2 8 8 FLORA OP NEW ZEALAND, {Graminea.
lines broad; male part 6-10 lines long. Perigynia 2*-* fines long, |broad, yeUowish, elliptical oblong, narrowed
at both ends, as long as the lanceolate acute scale, which is brown above, with white membranous margius.
11. Hndma ferruginea, Boott; spica elongata multiflora ferruginea longe 1-2-bracteata, perigyniis
ovato-lanceolatis basi attenuatis leviter nervatis squama lineari-lanceolata longe acuminata medio pallida
nervosa subduplo brevioribus. BooU, MSS. (Ta b . LXIV. B.)
H a b . Northern Island. Base of the Euahine range, Colenso.
Culms slender, a foot high, smooth. Leaves 1-a hne broad, as long as or longer than the culm. Lower bract
setaceous, longer thau the spike, upper shorter. Spike 5 inches long, 4 lines broad, male portion lA inch long.
Scales all long, narrow, hnear lanceolate, pale in the centre ; the upper or those of the male flowers shorter. Peri-
gynia ovate, lanceolate, 2A hnes long, | hue broad, half as long as the scale.—Plate LXIV. B. Pig. 1, scale
and male flower ; 2, scale and perigynium ; 3, perigynium removed from scale ; 4, achenium ;—all magnijied.
N a t . O r d . XCV. GRAMINEÆ* Juss.
Gen. I. EHEHAETA, Thunh.
Glumee muticæ; flosculis 3, sessihbus, distiche imbricatis, 2 inferioribus neutris, 1-paleatis; terminali
hermaphrodito, 2-paleato. Paleæ fl. inf. carinatæ, aristatæ; fl. term, palea inferiore carinata, mutica;
superiore lineari. Squamulæ 2-lobæ. Stamina 2-6. Ovarium sessile.—Gramina plamifolia ; spiculis
A small genus of Austrahan, Sonth African, and New Zealand Grasses, with short or long and branching culms,
flat or concave (not involute) leaves, and panicled spikelets.—Glumes two, unequal, keeled, hardly awned, shorter
than the fiorets. Florets three, compressed ; two lower of one acuminate, keeled palea, containing neither stamens
nor pistil; upper (or terminal) flower hermaphrodite, and of two paleæ; lower paleæ compressed, very blunt;
upper linear. (Named in honour of P. Fhrliart, a Swiss botanist.)
1. Ehrharta Colensoi, Hook, fil.; glaberrima, cæspitosa, culmis ramosis curvis subdisticbe fohosis,
foliis confertis suberectis strictis hneari-subulatis intus scaheiuhs, vaginis brevibus, ligula brevissima,
pamcula suberecta contracta, ramis paucis brevibus, spiculis striato-nervosis, glumis acuminatis inferiore
3-5-nervi superiore 5-nervi, floscuhs inferioribus basi barbatis, fl. neutr. palea 7-nervi aristata, fl. her-
maph. palea inferiore brevi truncata superiorem hnearem duplo longiore, staminibus 2, antheris oblongis.
(Tab. LXV. A.)
H ab . Northern Island. Tufts at the top of the Euahine range, Colenso.
A small, tufted, glabrous Grass, 4 inches to a span high, all my specimens of which have dried of a very pale
straw-colour.— Culms much branched; branches covered with suberect distichous leaves, 2-4 inches long, which are
hnear-subulate, faintly nerved, concave, a inch broad at the base, and suddenly contracted at the ligula, which is
very short and ragged, smooth or rather scabrid above, quite smooth on the back. Panicle 1 ^ 2 inches long,
inclined, of few, slender, suberect branches or one-flowered pedicels. Spikeleis compressed, hnear-oblong, ^ inch
long, deeply striate or nerved. Glumes acuminate, unequal, half as long as the awned paleæ of the lower florets,
which are twice as long as the blunt lower palea of the upper (hermaphrodite) floret. Lower florets with long silky
* I have received very great assistance in the determination of the Grasses from my friend Major W. Munro
(39th Regiment), who has made the whole Natural Order his special study, and possesses an unrivalled knowledge
of the genera and species. Most of those here described have been critically examined by both of us, and our views
of the hmits of the genera and species are quite in accord.
Grmnineoe.']
hairs at the base, upper with a very short setula (of a third flower, which is not produced) at the back of the upper
palea, which is narrow and membranous, with two central nerves. Stamens two. Anthers short, oblong. P late
LXV. A. Pig. 1, spikelet: a. glumes, h. neuter flowers, c. hermaphrodite; 2, florets removed; 3, hermaphrodite
floret; 4, squamula; 5, ovary:—all magnijied.
Gen. I I . MICROLÆNA, Br.
Glumæ minimæ, 3-floræj floribus remotæ; floribus approximatis stipitatis, stipite barbato, inferioribus
neutris 1 -paleatis, paleis aristatis; terminali hermaphrodito; paleis 2: inferiore carinata, acuminata v.
aristata; superiore breviore, hneari, hyalina. Squamulæ 2, Stamma 4. Ovarium a ta A . Caryopsis
libera, paleis obtecta.—Culmi simplices v. ramosi. FcXiaparva v. elongata, plana. Spiculæ racemosæ
A small genus of New Holland, Tasmanian, and New Zealand Grasses, closely alhed to Tetrarrhena and Biplax,
differing from them in the long villous pedicels to the florets, which are thus separated from the small glumes, as
also by the narrow awned palea of one or both of the neuter flowers, the linear hyaline upper palea of the terminal
flower, and the hnear compressed caryopsis ; the stamens are four iu the New Zealand species. (Name from fxiKpos,
mall, and xXo-i-vo-, u covering ; in allusion to the small glumes.)
1. Microlæna sUpoides, B r.; glabra v. vaginis foliisque parce pilosa, culmis gracilibus basi ramosis
foliosis, panicula gracili nutante, pedicehis inferioribus elongatis, glumis minimis acutis stipite florum
brevioribus, aristis palearum subæquilongis, paleis scaberulis subæquahbus v. inferiore a breviore floris
hermaphroditi inferiore acuta v. breviter aristata.—Br. Prodr. Kunth, Agrost. p . 16. Ehrharta stipoides,
Lab. Fl. Nov. Holl. v. l . p . 16. t. 118.
H ab . Northern Island ; Hawke’s Bay and Cape Palliser, Auckland, etc., Sinclair, Colenso.
A slender Grass, 18 inches to 2 feet higb, smooth or shghtly hairy on the sheaths and leaves, which are short
and flat (2-3 inches long). Panicle branched at the base, long, slender, nodding. Lower spikelets on long slender
stalks. Glumes very minute, deciduous, generally shorter than the bearded pedicel of the flowers. Flowers 1 inch
long, the two lower of one palea each, their awns of equal length, or the lower one-third shorter than the upper.
Lower palea of the upper flower sharp, or with a short bristle.—This is a rather common Tasmanian and Australian
Grass.
Gen. I I I . HIPLAX, Banhs et Sol.
Glumæ minimæ, 3-floræ; floribus sessilibus, apjiroximatis, basi nudis; inferioribus neutris, 1 -paleatis,
paleis acuminatis v. aristatis ; supremo hermaphrodito, 2-paleato ; palea inferiore acuminata, superiore
hyalina. Squamulæ 2, glabræ. Stamma 2-4. Caryopsis libera, paleis obtecta.—Culmi simplices v. ramosi.
Polia elongata, plana. Paniculæ nutantes.
A Tasmanian and New Zealand genus, very nearly allied to Microlæna, but differing in the sessile flowers, not
hairy at the base, and hardly awned paleæ of the neuter flowers. (Name iu allusion to the two stamens of the first-
discovered New Zealand species.)
1. Diplax avenacea, Raoul; culmis cæspitosis simplicibus v. basi ramosis lævibus, fohis planis latis
scabriusculis, panicula ramosa elongata nutante, paleis fl. neutr. longe aristatis inferiore superiore a breviore,
fl. herm. palea inferiore acuminata, staminibus 2.—Raoul, Choix des Plantes, p . 11. t. 3.
H a b . Northern and Middle Islands ; abundant in woods. Banks and Solander, etc.
A tall, handsome Grass, 2-4 feet high. Culms densely tufted, compressed and leafy at the base, simple and
quite smooth above. Leaves 1 ^ 2 feet long, ^ inch broad, rough at the edges. Panicle white, 10-15 inches
long, with many long, slender, few-flowered branches. Spikeleis with the awns a inch long. Glumes minute,
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