FLORA OP KEW ZEALAND. [Graminea.
of tlierr synonymy, multiplicntion of trifling varieties, and constitution of these into speeies, is caiTied to snch an
extent that the whole genus requires rerision.—(Name, won iu Greek; said to be from wao), to feed.)
1. Poa imbeetlla, Forst.; tenella, debilis, glaberrima, culmis capillaribus, foliis angustissimis, ligula
membranacea, pameiüa capillari rariflora ramis alternis binisve, spicubs mbiimis 8-S-iloris, glumis inæqua-
bbus obtusis, flosculis glabris racbi communi Gstantibus, palea inferiore nuda superioris carinis pubescentibus.—
K ra i. Prodr. A. Cunn. Prodr. Br. Prodr. ? P. Sprengebi, Knuth, Agrost. ?
Ha b . Northern and Middle Islands ; abundant in woods and shady places. Banks and Solander, eto.
A very weak, generally slender,'straggling, glabrous Grass, with long capillary culms, a span to a foot long,
and naiTow, flat, green leaves, 1 line b r o a d ,- Ziÿiifa membranous. Panicle capillary, few-flowered ; branches
sobtary, alternate or two together, rarely whorled, with two or three sessUe or pedicelled gi-een minute spikelets
Gynes unequal, three- to seven-flowered. Florets glabrous, distant, seated on a slendel- raehis. Lower palea
glabrous, three-nerved, green.-Also found in Austraba,
2. Poa^ anceps, Forst. ; plerumque glaberrima, cGmis vaginisque sæpius compressis, fobis distichis
laxis confertisve planis lævibus subcoriaceis rarius scaberGis, ligGa brevissima, panicula effusa v. contracta
ovata V. elongato-laneeolata ramis brevibus robustis v. elongatis et capillaribus, spicGis glabriuseulis, glumis
brenuscubs acntis obtusisve, floscubs 3-6 remotis vel approximatis superioribus plerumque remotis palea
mfenore latiuscGa basi la n a ta .-K ra (. Prodr. P. austrabs, A. Rich. Pior. A. Ounn. Herb, et Prodr. nem
Br. Brodr.
Tar. a. elata; 2-3-pedabs, folbs planis culmo lougioribus coriaceis, paibcula effusa v. contracta
spicGis majuscGis 6-floris, floscubs remotis patubs, glumis subacutis.
^ Var. R. foliosa; folus distichis confertis angustioribus plamuscGis v. carinatis culmo lougioribus,
pamcula contracta elongata ramis suberectis, spicGis miuoribus 2-5-floris ovatis, floscubs apiiroximatis’
glumis latiuscuHs.
Tar. 7 . bremculrnis ; cGmis brevibus compressis, foliis Gstichis culmo brevioribus curvis coriaceis
latiusculis acutis, pauicula parva ovata ramis brevibus, spicubs brevibus ovatis 3- 4 -floris, floscubs confertis,
glumis brevibus acutis, palea inferiore lata.
Ha b . Abundant throughout tbe Islands, B a n h and Solander, eta.
I have repeatedly tried in vain to find constant characters for this and the two foUowing species ; I believe that
all are states of one infinitely variable plant, but being totaUy lUssimilar in habit and general appéaraiice. I have
retained them as distmct species. Mr. Brown remarks the same wide variation in the P. australis of Austr’aUa and
Tasmama, of which he makes fonr arbitrary species, that have no constant characters to distinguish them. Though
the species of this genus are almost invariably glabrous and smooth in the moist climate of New Zealand, they are
generally rigid and scabrid in the drier one of Australia, and there are often no other characters by which’to discriminate
the similar forms of both countries : and I liavc examined New Zealand states of each of the following species
which are aU but undistiiignishable from Australian specimens.-A tall or short, smooth Grass, with colressed
culms a span to 3 feet high. Lxaves rather broad, flat, distichous, usually longer than the cnim, thick in
texture, with a very short coriaceous ligula. Paukle 1 inch to a foot long, ovate or lanceolate or elongate, effuse
or contracted; branches long or short, erect or spreaGng and slender. Spihlets generaUy broad, large, s’mooth
four- to SIX- (rarely two-) flowered, inch long. OlvMes nearly glabrous, rather sharp, broad or narrow, shorteé
than the floret next them. Fhrets crowded or distant, each with a woolly board at the base.—The following
varieties pass into one another in every possible way. Var. a is 8 feet high, with coriaceous leaves, longer than the
cGm, i inch broad ; an effuse or contracted largo panicle, of liroad spikelets, J inch long. Florets remote, spreading.
—Aar. P is a smaller and move contracted form, growing iu woods, with very compressed cnlms and slientlis, a foot
or more high, narrower, generaUy distichous and nnmerous leaves, and a contracted panicle, whicli has erect brandies
and smaller spikelets. FUmd, two to five (rarely solitary) placed closer togcti.er, and not spreading. Glumes and
patea broader and blunter.-Var, y looks a verj- different plant, from growing iu open turfy ground • I rathered it
Gramineæ.'] FLOEA OF NEW ZEALAND. 307
near fclie Bay of Islands. Culms a span higli, leafy at the very base only. Leaves 2-3 inches long, thick, curving.
Panicle ovate, contracted. Spikelets short, broad, three- or four-flowered ; florets placed close together. Glumes
short, broad, sharp. Lower palea very blunt, broad, veiy villous at the base. This closely resembles the P.
pratensis, L., of Europe.
8. Poa affinis, Br. ; elata, culmis compressis, foliis distichis glaberrimis planis, ligula brevissima,
panicula effusa v. contracta, glumis scabridis acuminatis flosculo longioribus brevioribusve, floscubs 1-6
remotis angustis scaberulis basi villosis.— P. afflnis, Br. Prodr. • P. cæspitosa, Porst. ? Prodr. Boem. et
Schultes Syst. p . 536. Sprengel in 3Iem. Acad. Petrop. 1810, p . 302.
Y^ar. a. multiflora ; panicula effusa, glumis 4<-6-floris flosculo brevioribus.
Vai’. /3. agrostoidea ; sæpius scaberula, panicula contracta, glumis 1-2-floris flosculo longioribus.—
An Agrostis rigida, A. Rich. Flor. ?
H a b . Northern Islaud. Yfor. a. Hawkes’ Bay, Colenso. Var. /3. Aburiri, Colenso ¡ Great Barrière
Island, Sinclair.
A very similar plant indeed to P. anceps, but the glumes are fewer-flowered, sharp and scabrid.—Leaves long
and flat. Culms 2 feet high. Panicle very large and effuse, upwards of a span long in var. a, which has many-
flowered glumes ; contracted in var. /3, in which the glumes are one- to three-flowered.—The variety of this plant
with one flower in each spikelet might well be mistaken for au Agrostis : the glumes are ofteu louger than the
floret, and always very scabrid.
4. Poa lævis, Br. ; glaberrima v. scaberula, culmis cæspitosis foliosis, foliis culmo brevioribus
æquilongisve rigidis setaceo-involutis fibformibusve strictis curvisve, panicula laxa ovata effusa ramis
capillaribus, glumis acutis glabriuscubs 3-6-floris, floscubs remotis basi nudis Hllosisve apice scariosis.'—
Br. Prodr.
Var. a. Irevifolia ; parvula, glaberrima, culmis foliis longiore, panicula elongata effusa.
Y'ar. filifolia ; culmis foliis filiformibus æquilongis v. lougioribus, pamcula elongata, spicubs ramis
inferioribus subspicatis.
H ab . Northern and Middle Islands; Taupo plains, Ruabine range, etc., Colenso; Otago, L ya ll;
Agbonby plains, Monro. Var. /3. ilkaroa, Raoul ; Taupo plains and Tarawera, Colenso.
A veiy pretty species, common in Tasmania, and there extremely variable, becoming scabrid all over, and
passing into forms resembling the P. affinis and P. anceps.—A span to 2^ feet high, perfectly smooth. Culms rigid,
tnftcd, slender and leafless above, densely leafy at the base. Leaves rigid, filiform or setaceous, polished, as long
or shorter than the culm. Panicle small, few-llowered, broadly ovate, of few capillaiy spreading branches, each
bearing a large broad spikelet of four to six spreading florets, or elongate, witb slender branches bearing sessile
spikelets. Glumes sharp. Florets distant, quite glabrous or webbed at the base, membranous at the blunt tips.
—Var. a is a small plant, 3 inches to a span high, with short, rigid, curving, subulate foliage, and a smab broad
panicle, of few capillary oiie-flowercd branches.—In var. /3 the culms are two feet long. Leaves erect, very numerous
and slender, rigid, wiry, filiform, as long as tbe culm. Panicles 3-5 inches long, slender, few-flowered, effuse ;
branches few, distant, capillary, the lower bearing several sessbe or shortly pediceUed spikelets. This variety
diflers widely in appearance from the former, but the species is so extremely variable in Tasmama, tbat I dare not
pronounce it distinct.
Gen, XXIV. CATABROSA, Palis.
Spiculæ 2-floroe, pedicello flosculi tertii interdum accedente ; floscubs hermaphroditis ; inferiore sessili ;
superiore longe pedicellato. Glumæ inrnquale.«!, concavæ, flosculis breviores. Paleæ concavæ, truncatæ,
erosæ. Squamulæ 2. Stamina 3. Ovarium sessüe, glabrum.—Gramina regionum tempcratarum ; foliis
planis V. involutis ; panicula ramosa.
A small genus of Grasses, of which one species inhabits north temperate regions ; it resembles Deschampsia in