved; upper longer and broader, about half as long as the whole spikelet or rather more, lanceolate, 3-nerved. Flowering glumes lanceolate, acuminate, often incurved at the tip, usually 5-nerved, but the intermediate nerve on each side faint and sometimes obsolete, callus with a tuft of crisped woolly hairs more than half as long as the glume, remainder of the glume glabrous, smooth. Palea ⅓ shorter than the glume, linear-oblong, bidentate, pubescent on the keels.—P. foliosa var. b, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 338; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 43. Festuca foliosa, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 308 (not of Fl. Antarct.).
Var. subvestita,' Hack. l.c.—Flowering glumes rather longer, clothed with crisp hairs in the lower ⅓, exterior lateral nerves more prominent. Spikelets often tinged with violet.
​North Island: Mount Hikurangi, Petrie! Mount Egmont, Buchanan! T.F.C.; Tararua Mountains, Buchanan! Townson! South Island, Stewart Island: Abundant in damp alpine and subalpine localities. 2500–6500 ft.
Separated without any difficulty from P. foliosa, with which it was placed by Hooker, by the different habit, much smaller size, shorter narrower and smoother leaves, smaller and proportionately broader panicle, and less prominently nerved flowering glumes, which are less silky at the base, and almost smooth above.
3. P. litorosa, Cheesem.—Perennial, densely tufted, perfectly smooth and polished. Culms numerous, branched at the base, erect, quite glabrous, 6–24 in. high. Leaves usually longer than the culms, very narrow, linear-filiform, gradually narrowed upwards into an almost pungent point, closely involute, terete, rigid and coriaceous, faintly striate; sheaths long, tight, smooth; ligules ovate, membranous. Panicle rather small, 1–3 in. long, ovate to ovate-oblong or linear-oblong, rather dense, erect or inclined, sparingly branched; branches short, simple or divided, scaberulous. Spikelets much compressed, ovate-oblong, ¼–⅓ in. long, 3–7-flowered. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, keeled, not half as long as the spikelet, broadly lanceolate, acuminate, 3–5-nerved. Flowering glumes ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, keeled, prominently 5-nerved, sometimes with short crisped hairs on the callus and lower part of the keel, but frequently without them, the whole of the glume densely minutely scabrid. Palea about ¼ shorter than the glume, linear-oblong, bidentate, ciliate-scabrid on the keels. Stamens 3; anthers long, ⅔ the length of the palea.—Festuca scoparia, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 98; Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 308; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 841; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 55a.
South Tsland: Otago—Abundant on the cliffs of the east and southern coasts, from Port Chalmers southwards, Lyall, Kirk! Petrie! H. J. Matthews! Stewart Island, The Snares, Auckland and Campbell Islands, Antipodes Island: Plentiful on rocks near the sea.
A very distinct species, with a good deal of the habit and appearance of small states of Festuca littoralis, which no doubt induced Sir J. D. Hooker to place it in the same genus. But it has the keeled flowering glumes and punctiform hilum of Poa; and, as Professor Hackel has pointed out to me, must be transferred to that genus. As there is already a Poa scoparia (Kunth, Rev. Gram. ii. 535) a new name is required. Hooker describes the flowering glume as "basi longe villoso barbata," but it is frequently quite free from hairs.
4. P. ramosissima, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 101.—Culms densely tufted, decumbent at the base for 6–12 in., simple, brown, rigid, many-noded, naked or clothed with the remains of the old leaves; upper portion ascending and much fasciculately branched; branches slender, flaccid, leafy, 2–4 in. long. Leaves longer than the culms, narrow, 1/12–1/6 in. broad, flat, flaccid, quite smooth and glabrous, obsoletely nerved; sheaths long, slender, striate; ligules oblong, truncate. Panicle narrow, erect, green, 1–2 in. long, ⅓ in. broad; ​rhachis slender, smooth; branches short, erect, ¼ in. long, quite smooth and glabrous, bearing 3–4 shortly pedicelled spikelets. Spikelets compressed, ⅕–¼ in. long, 3–5-flowered. Two empty glumes slightly unequal, about half as long as the spikelet, lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous; the lower 1-nerved; the upper broader, 3-nerved. Flowering glumes lanceolate, acuminate, keeled, 5-nerved with the lateral nerves faint, smooth and glabrous, callus at the base glabrous or with a tuft of crisped woolly hairs. Palea ¼ shorter than the flowering glume. Anthers long, linear, ⅔ as long as the palea.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 338.
Auckland and Campbell Islands: Abundant near the sea, Sir J. D. Hooker!
Of this species I have only seen a single panicle from one of Hooker's Campbell Island specimens, and in default of further information, the above description is based upon that given in the "Flora Antarctica." Hooker remarks that "this is a very abundant grass in both groups of islands, and of a most singular habit of growth. The culms are invariably prostrate and quite simple for a foot or so, when they suddenly ascend and divide into many short leafy branches, each bearing a panicle of flowers. It forms a copious, soft, green herbage, especially on the banks near the sea, always throwing its long culms over the edges of the cliffs, which are thus fringed with a delicate festoon of green."
5. P. polyphylla, Hack. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxv. (1903) 383.—Tufted; innovation-shoots extravaginal. Culms erect or decumbent at the base and then ascending, often much branched, manynoded, compressed, glabrous, wiry, 6–18 in. high. Leaves numerous, sheathing the culm, distichously spreading, 4–10 in. long, about 1/10 in. broad, flat or complicate, lower portion smooth, upper part scabrid on the margins and keel; sheaths overlapping, tight, compressed, grooved; ligules reduced to a narrow truncate rim. Panicle 1–3 in. long by ½–1 in. broad, oblong, dense, contracted; branches usually binate, short, erect, divided, spiculate almost to the base, more or less scabrid. Spikelets oblong, compressed, 4–5-flowered, ⅕–¼ in. long. Two outer glumes unequal, lanceolate, acuminate, 1-nerved, sharply scabrid along the keel, the upper the longer, rather more than half the length of the spikelet. Flowering glumes lanceolate, sharply acuminate, almost mucronate, keeled, prominently 5-nerved, minutely scabrid on the surface and nerves and sharply scabrid along the keel, callus and lower part of keel with long crisped woolly hairs. Palea slightly shorter than the glume, linear-oblong, scabrid on the keels. Anthers long.
Kermadec Islands: Abundant on Sunday and Macaulay Islands, chiefly near the sea, T.F.C., Miss Shakespear!
Distinguished by the branching habit, distichously spreading leaves, short contracted panicle, and narrow acuminate flowering glumes, which are sharply scabrid on the keel, and scaberulous on the surfaces and veins.
​6. P. anceps, Forst. Prodr. n. 43.—Perennial, very variable; innovation-shoots extravaginal. Culms tufted, often branched at the base, stout, compressed, glabrous, leafy, 6–36 in. high or even more. Leaves longer or shorter than the culms, subdistichous, 3–18 in. long, 1/10–1/4 in. broad, acute or acuminate, rather coriaceous, flat or concave, smooth on both surfaces or the margins slightly scabrid near the apex; sheaths compressed, grooved; ligules a short truncate rim. Panicle very variable, 2–12 in. long, 1–5 in. broad, lanceolate to oblong or ovate, effuse or contracted, rather dense or open, inclined or erect; rhachis smooth or scaberulous; branches short or long, suberect or spreading, 2 or 3 or more from one node, once or twice divided; branchlets capillary, scaberulous. Spikelets ovate-oblong, compressed, ¼–⅓ in. long, 3–6-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, not half the length of the spikelet, but reaching ¾-way up the flowering glume above them, lanceolate, acuminate, 3-nerved, scabrid on the keel and sides or almost glabrous. Flowering glumes oblong to oblong-ovate, obtuse or subacute, keeled, prominently 5-nerved, minutely scaberulous on the surface and nerves or almost smooth, keel usually scabrid, callus and lower part of keel with a few crisped hairs or almost glabrous. Palea almost as long as the flowering glume, linear-oblong, minutely ciliate-scabrid on the keels. Anthers long.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 306; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 839; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 44. P. australis, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 141; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 262; Raoul, Choix, 39 (not of R. Br.).
Var. condensata, Cheesem.—Culms 4–18 in. high, often overtopped by the leaves. Panicle shorter and much more compact, dense-flowered. Spikelets rather smaller, 2–4-flowered. Glumes smoother, hardly scaberulous.
Var. gracilis, Cheesem.—Culms slender, 4–18 in. high. Leaves narrow, often involute. Panicle lax; branches few, 2–3 from each node or solitary; spikelets fewer, towards the tips of the branchlets, smaller, 2–5-flowered. Glumes smoother. This appears to connect the type with P. seticulmis.
North and South Islands: The typical form throughout the whole of the North Island, ranging from sea-level to 3500 ft., apparently rare and local in the South Island, but recorded from Marlborough and Nelson, and extending along the West Coast to the south of Westport. Var. condensata not uncommon as far as Canterbury; var. gracilis to Foveaux Strait.
What I consider to be the typical state of this variable plant includes the two varieties elata and foliosa of the Handbook, and can be distinguished by the tall stout culms often branching at the base, broad and flat subdistichous smooth leaves, large usually lax panicle, and numerous rather large spikelets, with subacute flowering glumes prominently nerved and usually more or less flnely scaberulous. But it runs on all sides into numerous varieties exceedingly difficult to define, if, indeed, they are capable of exact circumscription.
7. P. seticulmis, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiv. (1902) 391.—Culms tufted, branched at the base, very slender, erect, smooth and glabrous, 4–12 in. high. Leaves shorter or longer than the culms, very narrow, usually involute and filiform, rarely slightly ​broader and flat, erect, smooth, striate; sheaths pale, membranous, grooved; Hgules reduced to a narrow membranous ciliolate rim. Panicle 1½–3 in. long, ovate to oblong, lax, few-flowered; rhachis capillary, scaberulous above; branches few, in distant pairs or the upper solitary, spreading or suberect, sparingly branched, capillary, scaberulous. Spikelets few at the tips of the brauchlets, oblong, ⅙–⅕ in. long, 3–5-flowered. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, about half the length of the spikelet or less, lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, smooth or nearly so. Flowering glumes oblong-ovate, obtuse or subacute, 5-nerved, smooth or minutely scaberulous on the keel, a few crisped hairs on the callus and lower part of the back. Palea almost as long as the glume, ciliate on the keels. Anthers long, linear.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Not uncommon in dry places throughout. Sea-level to 2500 ft.
What may be taken as the typical form of this species is abundant on sandy soil near the sea in the northern part of the North Island, and from its very slender filiform culms and leaves and lax few-flowered panicle presents a very distinct appearance. But, as Mr. Petrie remarks, there is a widely spread inland state that cannot be separated from it by any characters of importance, but which gradually varies into small and slender states of P. anceps, the var. gracilis of that plant forming a direct connection between the two species.
8. P. pusilla, Berggr. in Minneskr. Fisiog. Sallsk. Lund. (1877) 31, t. 7, f. 35–40.—Rhizome long, creeping and rooting. Culms variable in size, often much dwarfed, 1–9 in. high, erect or ascending, slender, smooth and glabrous, striate. Leaves much, shorter than the culms, subdistichous, narrow, involute, setaceous; sheaths pale, compressed, grooved; ligules extremely short, reduced to a mere rim. Panicle variable in size, ½–2 in. long, broadly ovate, lax, few-flowered; branches few, slender, capillary, spreading, in depauperated states reduced to 2 or 3, each with a single spikelet, in large forms 4–8, with 1–4 spikelets at the tip. Spikelets pale-green, ovate, compressed, ⅛–⅙ in. long, 2–5-flowered. Two outer glumes subequal, about half as long as the spikelet, oblong-ovate to oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, smooth or scabrid on the keel above. Flowering glumes oblong-ovate, obtuse, 5-nerved, smooth or rarely minutely scaberulous on the keel, callus and lower part of keel and margins with long crisped woolly hairs. Palea about ¾ the length of the glume, silky on the keels. Anthers long, linear.—P. anceps var. minima, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 46f.
South Island: Wet places in mountain districts, from the Wairau Valley, Nelson, to the south of Otago. Stewart Island: Kirk! Sea-level to 5000 ft.
I am greatly puzzled with this species. Forms very closely resembling Berggren's plate and description are not uncommon in subalpine localities in the South Island, but they appear to pass insensibly into a larger lowland state, with a more developed panicle and larger spikelets. This in its turn approaches so near to P. seticulmis that it is difficult to draw a strict line of demarcation between the two plants.
​9. P. dipsacea, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvi. (1894) 271.—Culms erect from an often long and branched creeping and rooting base, stout or slender, smooth, leafy, 6–18 in. high. Leaves usually shorter than the culms, narrow, involute or complicate, quite smooth and glabrous, deeply striate; sheaths rather loose, pale, deeply grooved; ligules short, broad, submembranous. Panicle 2–5 in. long, broadly ovate, lax, few-flowered; rhachis smooth; branches usually in distant pairs, simple or forked, smooth, capillary, bearing few large spikelets towards the tips. Spikelets long-pedicelled, elliptic-ovate, compressed, greenish-brown, about ⅓ in. long, 4–8-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, almost as long as the flowering glumes immediately above them, lanceolate, acute, membranous, smooth or finely scabrid on the upper part of the keel. Flowering glumes ovate, obtuse or subacute, rather membranous, prominently 5-nerved, callus and lower part of the keel and margins with long silky hairs, upper part of keel sharply scabrid, surface and nerves in the upper half minutely scaberulous. Palea shorter than the glume keels ciliate. Anthers long, linear.
South Island: Nelson—Raglan Range, T.F.C. Canterbury—Wet places near the sources of the Broken River, Petrie! T.F.C.; Craigieburn Mountains, Cockayne! 3000–5000 ft.
This seems to be a distinct species, recognised without much difficulty by the long decumbent bases of the culms, very lax few-flowered panicle, and large spikelets clustered at the tips of the branchlets. Depauperated states approach P. pusilla, but are easily distinguished by the larger spikelets and more distinctly nerved scaberulous flowering glumes.
10. P. Cheesemanii, Hack. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxv. (1903) 383.—Perennial, hardly lufted; rhizome with creeping stolons furnished with leafless scales. Culms erect or decumbent at the base, slender, smooth, terete, 3-noded, the upper node about half-way up the culm, 12-18 in. high. Leaves much shorter than the culms, 2–6 in. long, about 1/12 in. broad, rigid, erect, obtuse at the tip, more or less complicate when dry; sheaths shorter than the internodes, subcompressed, keeled in the upper part, glabrous; ligules shore, truncate. Panicle ovate, lax, spreading, 2–5 in. long; rhachis smooth, more or less flexuose above; lower branches ternate, upper binate or solitary, slender, almost capillary, lower ⅔ undivided and smooth, towards the tip bearing a few unispiculate branchlets. Spikelets elliptic, often tinged with red, rather more than ¼ in. long, 5–6-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, ¾ the length of the flowering glumes above them or even more, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, quite smooth. Flowering glumes oblong-ovate, subacute, prominently 5-nerved, callus clothed with long crisped woolly hairs half the length of the glume, keel and nerves near the base sparingly villous, remainder of the glume smooth and glabrous. Palea almost as long as the glume, linear-oblong, scabrid on the keels. Anthers linear, about 1/12 in. long.
South Island: Nelson—Lake Tennyson, T.F.C.; near Westport, Townson!
Professor Hackel remarks of this species that it is allied to P. anceps, but differs markedly in the stoloniferous rhizome, the rhizome of P. anceps being invariably tufted and without stolons. The spikelets are also broader, the two outer glumes longer in proportion and smoother, and the flowering glumes much more hairy at the base and smoother above. P. dipsacea differs in the more flaccid habit, larger spikelets, and in the flowering glumes being scabrous above.
11. P. chathamica, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiv. (1902) 394.—Rhizome long, wiry, creeping and rooting among Sphagnum, &c. Culms 1–2 ft. high, often decumbent and branched at the base, erect above, rather rigid, smooth, leafy. Leaves usually shorter than the culms, narrow, 1/12–1/8 in. broad, erect, rather coriaceous, tapering to a stiff acute point, flat or concave, smooth, striate; sheaths compressed, lax, grooved; ligules a transverse band of short stiff white hairs. Panicle 1½–3 in. long, linear-oblong to ovate-oblong, rather dense; branches few, usually binate, short, slender, capillary, scabrid-ciliate. Spikelets ovate or oblong-ovate, compressed, pale-green or purplish, ¼–⅓ in. long, 4–5-flowered. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, about half the length of the spikelet, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, scabrid on the keel. Flowering-glumes oblong-ovate, obtuse or subacute, prominently 5-nerved, minutely scaberulous on the surfaces and nerves, keel usually strongly scabrid, callus and lower part of keel and margins with sparse crisped woolly hairs. Palea about as long as the glume, bidentate, strongly ciliate on the keels. Anthers long, linear.
Chatham Islands: Abundant in Sphagnum swamps. Cox and Cockayne!
Closely allied to P. anceps, but sufficiently distinct in the creeping rhizome, more coriaceous erect leaves, ligule composed of short stiff hairs, and short dense panicle with few branches and rather large spikelets.
12. P. cæspitosa, Forst. Prodr. n. 498.—Culms densely tufted, forming compact tussocks, pale yellowish-green, slender, erect, smooth and polished, 1–3 ft. high. Leaves longer or shorter than the culms, very narrow, often filiform, usually with the margins strongly involute so that the leaf is nearly terete, rarely flat, strict, wiry, erect, pungent, smooth and polished; sheaths long, smooth and shining; ligules almost obsolete, reduced to a narrow transverse rim. Panicle 2–9 in. long, broad or narrow, lax; branches few, in distant whorls or clusters, or in small specimens binate or solitary, sparingly divided, spreading, capillary, scabrid. Spikelets pale-green, about ¼ in. long, 3–6-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, about ¾ the length of the flowering glumes above them, ovate-lanceolate, acute, membranous, 3-nerved, smooth or scabrid on the keel. Flowering glumes oblong-lanceolate to oblong-ovate, subacute or obtuse, prominently 5-nerved, minutely scaberulous, callus ​and base of keel with a tuft of long crisped silky hairs. Palea rather shorter than the glume, minutely ciliate on the keels. Anthers linear, about 1/10 in. long.—A. Cunn. Precur. n. 264; Raoul, Choix, 39; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 651. P. australis var. lævis, Hook. f. Handh. N.Z. Fl. 339; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 47. P. lævis var. filifolia, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 307.
Var. leioclada, Hack. MSS.—Panicle-branches smooth. Spikelets larger, ⅓ in. long or more.
Var. australis, Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 653.—Leaves rough and scabrous. Panicle very lax and spreading. Perhaps naturalised.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: The typical state abundant from the Upper Thames and Waikato southwards. Var. leioclada: Mount Egmont, Petrie! near Westport, Townson! Var. australis: Marua, near Whangarei, H. Hawkins! near Auckland, T.F.C. Sea-level to 4000 ft. "Tussock Grass."
Also in Australia and Tasmania. The most abundant grass through wide districts in the South Island, also plentiful in the elevated central portions of the North Island. Unfortunately, it is not relished by stock, and is seldom eaten, save in the absence of better food.
13. P. Colensoi, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 340.—Culms densely tufted, branched at the base, slender, erect, quite smooth, pale whitish-green, 2–14 in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, very narrow, filiform, the margins so strongly involute that the leaf is almost terete, acute, erect or curved, rigid and wiry, quite smooth, polished; sheaths long, pale, rigid, grooved, the lower persistent long after the blades have fallen; ligules very large and long, sheathing, membranous, hyaline. Panicle ½–2 in. long, broadly ovate, lax, few-flowered; branches few, usually binate, slender, capillary, scabrid, bearing 1–3 spikelets at the tip. Spikelets pale-green, compressed, ⅕–¼ in. long, 3–6-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, reaching about ⅔-way up the flowering glumes above them, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, the lateral nerves short and faint, smooth. Flowering glumes oblong-ovate, subacute, faintly 5-nerved, smooth or nearly so, keel and surfaces in the lower half very sparsely silky-pubescent or quite glabrous, with no long tuft of crisped hairs as in P. cæspitosa. Palea slightly shorter than the glume. Anthers long, linear, about 1/12 in. long.—Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 48b.
Var. intermedia, Cheesem.—Taller, with more of the tussocky habit of P. cæspitosa, 9–18 in. high. Ligules as in the typical state. Panicle larger, 2–3 in. long. Spikelets more numerous, larger, ⅓ in. long, but flowering glumes as in the type.—P. intermedia, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 48a.
North Island: Mountainous localities and dry elevated plains of the interior, from Moehau (Cape Colville) southwards, but rare and local to the north of Lake Taupo. South Island, Stewart Island: Plentiful throughout. Usually from 1000 to 5000 ft, but descends almost to sea-level in the south of Otago, and ascends to over 7000 ft. on Mount Egmont.
​A very remarkable species. I have reunited Mr. Buchanan's P. intermedia with it, there being no differences save those of size and habit, in which respect the two forms pass into one another by insensible gradations. Professor Hackel also takes the same view. Small states of P. cæspitosa can always be distinguished by the almost obsolete ligules and by the long crisped hairs on the callus of the flowering glume.
P. Colensoi is one of the most important of the indigenous pasture-grasses. It is eaten by all kinds of stock, and is a specially valuable sheep-grass in mountain districts.
14. P. acicularifolia, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 49a.—Much branched at the base, forming compact leafy glaucous-green patches 2–6 in. across; branches short, curved, densely leafy. Culms very slender, almost filiform, smooth, naked for the greater part of their length, 2–6 in. high. Leaves imbricating on the branches, crowded, short, ⅙–½ in. long, involute and terete, curved, rigid, smooth, suddenly narrowed into an acute or acicular tip; sheaths short, pale, lax; ligules very long, sheathing, deeply 2-fid, membranous, hyaline, decurrent along the margins of the sheath. Panicle ½–1 in. long, broadly ovate, lax, of 3–10 spikelets; branches few, slender, capillary, scabrid. Spikelets compressed, about ¼ in. long, 3–6-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, smooth or slightly scabrid above. Flowering glumes oblong-ovate, subacute, 5-nerved, densely villous with short silky hairs below the middle, minutely rough above, callus sometimes with a tuft of crisped hairs. Palea almost as long as the glume, linear-oblong, silky on the keels. Anthers long, linear, about 1/12 in. long.
South Island: Nelson—Mount Arthur, A. Mackay! Canterbury—Limestone rocks in the Broken River Basin, Enys! Kirk! T.F.C. 2000–4000 ft.
Very closely allied to P. Colensoi, and chiefly distinguished by the peculiar habit, short rigid acicular leaves, and densely silky flowering glumes.
15. P. pygmæa, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 50a.—Small, much branched, very densely tufted, forming compact rigid patches 2–4 in. diam. and ½–1 in. high. Culms very short, clothed throughout with densely imbricating leaves. Leaf-blades very short, ⅛–⅓ in. long, extremely rigid and coriaceous, folded, about 1/20 in. broad when spread out, subacute, strongly grooved, quite smooth; ligules broad, thin. Panicle reduced to 1–3 spikelets; pedicels short, smooth. Spikelets about ⅙ in. long, brownish-green, often tinged with purple, 3–5-flowered. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, quite smooth. Flowering glumes ovate, subacute, faintly 5-nerved, smooth, lower half clothed with short white silky hairs. Palea ¼ shorter than the glume, ciliate on the keels. Anthers long, linear.
South Island: Otago—Summit of Mount Pisa, altitude 6000 ft., Petrie!
A very remarkable little species, quite unlike any other.
​16. P. Kirkii, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 51b.—Culms tufted, erect, compressed, smooth, leafy, 3–5-noded, 6–18 in. high. Leaves much shorter than the culms, erect, 1–4 in. long, 1/15–1/6 in. broad, linear, gradually tapering to an acuminate point, flat, smooth or the margins scabrid above, striate; sheaths compressed, grooved, the uppermost long, often sheathing the greater part of the culm; ligules long, membranous, erect. Panicle oblong or oblong-ovate, lax, erect, 2–5 in. long; rhachis slender, flexuous, smooth or minutely scaberulous; branches in alternate pairs or in alternate fascicles of 3–5, unequal, slender, sparingly divided, smooth or scaberulous. Spikelets elliptic-oblong, compressed, green or purplish-green, ⅙–¼ in. long, 3–5-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, ½–⅔ the length of the whole spikelet, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, smooth or scabrid along the keel. Flowering glumes oblong-ovate, obtuse, prominently 5-nerved, smootb or minutely scabrid on the keel and nerves above, glabrous or rarely with a tuft of crisped hairs on the callus. Palea about ¼ shorter than the glume, linear-oblong, ciliate on the keels. Anthers linear-oblong, 1/20 in. long.—P. purpurea, Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. ix. (1877) 500 (name only).
Var. Mackayi, Hack. MSS.—Taller and stouter; leaves often ¼ in. broad. Spikelets larger, ⅓ in. long. Flowering glumes often with a tuft of long crisped hairs on the callus. Anthers 1/15 in. long.—P. Mackayi, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 50a.
Var. Collinsii, Hack. MSS.—Slender, pale-green, laxly tufted, 1–2 ft. high; nodes of the culm usually naked. Panicle 3–6 in. long, very lax; branches long, slender. Spikelets as in the type, but rather larger.—P. Collinsii, Kirk ex Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxviii. (1896) 589 (name only).
North Island: Mount Egmont, Petrie! T.F.C.; Tararua Range, H. H. Travers! T. P. Arnold! South Island: Abundant in subalpine localities throughout. Var. Collinsii: Mount Fyffe (Marlborough), Kirk! Hooker Valley, T.F.C. 2000–5000 ft.
A variable plant. Buchanan's P. Mackayi looks different at first sight, from its larger spikelets and broader leaves, but is connected with the type by intermediate forms. On the Mount Arthur Plateau, Nelson, the two varieties can be seen to merge into one another. P. Collinsii is a taller and more slender plant, with a larger and laxer panicle, but the structure of the spikelets is the same as in the type. P. Kirkii is a valuable grass for all kinds of stock in cool elevated localities, and is well worth cultivation.
17. P. Lindsayi, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 340.—Culms numerous, densely tufted, very slender, erect, quite smooth, leafy at the base, naked above, 3–12 in. high. Leaves much shorter than the culms, ½–3 in. long, very narrow, flat or involute, soft and flaccid, quite smooth, pale-green or bluish-green; sheaths short or the upper alone long, narrow, grooved; ligules oblong, membranous, hyaline. Panicle broadly ovate or oblong, erect, lax, 1–4 in. long; rhachis slender, smooth; branches rather distant, binate or ternate, spreading, very slender, capillary, smooth or scaberulous, simple or sparingly divided, bearing a few spikelets towards the tip. Spike​lets 1/10–1/8 in. long, ovate, brownish-green or silvery-brown, 4–6-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, about ½ as long as the spikelet, oblong-ovate, subacute, 3-nerved, membranous. Flowering glumes broadly oblong, obtuse, faintly 5-nerved, silky throughout with short hairs, but no tuft of crisped hairs on the callus; margins white, membranous. Palea slightly shorter than the glume, ciliate on the keels. Anthers small, oblong, about 1/40 in. long.—Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 52.
North Island: Hawke's Bay—Ruataniwha Plains, H. Tryon! South Island: Not uncommon from the south of Nelson to Foveaux Strait. Sea-level to 5000 ft.
A pretty and distinct species, easily recognised by its small size and slender delicate habit, lax panicle, small silvery-brown spikelets, and faintly nerved silky flowering glumes. Hooker describes the flowering glumes as glabrous and nerveless, but I do not find them so.
18. P. incrassata, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiv. (1902) 394.—Culms small, densely tufted, quite smooth and glabrous, leafy, 2–4 in. high. Leaves equalling or sometimes overtopping the culms, erect or slightly spreading, slender, smooth, flaccid, very narrow, almost setaceous, complicate when dry; sheaths rather lax, almost as long as the blade, grooved; ligules short, membranous, truncate. Panicle ½–1 in. long, lax, of 3–6 spikelets on rather long smooth pedicels. Spikelets ⅛–⅙ in. long, broadly oblong, rather turgid, purplish-brown, 3–4-flowered. Two outer glumes subequal, about ½ the length of the flowering glumes immediately above them, oblong, obtuse, 3-nerved, quite smooth. Flowering glumes broadly oblong, obtuse, prominently 5-nerved, quite smooth and glabrous. Palea almost as long as the glume, linear-oblong, minutely ciliate on the keels. Anthers oblong, minute, about 1/50 in. long.
Auckland Islands: F. R. Chapman!
I have seen very few specimens of this species, and the above description will probably require modification when a larger series is obtained. It appears to be nearest to P. exigua, but the panicle is much more lax, the spikelets larger and more turgid, and the outer glumes are much shorter.
19. P. exigua, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 338.—Culms densely tufted, small, slender, quite smooth and glabrous, leafy, 1–5 in. high. Leaves numerous, shorter than the culms or rarely equalling them, ½–3 in. long, very narrow, involute, setaceous, erect, soft and flaccid, smooth; sheaths lax, thin, grooved; ligules short, white, membranous. Panicle small, ½–¾ in. long, rarely more, narrow, contracted, usually dense-flowered; branches few, short, erect. Spikelets few or many, green tinged with purplish-red, ovate, small, 1/10–1/8 in. long, 2–3-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, membranous, minutely scabrid on the upper part of the keel; lower oblong-lanceolate, acute, 1-nerved; upper larger and broader, ¾ the ​length of the whole spikelet, oblong, obtuse, 3-nerved. Flowering glumes broadly oblong with white membranous margins, obtuse, 5-nerved, smooth or minutely scaberulous on the keel above, quite glabrous at the base. Palea linear-oblong, glabrous. Anthers oblong, minute, about 1/50 in, long.—Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 50b.
South Island: Otago—Lake district, Hector and Buchanan; Mount Pisa, Hector Mountains, Mount Cardroua, Petrie! Humboldt Mountains, Cockayne! 3500–6000 ft.
20. P. Maniototo, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxii. (1890) 443.—Culms forming small compact tufts, slender, leafy below, naked and filiform above, smooth and glabrous, 1–3 in. high. Leaves much shorter than the culms, pale glaucous-green; blade ¼–¾ in. long, very narrow, filiform, involute and almost terete, grooved down the back, obtuse at the tip; sheaths broad, pale, membranous, grooved; ligules long, broad, hyaline, often bifid or irregularly lacerate. Panicle reduced to an oblong spike-like head ¼–⅓ in. long of 4–12 spikelets. Spikelets pale glaucous-green, about ⅙ in. long, ovate, 4–7-flowered. Two outer glumes subequal, ovate-oblong, acute, the lower 1-nerved, the upper 3-nerved with the lateral nerves faint. Flowering glumes ovate-oblong, obtuse, faintly 3–5-nerved, the lateral nerves sometimes obsolete, silky all over with very short crisped hairs. Palea shorter than the glume, linear-oblong, silky on the keels. Anthers oblong, very minute, about 1/75 in. long.
South Island: Canterbary—Broken River Basin, Mackenzie Plains, T.F.C. Otago—Dry plains in the interior, Kurow, Maniototo, Bendigo, Mount Pisa, Petrie! Lake Wanaka, Kirk! 1200–3000 ft.
21. P. sclerophylla, Berggr. in Minneskr. Fisiog. Sallsk. Lund. (1877) 30.—Forming small dense tufts. Culms stout, erect, rigid, compressed, leafy, 2–8 in. high. Leaves numerous towards the base of the culms and sheathing their whole length, much shorter than them, glaucous or greenish-grey, everywhere rough with minute projections; blade ½–2 in. long, narrow, folded, 1/16–1/8 in. broad when spread out, rigid and coriaceous, acute or almost pungent, straight or curved, strongly grooved, quite glabrous; sheaths broader than the blade, pale, compressed, the upper 1 or 2 very long and sheathing the culm; ligules rather long, membranous. Panicle ¾–2 in. long, very narrow, contracted, dense, spiciform, pale whitish-green; branches numerous, short, erect. Spikelets numerous, small, about ⅛ in. long, 2–4-flowered. Two outer glumes subequal, about ⅔ the length of the whole spikelet, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, the lateral nerves faint. Flowering glumes broadly oblong, obtuse, 5-nerved, margins white and membranous, surfaces very minutely rough, quite glabrous. Palea linear-oblong, glabrous. Anthers oblong, small, about 1/40 in. long. Ripe grain adherent to the palea.—P. albida, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 50c. P. anceps var. alpina, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 339.
South Island: Probably not uncommon on dry shingle slopes in alpine localities. Nelson—Mount Percival, T.F.C.; Mount Captain, Kirk. Canterbury—Mount Torlesse, Berggren, Petrie! mountains above the Broken River, T.F.C.; Mount Dobson and Mount Darwin, Haast. Otago—Mount St. Bathan's, Mount Ida, Mount Kyeburn, Petrie! 3500–6000 ft.
A very peculiar and distinct little species, quite unlike any other.
22. P. imbecilla, Forst. Prodr. n. 499 (name only).—Culms tufted, branched and decumbent at the base, ascending or erect above, weak, very slender, often filiform, quite smooth and glabrous, leafy, 3–14 in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, very narrow, 1/30–1/15 in. broad, flat, flaccid; sheaths narrow, smooth, grooved, the upper often long; ligules rather long, membranous. Panicle very lax and slender, 1–5 in. long; branches in alternate fascicles of 3–5 or in small specimens binate or solitary, long, spreading, capillary, minutely scaberulous. Spikelets on long pedicels, small, green, 1/10–1/8 in. long, laxly 2–6-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, often small, from ⅓ to ½ the length of the flowering glumes immediately above them, ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute, 3-nerved. Flowering glumes often remote, oblong or broadly oblong, obtuse, faintly 3-nerved, or occasionally 5-nerved with the intermediate nerve on each side indistinct, smooth and glabrous, or slightly scabrid on the keel and sometimes on the nerves above, no tuft of hairs on the callus. Palea about ¾ the length of the glume, linear-oblong, ciliate on the keels. Anthers oblong, minute, about 1/60 in. long.—Spreng. Fl. Hal. Mant. i. 33; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 263; Raoul, Choix, 39; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 306; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 337; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 53b. Eragrostis imbecilla, Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 643.
Var. Matthewsii, Hack. MSS.—Taller, 10–20 in. high. Panicle larger, 4–8 in. long. Spikelets rather larger, 4–6-flowered. Flowering glumes closer, usually 5-nerved, but the intermediate nerves on each side often very faint.—P. Matthewsii, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiv. (1902) 392. P. breviculmis, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 337 (in part).
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Not uncommon in shaded places throughout. Sea-level to 4000 ft.
As a species, P. imbecilla is well characterized by the slender flaccid habit, small spikelets with minute outer glumes, and obtuse glabrous flowering glumes, which are usually 3-nerved in the typical form, but generally 5-nerved in var. Matthewsii. It is said to occur in Australia.
23. P. breviglumis, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 101.—Culms tufted, decumbent at the base, ascending above, slender, smooth and glabrous, leafy, 6–12 in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, narrow, 1/20–1/12 broad, flat, flaccid, striate; sheaths short, deeply grooved; ligules oblong, obtuse, scarious. Panicle erect, oblong, lax, slender, 2–5 in. long; branches few, in alternate fascicles of 3–5, slender, unequal, capillary, simple or sparingly divided. ​Spikelets compressed, pale-green, 1/10–1/8 in. long, 3–4-flowered. Two outer glumes very unequal, small, several times less than the length of the spikelet; lower minute, ovate, obtuse, 1-nerved; upper three times the length, broadly ovate, concave, 3-nerved, obtuse or truncate or erose at the tip. Flowering glumes ovate-oblong, acute, prominently 3-nerved, glabrous, smooth or minutely scabrid on the keel and nerves. Palea shorter than the glume, linear-oblong, ciliate on the keels. Anthers broadly oblong, minute, about 1/60 in. long.—Handh. N.Z. Fl. 337 (in part).
Auckland Islands: Kirk! Chapman! Campbell Island: Sir J. D. Hooker!
Of this species I have only seen a fragment of one of Hooker's Campbell Island specimens, and two or three collected on the Auckland Islands by Kirk and Chapman. All these differ from P. imbecilla in the very unequal and much more minute outer glumes, and in the prominently nerved and acute flowering glumes. How far these characters are constant can only be ascertained from the inspection of a larger series of specimens. The New Zealand examples referred to P. breviglumis in the Handbook are probably referable to P. imbecilla var. Matthewsii.
29. ATROPIS, Rupr.
Annual or perennial grasses. Leaves linear, flat or plicate or convolute; ligules hyaline. Spikelets 3- to many-flowered, narrow, laterally compressed or almost cylindric, in open or contracted panicles; rhachilla disarticulating above the two outer glumes and between the flowering glumes, glabrous, produced beyond the uppermost flower. Two outer glumes persistent, broad, empty, unequal, rounded on the back, 1–3-nerved. Flowering glumes broad, oblong, obtuse, rounded on the back, 5-nerved, nerves often obscure. Palea nearly as long as the flowering glume, 2-keeled. Lodicules 2, large, ovate, usually distinct. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous; styles wanting; stigmas plumose. Grain enclosed in the hardened flowering glume and palea, oblong, almost semiterete; hilum small, basal, punctiform.
A small genus of 12 or 14 species, mostly from the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It differs from Poa principally in the flowering glumes being rounded on the back, not keeled.
| Panicle contracted, lax; branches distant. Spikelets ¼–⅓ in., 5–9-flowered. Empty glumes very small | 1. A. stricta. |
| Panicle contracted, dense; branches close. Spikelets ¼ in., 4-flowered. Empty glumes longer, half the length of the spikelet | 2. A. novæ-zealandiæ. |
A. pumila, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiv. (1882) 379, is Triodia pumila, Hack.
1. A. stricta, Hack. MSS.—Annual. Culms tufted, strict, erect, quite glabrous, leafy, 3–4-noded, the uppermost node below the middle, 6–18 in. high. Leaves sheathing almost the whole of the ​culm, narrow, setaceously involute, strict, erect, quite smooth; sheaths pale, lower rather lax; ligules ovate, membranous. Panicle slender, contracted when in flower, 3–6 in. long; branches very unequal, in distant fascicles of 2–5, strict, erect in flower, spreading in fruit, simple or sparingly branched. Spikelets alternate on the branchlets, narrow, almost terete, pale, ¼–⅓ in. long, 5–9-flowered. Two outer glumes very unequal, the lower narrow-ovate, acute, 1-nerved, not half the length of the flowering glume above it; upper twice as long as the lower, oblong, subacute, 3-nerved. Flowering glumes oblong, obtuse and hyaline at the tips, distinctly 5-nerved, but the nerves disappearing below the tip, quite smooth and glabrous. Palea shorter than the glume, linear-oblong, ciliolate along the keels. Lodicules distinct. Anthers oblong, about 1/40 in. long.—Glyceria stricta, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 304; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 336; Fl. Tasm. ii. 123, t. 162b; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 658; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 41a.
Var. suborbicularis, Hack. MSS.—Flowering glume much broader than in the type, in outline almost orbicular. Leaves weaker and thinner.
North and South Islands: Not uncommon in brackish-water marshes from the Bay of Islands southwards to the Bluff. Var. suborbicularis: Near Oamaru, Petrie!
Also in Australia and Tasmania. The northern A. distans, Griseb., which is closely allied to A. stricta, is naturalised in several localities. It is not nearly so strict, the leaves are flatter, the panicle not so contracted, and the spikelets are much smaller.
2. A. novæ-zealandiæ, Hack. MSS.—Annual, pale whitish-green. Culms densely tufted, erect, quite glabrous, leafy, 3–4-noded, the uppermost node much above the middle, 4–14 in. high. Leaves sheathing the whole of the culm, strict, erect, complicate, striate; sheaths compressed, usually longer than the blades, grooved; ligules broad, membranous, hyaline, irregularly toothed at the tip. Panicle 2–6 in. long, erect, contracted, dense, pale whitish-green; branches in fascicles of 2–7, very unequal, short, smooth, erect. Spikelets numerous, sessile or shortly pedicelled, about ¼ in. long, 4–5-flowered. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, about ½ the length of the whole spikelet; lower narrow, lanceolate, acute, 1-nerved, sometimes with a short lateral nerve on each side; upper broader and more obtuse, 3-nerved. Flowering glumes oblong or oblong-ovate, obtuse and hyaline at the tip, with sometimes an obscure notch on each side, 5-nerved, glabrous or slightly hairy on the back near the base. Palea as long as the glume, linear-oblong, minutely bidentate at the tip, ciliolate on the nerves. Lodicules distinct. Anthers linear-oblong, about 1/20 in. long.—Poa Walkeri, Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvii. (1885) 224. Glyceria novæ-zealandiæ, Petrie in. Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiii. (1901) 329.
South Island: Brackish-water marshes on the south coast of Otago, Kirk! Petrie! Stewart Island: East Coast, local, Kirk!
Easily distinguished from the preceding by the stouter habit, denser panicle with shorter branches, smaller pale whitish-green spikelets with fewer florets, much larger empty glumes, and narrower and more pointed flowering glumes.
30. FESTUCA, Linn.
Perennial or rarely annual grasses. Leaves flat or complicate or convolute, often setaceous; ligules scarious. Spikelets 2- to many-flowered, arranged in open or contracted often unilateral panicles; rhachilla disarticulating above the two outer glumes and between the flowering glumes. Two outer glumes unequal or subequal, empty, persistent, more or less keeled, 1–3-nerved. Flowering glumes lanceolate, acute or acuminate or awned, rounded on the back or slightly keeled towards the tip, herbaceous, 5–7-nerved; awn from the tip or close to it, straight; callus glabrous or nearly so. Palea 2-keeled, more or less 2-toothed, scabrid or ciliolate along the keels. Lodicules 2. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous or mmutely hairy at the tip; styles distinct, very short; stigmas plumose. Grain enclosed within the slightly hardened flowering glume and palea and often adherent to the latter, oblong, concave or grooved in front; hilum long, linear.
A genus of about 90 species, mainly found in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, not so abundant in the south temperate zone, absent in the tropics except on high mountains. It differs from Atropis in the long linear hilum, and from Poa in the same character and in the flowering glumes being, more or less rounded on the back and often awned.
| * Flowering glumes not awned. |
| Culms 1½–3 ft., forming dense hard tussocks. Panicle 2–9 in. Spikelets turgid, ½–¾ in. long | 1. F. littoralis. |
| ** Flowering glumes awned; awn much shorter than the glume. |
| Culms 6–18 in., without creeping stolons, innovation-shoots intravaginal with the sheaths open or closed. Leaves usually setaceous; ligules biauricled. Spikelets 4–7-flowered | 2. F. ovina. |
| Culms 9–18 in., usually stoloniferous; innovation-shoots both intravaginal and extravaginal; sheaths always closed. Stem-leaves often broader; ligules not obviously biauricled. Spikelets 4–8-flowered | 3. F. rubra. |
| Culms 6–9 in., densely tufted. Leaves strict, erect, complicate or terete. Panicle spike like. Spikelets 2–3-flowered; empty glumes ⅓ the length of the spikelet | 4. F. contracta. |
| *** Flowering glumes awned; awn as long or longer than the glume. |
| Culms 6–18 in., densely tufted, stoloniferous. Leaves soft, pliant, terete. Panicle narrow, spiciform. Spikelets 3–5-flowered | 5. F. Coxi. |
​1. F. littoralis, Labill. Pl. Nov. Holl. i. 22, t. 27.—Forming dense hard tussocks of a pale yellow-green colour. Culms branched at the base, erect, rigid, smooth and polished, 1½–3 ft. high. Leaves longer or shorter than the culms, narrow, so strongly involute that the blade is terete, erect, rigid and pungent-pointed, quite smooth and polished; sheaths pale, grooved; ligules short. Panicle 2–9 in. long, narrow, dense and spike-like; rhachis stout, angled, grooved; branches short, erect, usually few-flowered; pedicels short, pilose. Spikelets large, broad, flattened or somewhat turgid, ½–¾ in. long, 4–7-flowered, pale yellowish-green. Two outer glumes subequal, more than half as long as the spikelet, keeled, lanceolate, acuminate, 3–5-nerved, glabrous. Flowering glumes oblong-lanceolate, rounded on the back at the base, keeled above, 5–7-nerved, acute or very minutely notched at the tip, the central nerve stout and slightly protruding in the notch, equally minutely hairy all over, base of glume, callus, and rhachilla more or less densely clothed with short hairs. Palea lanceolate, ciliolate along the keels. Grain narrow-oblong, almost terete; hilum linear, very short.—A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 123; Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. ii. 128; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 341; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 54. Schedonorus littoralis, Beauv. Agrost. 99; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 259; Raoul, Choix, 39; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 310.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Abundant in sandy and rocky places near the shore. Also common on the coasts of temperate Australia.
2. F. ovina, Linn. Sp. Plant. 73.—Culms 6–18 in. high, densely tufted, slender, erect, 2–3-noded; innovation-shoots always intravaginal, not stoloniferous. Leaves 2–6 in. long, all similar, narrow, setaceous or capillary, obtuse or acute, 3–7-nerved, green or glaucous, smooth or minutely scabrid; sheaths of the innovation-shoots either open nearly to the base or more or less closed, 3–9-nerved; ligules short, truncate, 2-lobed and articulate. Panicle 1–5 in. long, narrow, dense or rather lax, erect or nodding, often secund; rhachis smooth or scabrid; branches solitary or the lower binate, simple or divided, usually scabrid. Spikelets oblong or oblong-lanceolate, ⅕–⅓ in. long, laxly 4–7-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, lanceolate, acute, lower 1-nerved, upper larger, 3-nerved. Flowering glumes oblong-lanceolate, rounded on the back, smooth or minutely scaberulous, sometimes pruinose, faintly 5-nerved, shortly awned. Palea as long as the glume, ciliolate on the keels.—F. duriuscula, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 309; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 341 (in part, not of Linn.).
Var. novæ-zealandiæ, Hack. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxv. (1903) 384.—Culms densely tufted, scabrid, 3-noded, 12–20 in. high. Leaves almost as long as the culms, strict, erect, very narrow, cylindric, setaceous, sharply acute or almost pungent, rough with scabrid points; sheaths open, smooth; ligules evi​dently biauricled, glabrous. Panicle oblong, contracted but rather lax; lower branches binate, 3–6-spiculate. Spikelets elliptic, ⅓ in. long, laxly 5–7-flowered. Two outer glumes linear-lanceolate. Flowering glumes lanceolate, minutely scaberulous, short-awned at the tip.
Var. Matthewsii, Hack. l.c. 385.—Culms erect, quite smooth and glabrous, 12–20 in. high. Leaves almost equalling the culms, narrow, complicate, some what acute at the tip, quite glabrous, ribbed when dry, furnished at the base with a brown pulvinate callus; sheaths rather lax, open, quite smooth; ligules 2-lobed, lobes acute, ciliolate. Panicle 3–6 in. long, ovate-oblong, spreading, lax, noddmg; rhachis and branches scabrid; the latter binate, naked at the base, 1–3-spiculate at the tip. Spikelets large, ovate-lanceolate, ½–⅔ in. long, 5–7-flowered.
North and South Islands: Forms resembling common European states occur in several localities, but may be introduced. Var. novæ-zealandiæ: Ruahine Mountains, A. Hamilton! Probably not uncommon in the South Island. Nelson—Clarence Valley, T.F.C. Canterbury—Mount Torlesse, T.F.C. Otago—Maniototo Plain, Cambrians, Dunstan Mountains, Petrie! Var. Matthewsii: Otago—Mount Bonpland, H. J. Matthews! Petrie! Sea-level to 4500 ft. Sheep's Fescue.
A common grass in the temperate portions of the Northern Hemisphere. The two varieties described above have a very different appearance from the majority of the European forms, particularly var. Matthewsii, which is remarkable for its large spikelets and curious swollen callus at the base of the leaf-blades.
3. P. rubra, Linn. Sp. Plant. 74.—Culms 9–18 in. high, laxly or densely tufted, erect or geniculate at the base, smooth, striate, 2-noded; innovation-shoots both intravaginal and extravaginal, the extravaginal ones ascending or stoloniferous and creeping. Leaves 3–6 in. long, narrow, those of the innovation-shoots and sometimes of the culms setaceous, but frequently the culm-leaves are broader and flat or involute when dry, 3–7-nerved, smooth, obtuse or subacute at the tip; sheaths of the innovation-shoots tight, smooth, closed almost to the mouth; ligules very short, glabrous, not auricled or obscurely so. Panicle very variable, 1–5 in. long, contracted, usually rather dense, erect or nodding, often secund; rhachis angled, scabrid; branches solitary or the lowest binate, divided almost from the base, scaberulous. Spikelets elliptic-lanceolate to oblong, ¼–½ in. long, laxly 4–8-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal; lower lanceolate, acuminate, 1-nerved; upper larger, ovate-lanceolate, 3-nerved. Flowering glumes oblong-lanceolate, involute and rounded on the back, faintly 5-nerved, shortly awned; awn slender, scaberulous. Palea as long as the glume, linear-oblong, ciliolate on the keels.—F. duriuscula, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 309; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 341 (for the most part, but not of Linn.).
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Abundant from the East Cape and the Upper Waikato southwards. Sea-level to 4500 ft.
According to Professor Hackel, this constitutes the greater part of the F. duriuscula of the "Flora Novæ-Zealandiæ" and the Handbook, the true F. duriuscula probably not existing in an indigenous state in New Zealand. It ​is very closely allied to F. ovina, differing mainly in the innovation-shoots being frequently stoloniferous, and usually both extravaginal and intravaginal, and in their sheaths being closed almost to the mouths; also in the ligules not being auricled, and in the stem-leaves being usually broader and flatter than those on the innovation-shoots. It has considerable value as a sheep-grass, and is often sown on sheep-runs. Outside New Zealand it has a wide range in Europe and northern Asia.
4. F. contracta, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvii. (1895) 353.—Culms densely tufted, smooth, strict, erect, leafy, 6–9 in. high. Leaves longer or shorter than the culms, narrow, strict, erect, complicate or almost terete, pungent at the tip, smooth or faintly striate on the back, the midrib and, nerves prominent on the inner face; sheaths rather lax, thin, pale, grooved; ligules very short, truncate. Panicle 2–3 in. long, strict, narrow, erect, spike-like, simple or with a few short branches in the lower half; rliachis angled, scaberulous; branches or pedicels short, stout, erect. Spikelets pale, about ½ in, long including the awns, 2–3-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, from ¾ to ⅘ the length of the entire spikelet, narrow-lanceolate, smooth, membranous, acuminate but not awned; lower 1- or faintly 3-nerved, upper distinctly 3-nerved. Flowering glumes lanceolate, rounded on the back, rather thin, 5-nerved, narrowed into a short stiff awn, surfaces minutely scaberulous, callus glabrous. Palea shorter than the glume, faintly ciliolate along the keels. Grain oblong-obovoid, grooved; hilum linear, about ½ its length.
Macquarie Island: Professor Scott! A. Hamilton!
I have only seen two very indifferent specimens of this plant, and some allowance must consequently be made for the description.
5. F. Coxii, Hack. MSS.—Rhizome stout, creeping. Culms densely tufted, branched at the base, erect or slightly geniculate, slender, smooth, leafy, 6–18 in. high. Leaves numerous, longer than the culms, slender, soft, pliant, the margins so much involute that the leaf is terete, smooth on the back, midrib prominent on the inner face; sheaths rather lax, thin, smooth, striate, open to the base; ligules very short, truncate, ciliolate at the tip. Panicle 2–3 in. long, narrow, rather dense, often reduced to a simple raceme or spike, or with 2–3-spiculate branches in the lower part; rhachis stout, angled, scabrid; branches or pedicels very short, stout, scabrid, the upper spikelets nearly sessile. Spikelets about ¾ in. long with the awns, laxly 3-5-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, from ½ to ¾ the length of the whole spikelet, narrowed into long acuminate scabrid points; lower linear, 1-nerved; upper longer, narrow-lanceolate, 3-nerved. Flowering glumes oblong-lanceolate, firm, rounded on the back, concave, faintly 5-nerved, gradually narrowed into a terete scabrid awn as long or longer than the glume, surface densely minutely scabrid, callus glabrous. Palea ​as long as the glume, deeply 2-fid, serrulate along the keels. Grain linear-oblong, deeply grooved; hilum ⅘ the length of the grain.—Agropyrum Coxii, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiv. (1902) 395.
Chatham Islands: Common on rocks and sands near the shore, Cox and Cockayne!
A distinct species, well marked by the peculiar habit, narrow spike-like panicles, short stout pedicels, narrow awned empty glumes, and by the long-awned flowering glumes.
31. BROMUS, Linn.
Annual or perennial grasses, of very various habit. Leaves flat, often flaccid; ligules membranous. Spikelets laterally compressed, 4- to many-flowered, arranged in a lax or contracted panicle, rarely reduced to a raceme; rhachilla disarticulating above the two outer glumes and between the flowering glumes. Two outer glumes unequal, empty, persistent, 1–7-nerved. Flowering glumes lanceolate to oblong, rounded on the back or keeled, 5–9-nerved, usually 2-toothed at the apex, awned from between the teeth or rarely from below them. Palea 2-toothed, ciliolate or scabrid on the keels. Lodicules 2, oblong or lanceolate, entire or lobed. Stamens usually 3. Ovary oblong or obovoid, furnished with a 2–3-lobed hairy cushion-like appendage at the summit; styles short, placed laterally on the appendage; stigmas plumose. Grain linear or oblong, furrowed, adherent to the palea; hilum long, narrow-linear.
Species 40 or 50, most abundant in the north temperate zone and in South America, rare on the high mountains of the tropics. The single indigenous species is a common Australian plant.
1. B. arenarius, Labill. Pl. Nov. Holl. i. 23, t. 28.—Annual, everywhere villous with soft spreading hairs. Culms slender, erect or ascending, sometimes geniculate near the base, leafy. Leaves 2–5 in. long, linear, flat, flaccid, withering early; sheaths close, thin, strongly striate; ligules hyaline, fimbriate at the tip. Panicle 2–6 in. long, flaccid, nodding; rhachis slender, pilose; branches in fascicles of 3–7, slender, capillary, spreading and flexuous, the longest 1½ in. long, bearing 1–3 spikelets on very slender capillary pedicels. Spikelets about ¾ in. long without the awns, 1¼–1½ in. long with them, 4–8-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, not ½ the length of the spikelet, villous with long hairs, acuminate, margins hyaline; the lower narrow-lanceolate, 3-nerved, but the lateral nerves often short and faint; upper oblong-lanceolate, 5–7-nerved. Flowering glumes oblong-lanceolate, thin and membranous, hyaline on the margins, strongly 7-nerved, villous, deeply 2-fid at the tip; awn as long or longer than the glume, straight, scabrid, from the back just below the notch. Palea narrow, shorter than the glume, ciliate on the keels.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ​i. 310; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 341; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 661; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 56a. B. australis, R. Br. Prodr. 178; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 258; Raoul, Choix, 39.
North Island: Rocky and sandy places near the sea, abundant from the North Cape to the East Cape and Taranaki, local farther south, rare inland, but occurring at Lake Rotorua and elsewhere. South Island: Cape Farewell, Kirk! Also not uncommon in Australia.
Several species of Bromus from the Northern Hemisphere are now firmly established as naturalised plants, the most abundant being B. mollis, a rather small species with a compact ovoid panicle and turgid spikelets; and B. sterilis, with a lax drooping panicle and large long-awned spikelets 2 in. long, with the awns.
32. AGROPYRUM, Gaertn.
Annual or perennial grasses. Leaves flat or convolute; ligules scarious. Spikelets more or less laterally compressed, 3- to many-flowered, solitary and sessile, distichously placed in the alternate hollows of the continuous or jointed rhachis of a simple spike, one face of the spikelet next the rhachis; rhachilla disarticulating above the two outer glumes and usually between the flowering glumes. Two outer glumes subequal or unequal, empty, persistent, lanceolate or linear. Flowering glumes more or less rigid and coriaceous, rounded on the back or keeled above, 5–7-nerved, awned or awnless. Palea rather shorter than the glume, sharply 2-keeled, ciliate on the keels. Lodicules 2, oblique or unequally lobed, entire or ciliate. Stamens 3. Ovary villous at the top; styles very short; stigmas plumose. Grain narrow, compressed at the back, often adherent to the palea; hilum as long as the grain.
Species about 35, found in almost all temperate counties, but most abundant in Europe and north Asia. Of the 4 species found in New Zealand, 1 extends to Australia, the remaining 3 are endemic.
* Awn short, never more than ½ the length of the flowering glume. :
| Spikelets 1 in., 6–12-flowered. Awn very short, sometimes wanting | 1. A. multiflorum. |
| Spikelets ½ in., 2–4-flowered. Awn from ⅓ to ½ the length of the flowering glume | 2. A. Enysii. |
| ** Awn very long, from 3 to 5 times the length of the flowering glume. ||
| Spikelets 1½-3 in. long with the awns; awn rather slender | 3. A. scabrum. |
| Spikelets 4 in. long with the awns; awn stout, rigid, channelled | 4. A. Youngii. |
1. A. multiflorum, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxix. (1897) 530.—Perennial. Culms densely tufted, branched, decumbent or almost prostrate at the base, erect above, quite smooth and glabrous, leafy, 1–2 ft. high. Leaves 3–8 in. long, about ⅙ in. broad, flat or slightly convolute when dry, tapering from the base upwards, somewhat rigid and coriaceous, prominently striate, ​rough above, often glaucous; sheaths tight, pale, grooved; ligules short, truncate, membranous. Spike straight, erect, 3–6 in. long, of 6–12 spikelets; rhachis pubescent on the angles. Spikelets about 1 in. long, close or somewhat distant, erect, appressed to the rhachis, 6–12-flowered. Two outer glumes small, unequal, lanceolate, acuminate, 3–7-nerved. Flowering glumes oblong-lanceolate when spread out, convolute, smooth and rounded on the back below, scabridly keeled above, 7–9-nerved, coriaceous, acute or mucronate or produced into a short awn of varying length. Palea sharply keeled and folded, ciliolate on the keels.—Triticum multiflorum, Banks and Sol. ex Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 311; Handb. N.Z. FL. 342.; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 56b. T. repens, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 138; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 261; Raoul, Choix, 39 (not of Linn.).
Var. longisetum, Hack. MSS.—Awn longer, sometimes half the length of the flowering glume.
North Island: Not uncommon in lowland districts throughout, especially near the coast. South Island: Queen Charlotte Sound, Banks and Solander; near Nelson, T.F.C.; Canterbury, Armstrong.
A variable plant in the size of the spikelets, number of flowering glumes, and the extent to which the awn is developed.
2. A. Enysii, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvii. (1895) 352.—Culms laxly tufted, very slender, weak, decumbent at the base, erect above, sparingly leafy, 1–2½ ft. high. Leaves much shorter than the culms, 1/15–1/6 in. broad, flat, flaccid, striate, minutely rough to the touch, glabrous or sparingly villous; sheaths long, tight, softly villous or the upper ones almost glabrous; ligules short, truncate, erose. Spike 2–5 in. long, slender, erect or inclined, often interrupted below, of 9–18 spikelets; rhachis compressed, scabrid on the angles. Spikelets bluish-green, ½ in. long, 2–4-flowered. Two outer glumes about ½ the length of the spikelet, subequal, linear-lanceolate, 3–5-nerved, gradually narrowed into a scabrid acuminate point or awn ⅓ to ½ the length of the glume. Flowering glumes lanceolate, rounded on the back, smooth and coriaceous, 5-nerved, sometimes minutely 2-toothed at the tip, narrowed into a short scabrid awn about ⅓ the length of the glume. Palea shorter than the glume, linear-oblong, coriaceous, ciliolate on the keels.—Asprella aristata, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvi. (1894) 272.
South Island: Canterbury—Slopes of Mount Torlesse and Broken River, Enys! Petrie! T.F.C.; Bealey River, Kirk! Poulter River, Cockayne! Southern Alps, N. T. Carrington! 2500–4500 ft.
A very distinct species, at once recognised by the weak habit, flat membranous leaves, narrow spike, and few-flowered spikelets. Very similar in habit to Asperella gracilis, and easily mistaken for it on a cursory inspection, but the structure of the spikelet is that of Agropyrum.
​3. A. scabrum, Beauv. Agrost. 102.—Annual or perennial, very variable. Culms laxly tufted, slender, decumbent at the base, erect or ascending above, quite smooth, leafy, 6–24 in. high. Leaves 2–9 in. long, 1/20–1/10 in. broad, flat or convolute, usually scabrid on both surfaces, often glaucous; sheaths smooth, grooved, the upper long; ligules short, truncate. Spike 3–9 in. long, of 2–10 rather distant erect spikelets; rhachis flattened, scabrid on the angles. Spikelets ¾–1 in. long without the awns, 1½–3 in. with them, 6–12-flowered. Two outer glumes small, not reaching more than ⅓ up the flowering glumes immediately above them, subequal, narrow-lanceolate, tapering into short acuminate points, rigid, 3–5-nerved. Flowering glumes lanceolate, coriaceous, smooth and rounded on the back at the base, obscurely keeled and scabrid above, 3–5-nerved, narrowed into a long and slender straight or flesuous scabrid awn from 3 to 5 times as long as the glume itself. Palea almost as long as the glume, linear-oblong, ciliolate on the keels.—Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 665. Triticum scabrum, R. Br. Prodr. 178; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 137; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 260; Raoul, Choix, 39; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 311; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 342; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 57. Festuca scabra, Lab. Pl. Nov. Holl. i. 22, t. 26.
Kermadec Islands, North and South Islands: Abundant throughout. Sea-level to 4500 ft.
Also plentiful in Australia, from Queensland to Tasmania and West Australia. In small specimens the spike is sometimes reduced to a single terminal spikelet. Subalpine specimens usually have larger and fewer spikelets with longer awns than those from lowland districts, but the size of the spikelet and length of the awns varies excessively.
4. A. Youngii, Cheesem.—"Habit of T. scabrum. Leaves quite glabrous below, slightly scabrid on the upper surface. Spike 2–3 in. long, of 3–4 very large spikelets 4 in. long, including the awns. Empty glumes ⅓ in. long, acuminate, margins membranous, flowering ones nearly ¾ in. long without the awn, which is 1½–2 in. long, very stout, rigid, scabrid, convex at the back, concave in front with scabrid edges, margins and sides of glume scabrid and almost aculeate."—Triticum Youngii, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 343.
South Island: Canterbury—"Grassy flats, sources of the Wai taki altitude 3000 ft., Haast."
"A remarkable plant, with few spikelets, almost twice as large as those of T. scabrum, and very long rigid awns. My specimens are imperfect, and some allowance must here be made for the description." This does not seem to have been observed since its original discovery by Haast, and in the absence of further information I have reproduced Hooker's description. Apparently it only differs from A. scabrum in the larger size of the spikelets and the longer and stouter awns, and seeing how variable these characters are in A. scabrum I should not be surprised if it proved to be a form of that plant.
33. ASPERELLA, Humb.
Perennial grasses. Leaves narrow, flat. Spikelets 1- to several-flowered, 2–3 together or solitary in the alternate hollows of the rhachis of a simple slender spike, one face of the spikelet next the rhachis; rhachilla disarticulating above the two outer glumes and between the flowering glumes. Two outer glumes either wanting, or present in the lower spikelets as minute subulate bristles. Flowering glumes narrow-lanceolate, rigid, convolute, rounded on the back, 5-nerved above, produced into a short awn. Palea rather shorter than the glume, 9-keeled. Lodicules 2, obovate or dimidiate-obovate, hairy. Stamens 3. Styles short, distmct; stigmas plumose. Grain narrow-oblong, villous at the tip, grooved down the front, adherent to the palea.
A small genus of 7 species—2 in New Zealand, 2 in North America, and 1 each in the Himalayas, Japan, and Siberia.
| Outer glumes often wanting. Flowering glumes more or less scabrid, distinctly 5-nerved, narrowed into an awn of varying length | 1. A. gracilis. |
| Outer glumes always present. Flowering glumes smooth, faintly 3–5 nerved, truncately 3-toothed at the apex, the middle tooth produced into a short mucro | 2. A. lævis. |
1. A. gracilis, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvii. (1895) 352.—Perennial. Culms much branched and decumbent at the base, erect above, slender, often rather wiry, quite smooth and glabrous, leafy throughout, 1–3 ft. high. Leaves 3–9 in. long, 1/12–1/6 broad, flat, striate, minutely scabrid on the margins and upper surface; sheaths smooth, thin, striate; ligules often obscure. Spike elongated, 3–8-in. long, very slender, of 20–40 sessile spikelets placed singly in the alternate hollows of the rhachis; rhachis compressed, flat, flexuous, ciliate on the edges. Spikelets pale-green, ⅓–⅔ in. long with the awns, 1–3-flowered. Two outer glumes altogether absent or reduced to minute bristles. Flowering glumes lax, lanceolate, 5-nerved, rounded on the back below, midrib prominent above, usually more or less scabrid but sometimes nearly smooth, gradually narrowed into a scabrid awn of variable length, callus prominent. Palea almost as long as the glume, keels ciliate.—Gymnostichum gracile, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 312, t. 70; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 343; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 58.
North and South Islands: Auckland—Te Pahi, Kaipara, Kirk! Thames, Adams! T.F.C.; Te Aroha, Adams! Rotorua, T.F.C.; East Cape district, Adams and Petrie. Hawke's Bay—Tarawera, Dannevirke, Colenso! Turangarere, Petrie. Wellington—Buchanan. Nelson—Lower Motueka, Graham River, T.F.C. Canteroury—Akaroa, Raoul, Armstrong; Mount Cook district, T.F.C. Otago—Not uncommon in lowland districts, Buchanan! Petrie! Sea-level to 3000 ft.
2. A. lævis, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvii. (1895) 406.—Culms branched from the base, slender, erect or diffuse, sparingly ​leafy, 10–30 in. high. Leaves 3–9 in. long, 1/15–1/8 in. broad, flat or involute, striate, smooth or nearly so; sheaths smooth or puberulous; ligules short. Spike 3–6 in. long, slender, of 15–30 spikelets; rhachis flat, flexuous, scabrid on the edges. Spikelets pale-green, about ⅓ in. long, 1–2-flowered. Two outer glumes always present, reduced to linear-subulate bristles about three-quarters the length of the lower flowering glume, subequal, erect, channelled, scabrid. Flowering glumes lanceolate, faintly 3–5-nerved, rounded on the back, quite smooth, unequally 3-toothed at the apex, the middle tooth produced into a short scabrid mucro. Palea rather shorter than the glume, keels smooth or minutely ciliolate.
South Island: Nelson—Clarence Valley, Kirk! Otago—Matukituki Valley, Catlin's River, Petrie! Waikawa, H. J. Matthews! Sea-level to 2000 ft.
Very close to A. gracilis, from which it differs in the two outer glumes being always present, and in the flowering glumes being smooth, obscurely nerved, and truncately 3-toothed at the apex, the middle tooth being produced into a short stout mucro. Further observation is required to prove the constancy of these characters.