ill
!ii m
on smooth or hairy capillary pedicels. Glumes very long, acuminate, i - | inch long. Flowers two or three, half as
ong as the glumes, suiTounded with long, silky hairs, Lotoer palea ending in a straight, slightly twisted awn as
long as the glumes.—This beautiful Grass has hitherto been found in New Zealand only ; though rarely one-flowered,
ttere can, I think, be no doubt that it is Forster’s Arundo conspicua, both from Solandcr’s indeiitlfieation and
Irinius s observation in the Index to his Gram. Unifl, p. 27Î?
Gen. XVII. HIEEOCHLOE, Gmel.
Spiculæ 3-floræ; floribus lateralibus masculis, intermedio liermaplirodito. Glumæ 2, carinatæ, siib-
æquales. Paleæ 2, muticæ t . inferior aristata, carinata ; arista terminali t . dorsali, recta v. incurva brevi
Squamulæ 2, bilobæ. P\. ¿ Stamina S. El. J Siamina 2. Caryopsis libera, paleis obtecta.-Gramina
odwa; h\wa plauis v. iuvolutis; affíavlás.pa nm la tis , nitidis, majusculis.
A very beautiful genus of sweet-smelling Grasses, found principally in the cold climates of both hemispheres
and on the lofty mountains of warmer ones. One southern species is common to Tasmania, New Zealand, and
Euegia ; another to Europe, New Zealand, and Tasmania.—irares soft, flat or involute. Culms tufted. Particles
loose or compact, of many, large, pediceUed, shining, often pale yehow spikelets. Glumes equal, keeled, with three
almost sessile flowers, the two lower male, with three stamens, the middle or upper hermaplirodite, with two
stamens. PaUoe broad, blunt, often downy ; lower keeled, with a short, straight, or bent terminal or dorsal awn ;
ipper two-nerved; middle flower with shorter awns or none. Scales two, two-lobed. f e i free within the paleas!
(Name from Upos, sacred, and -pKor,, a grass; tbe if. borealis being dedicated to the Virgin Mary.)
1. Hierochloe redolens, Br.; foliis planis .scaberGis glabrisve, ligulis late ovatis obtusis, panicula
effusa mtaute, glumis flosculos æquantibus superiore nervis lateralibus ad medium attingeiitibus, fl. masc.
5-nerviis pubescentibus basi subvillosis infra apicem aristatis marginibus dorsoqiie ciliatis, fl. hermaph.
obtuso mucronato v. subaristato.—Ær. Prodr. in not. Fl. Antarct. v. 1. p. 92. Torresia, Soem. et Schultes.
A. Cunn. Prodr. Holcus, Forst. Prodr. IIolcus Dioneus, Banhs et Sol. MSS.
Hab. Throughout the Islands, common in wet places, Banhs and Solander, etc.
A large and handsome Grass, conspicuous for its delicious odour, like that of the common Vernal Grass
(Antlwxanlhuni) of England, that gives the sweet scent to new-made hay.—G,(ms leafy, densely tufted, 2-3 feet lon^r
herbaceous. Leaves flat, smooth or minutely scabrid to the touch ; ligula membranous, broad. Faniele nodding’
OGO inches long, of many shming, pale spikelets; branches capillary, hairy here and there, lower 2-3 inches lonv!
Glumes shining, about * inch long, as long as the florets ; outer with sometimes two lateral very short nerves at the
base; upper three-nerved to the middle. Lower palea of the lateral flowers bearded below, downy above, tbe
margins and back with long cilia, five-nerved. Awn short, inserted below the top. Uwer palea of the lépper
fiower smooth or downy above, with a short awn.-This fine Grass occurs also iu Campbell’s Island, and one
vanety of it is frequent in Tasmania, and a second in Tien-a del Fuego and the Falkland Islands : the slio-lit differences
between all tliese have been dwelt upon in the 'Flora Antarctica’ at length.
2. Hieroclfloe borealis, Kcem. et Schultes; cæspitosa, glaberrima, foliis culmo gracili brevioribus
pamcula brevi ovala pauciflora, glumis coloratis 3-nerviis flosculis æquilongis, palea inferiore sericea muticii
v. aristata.—Engl. Bol. t. 264.1. H. Frazeri, miU in El. Antarct. note, p . 93.
H a b . Northern and Middle Islands; top of Enaliine mountains, Colenso; mountains near Nelson,
Br. 3lonro.
A very distinct-looking Grass, much smaller than ff. redolens, with shorter, more strict leaves, and a small
ovate panicle, of fewer smaller flowers. Culms a foot high, tufted. Leaves 4-8 iuehes loug, strict, quite smooth
flat. Pan,ele 2-3 inches loug, ovate. ■■Spikelets * inch long, broad. Glumes short, acute, as long as the flowers’
three-nerved, the lateral nerves shorter, sometimes obscure. Florets silky; outer palea with ciliated marrins ami
an awn, which is very variable in length, inserted above or below the middle.—I had named this Grass II. Frazeri
in the ‘Flora Antarctica,’ from Tasmanian specimens gathered by Mr. Frazer on Mount Wellington, but I quite
agree with Major Mimro in considering it identical with the H. borealis, a very common plant in tbe Arctic regions
and in the mountains of Northern Asia, Middle and Southern Eui’ope, and North America. It varies greatly in the
position and length of the awn and size of the panicle.
Obs. The II. Bmnonis (Fl. Antarct. p. 93. t. 52) wliich has only been found in Lord Auckland’s Group and
Campbell’s Island, possibly occurs on the mountains of New Zealand, and may be known by its resembhmce to II.
redolens, and by its glumes being much longer than the florets.
Geu. X Y III. DESCHAMPSIA, Pal. Beauv.
Spiculæ 2-3-floræ ; floribus disticliis, summo tabescente. Glumæ 2, carinatæ, muticæ, subæquales,
floribus breviores. Paleæ 2-. inferior supra basin aristata, 4-dentata; arista brevi, recta, apice truncata;
superior apice biflda, mutica. Squamulæ 2, integræ. Caryopsis libera.— paniculatæ, pedicellatoe.
This genus is most frequent in the temperate and Arctic regions of the Northern hemisphere, but is also found
iu Fuegia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.—Culms slender, often branched. Leaves flat or convolute. Spikelets
panicled, shining, pedicellate, two- or three-flowered, the upper flower imperfect. Glumes 2, keeled, awnless,
nearly equal, shorter than the flowers. Lower palea truncate, four-toothed, with a short straight awn from above the
middle ; upper with two nerves, bifid, awnless. Scales entire.
1. Deschampsia cæspitosa, Beauv.; glaberrima, nitida, culmis cæspitosis, foliis plerumque rigidis
involutis, panicula dffiusa raclii lævi ramulis verticillatis scabris, glumis glabris, floribus 2 æquilongis
acutis, paleis glaberrimis superiore basi sericea truncata apice erosa arista æquilonga dorso ad medium
inserta superiore bifida æquilonga, setula ad basin floris secundi pedicellati villosa.—Beauv. Agrost. Aira
cæspitosa, Zinn. Sp. PI. Engl. Bot. t. 1453. Aira Kingii, El. Antarct.p. 376. t. 135. Aira australis,
Raoul, Choix de Plantes, p. 12 ?
H ab . Northern Island : East Coast, on low grounds, Colenso. (Common in England.)
A very common and beautiful Grass, usually perfectly smooth, pale yellow, and shining.—Culms tufted, 6
inches to 2g feet high, slender, wiry. Leaves involute, sometimes setaceous. Panicle 3 inches to a foot long, loose,
effuse; branches slender, whorled or fascicled, rough. Spikelets shining, yellow, green, or purple, \ inch long, bearing
two flowers, with the villous pedicel of a third. Glumes nearly equal, acute, as long as the flowers, which are
silky at the base, the upper on a long pedicel. Lower palea truncate, toothed at the tip, with a short dorsal awn ;
upper as long, bifid.
Gen. XIX. TRISETUM, Kunth.
Sjnculoe 2-4-floræ; flore summo interdum tabescente. Glumæ 2, carinatæ, muticæ, subæquales v.
inæquales, floribus breviores. Paleæ 2 : inferior biflda, dorso aristata, rarius mutica, arista tortili ; superior
bicarinata. Caryopsis libéra, glabra.—Gramina plerumque monticola; foHis planis v. involutis ; paniculis
spicato-confertis, rarius diffusis.
Ctdms tufted. Leaves flat or convolute, smooth or downy. Panicles generally contracted and spike-like.
Spikelets two- to four-flowered, tbe upper flower often incomplete. Glumes two, unequal or nearly equal, keeled,
awnless, shorter than the flowers. Lower palea bifid, with two subulate teeth at the top, awned at the back (rarely
awnless), awn twisted. Ovary glabrous. (Name from the lower palea being often three-awned.)
1. Trisetum antarcticum. Trio.; cæspitosum, glaberrimum, læve v. foliis subscaberulis, culmis strictis
erectis foliosis, fobis anguste bneari-subulatis, panicula erecta elongata subcontractn, spiculis pallidis
nitidis subtrifloris, glumis inæqualibus acuminatis flosculis brevioribi^ dorso scabridis, palea inferiore
scaberula biflda arista reflexa, pedicello floris superioris longe sparse ciliato.—Trinius, Act. Petrop. Aira,
Forst. Prodr. Avena, Roem. et Schultes. Br. Prodr. p . 209 {in note). A. Cunn. Prodr. Torresia, Pal.
4 B