l t J l
lio j l u j i ;
H i'f in
lit'
pedicellatus. Pakæ æquilongæ; inferior 3-uervis, dorso basi sericeo. acuto y. obscure et obUque truncato-
supenor bicai-mata, apice biflda. Antheræ parvæ. late oblongæ. Caryopsis ovoideo. glaben-ima.
I was long doubtful whether to refer this cm-ious httle species to Foa, Festuca, or Triodia, to aU which
genera (like some other grasses) it has neai-ly equal affinity; to Foa in the form of the locustæ and florets
and to Festuca m the acute glumes and palea ; bnt certainly most to Triodia, in habit, form of panicle, included
florets and obscurely 3-deutate lower palea.
Plate CXXXVIII. Fiy. 1, portion of culm ivith vagina, base of lamina of leaf, and ligula; fly. 2. locusta;
Jig. 3, glume ; fly. 4, floret ; fly. 5, do ivith ripe caryopsis ; fig. 6, cai-yopsis ah magnified.
2 . T b i o d i a Antarctwa, Hook, fil.; parvula, dense cæspitosa, glaberrima, panicula subsimplici coarctata,
locustis breviter pedunculatis, glumis subæqualibus lanceolatis 3 -floris, floscuhs basi nudis paleis subæ-
qiiantibus inferiore 5-uei-vi acuta obscure 3-dentata foliis basi longe membranaceis vaginantibus culmum
fere æquantibus, lamina setacea. Festuca pusilla, B a n h et Sol. in Mus. B a n h .
H a b . Tierra del Fuego; C. B arvnn, Esq. Rocks near the tops of th e mountains of Hermite
Island. J . B .H .
Culmi dense fastigiati. basi inclinati, valde fohosi, 4-polhcares. Folia plurima, erecta. substriata sed non
rigida; vagma elongata, striata; lamina polhcaris. setacea, marginibus involutis; liguU ovata. acuminata.
FmitcuU fere uuciahs, simplex v, basi ramosa, erecta. locustæ parvæ. 3-floi-es. glabriusculæ. Glmiæ snbæ-
quales, flosenhs breviores, lanceolatæ, concavæ, 3-nerves. Flosculi 2 superiores pedicellati, basi onmion nudi.
Faim infenor late ovata, concava, apice breviter ti-uncata et tridentata. dente intermedio paululnm elongato.
5-nems ; n em s dorso obscure scaberuhs ; superior æqmlonga, bicarinata, apice bifida. Auilieræ parvæ “ late
oblongæ. ’
A pecuhar species, ahied to the last and to no other with which I am acquainted. The obhquely truncated apex
of the lower palea in the T. Kerguelensis, is here, as it were, exaggerated by that organ becoming decidedly though
minutely trifid at the apex, as in the European Triodia decumbens, a genns to which both species ought from this
circumstance be referred, and from tbeir pecnliar panicle and locustæ.
Iu habit the similarity between this plant and the former is very great, and apparent in the size, foliage and
locahty they both affect, in their respective Islands; the differences in the details of the florets, are. on the éther
hand, sufficiently wide.
13. PESTUCA, L .
1. F e s t u c a Fuegiana, Hook, fll.; erecta, elata, culmis basi præcipue foliosis scaberulis glaberrimisve,
pamcula efliusa v. subcoarctata, glumis ovato-lanceolatis acnminatis subcarinatis, flosculis breviter pediceUatié
basi araneosis, superioribus viviparis, palea inferiore acummata puberula 5 -uervi nervis dorso sericeis superiore
æquilonga bifida, foliis breviuscuKs subacutis margimbus involutis, ligula oblonga. (T a b . CXLI.)
Var. a, pauicula contracta, culmo superne præcipue scabrido. Aira cæspitosa. Bamks et Sol. in Mus.
Banks. — ■*’'
Var. 0 . pamcula effusa, magis vivipara, culmis glaberrimis. Poa alpina, var. vivipara. B ank s et Sol. in
Mizs. Banks.
H a b . Strait of Magalhaens, P o rt Famine and P o rt Gregory, Capt. King. South part of Fuegia
C. Barwin, Esq.
Gramen erectum, 1 - ad 2-pedale. Culmi dense fastigiati, basi valde foliosi, superne glaberrimi v. scabridi
Folia breviuscnla, 3-1-uncialia, glaberrima. substricta sed non rigida, late linearia, acute, marginibus involutis!
Falklands, etc] FLO R A A NTAECTICA . 381
vaginis striatis breviora ; ligula late elongata, oblonga, apice fimbriate. Fanicula 3-5 unc. longa, contracta v.
effusa, ramis scaberulis. Locustæ 4-5 lin. longæ, vivipai-oe, poUicares et ultra, Glumæ chartaceæ, æquales,
acuminatæ, superiore 3-nervi, subcarinata, carina scaberula. Flosculi sub 5, basi appresse araneosi, lana
albida. Palea inferior flosculorum superiorum sæpissime in folium apice uncinatum ligula et vagina 6-nervi
insti-uctum desinens. Antlteræ lineares. Ovarium late obovatum, supra basin contractum, basi sqnamnlis
acmaciformibns instructum. Styli breviusculi, ad basin pluraosi.
A vei-y handsome gi-ass, which, perhaps, properly belongs to Poa, though the paleæ are so decidedly acuminate
that I prefer retainmg it under Festuca. The two varieties enumerated are not always constant to
tlie cbaracters assigned to tbem.
In general appearance this species resembles the British Aira cæspitosa, nkàûi is frequently similarly viviparous
011 the mountains, and the modifications the paleæ consequently undergo both in these and some other grasses, is a
subject well worthy of study. When the inflorescence becomes foliaceous, tbe palea itself, which is distinctly
5-nerved is represented by the (equally 5-nerved) vagina of the leaf; the ligula of the latter holds the position of
the membranous and often divided apex of such a palea as that of Aira, whilst the lamina answers to a dorsal awn ;
01- rather, in the case oî Festuca Fuegiana, to five awns (such as those of Polypogon Oliomticus, p. 374), united by
parenchyma. That the arista of the lower palea iu grasses is the produced mid-rib of a modified leaf, is perhaps
generally admitted, but the exact relation of the apex of the palea to a ligula is not so evident in aU aristate florets,
as it is in those where the middle nerve is not percim-ent hut separates from the palea in the form of an awn. One
apparent objection to this view may be adduced in the distinctly articulate awn of Coryneplttrrus and Stipa, wldch
may further be supposed favom-able to M. Easpail’s theory, that the mid-rib of the palea is an axis of developement
in cohesion with the bracts ; such articulations are, however, exceptional, and tbeir position I am inclined to considéras
indicating the point of union of the leaf with the vagina, where an angle is always observable. Viviparous grasses,
too, would be expected to produce constantly additional organs from tbe portion of the transformed palea beyond
the ligida, if M. Easpail’s view were con-ect, but, tbis, on tbe contrai-y, is seldom the case. There is a simUarity
between the palea of a vivipai-ons grass and the upper bract of each spikelet in some Marisd ; for in them the
dilated lower portion of the bract, or the trae continuation of the rachis, somewhat resembles, without however
beiug strictly analogous to, the low-er palea of a locusta, aud the uppermost flow-er is borne in a position, sindlar to
the axle of the ligifla on the leaf of a gi-ass.
P late CXII. Fig. 1, locusta; flg. 2. floret; / y . 3, ovai-y; / ÿ . 4, sqnamnla; / ÿ . 6 and 6, viviparous portions
of a spikelet ; fig. 7, palea transfoi-mecl into a leaf :—all magnified.
2. F estuca Arundo, Hook, fil. F. iUopecuiiis, I f Urville in Mém. Soc. L in n . P aris, vol. iv. p. 604.
Brong. in Buperrey Toy. Bot. p. 32. Poa (?) Alopecurus, Kunth, En. P la n t, vol. i. p. 256. Arundo
Alopecurus, Gaud, in An n . Sc. N a t. vol. v. p. 100., et in Freyc. Toy. Bot. p. 409.
Var. (3. minor, foliis angustioribus culmo brevioribus.
Var. y . pedalis, glumis et paleis latioribus brevioribusque.
Var. 6. culmo graciliore, panicula snb-nutante, floscnlis-sæpius basi parce lanatis.
H a e . Falkland Islands, all the varieties forming very large tufts ; on th e sea-sand abundant ; H Urville,
J .B .H . Var. y . Strait of Magalliaens ; Po rt Gregory, Capt. King.
Next to the Tussock, the present is the largest grass in the Falkland Islands, though, like that plant, it is very
variable in size. The largest specimens are three or even four feet high, the smaller scarcely one. Though a
conspicuous object, its varieties are not always easily recognizable ; for tbe most prominent characters of the
typical state, whieh are the great size of the locustæ, and the narrow paleæ and glumes with slender attenuated
apices, are quite fallacious. All my large specimens of var. a have either a minute turbinate ovarium or a smaU
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