generally wiry, rigid Grasses. (Name from oTfcSov, near, and èpos, the top ; whence Schedomrus, as written by Palisot,
and not Schccmdorus, as it is usually spelt.)
1. Scliedonorus littoralis, Pal. Beauv. ; glaberrimus, culmis cæspitosis inferne ramosis erectis strictis
rigidis foUosis, foliis erectis involutis teretibus apicibus pungentibus culmo lougioribus, panicula elongata
coarctata ramis brevibus, spiculis (magiiis) compressis, glumis lanceolatis acuminatis, flosculis sub-6 imbricatis,
palea inferiore pubeseente carinata obscure 3-dentata basi nuda v. barbata.—Paf. Beam. Agrost.
S. BiUardierianus, Nees. Festuca ? littoralis, Br. Prodr. Pl. Antarct. * . 9 9 . F. juncea, Banks et Sol. MSS.
Poa littoralis. Lai. Fl. Nov. Eoli. v. 1 .* . 22. t. 27. Arundo triodioides. Triti. Sp. Gram. v. 3. t. 351.
Vai'. (3. minor ; panicula breviore, spicGis mmoribus.
H a b . Northern and Middle Islands, near tbe sea : East Coast, etc.. Banks and Solander, Stephenson,
Colenso. Var. R. Auckland, Sinclair, and Port William, Lyall.
A common Grass on the Tasmaman and Australian coasts, growing in sand and on rocks, where it forms dense
hard tufts, of a pale yellow colour.—Caimj 1-3 feet high, and leaves perfectly smooth, glabrous and polished,
shining, striated, rigid, erect, wiij', branched at the base. Leaves involute, terete, sharp, almost pungent, longer
than the culms. Panicles S-10 inches long, slender, pale yellow, green, with a rigid rachis and short erect branches.
Spikeleis broad, compressed, five-flowered, A -| inch long. Glumes acuminate, shorter than the florets, which are
pubescent. Lower palea sharp, three-toothed at the tip.—I fear there are no ehai-acters whereby to separate F.
scoparia of Lord Auckland’s Island and Port William from this. Small specimens gathered at Auckland by Sinclair
have quite entire tips to the paleæ, and, proceeding southwards, the same organ seems to get more hairy below,
till, at Lord Auckland’s Group, it becomes absolutely bearded.
Gen. X X V n . BROMUS, L.
Spicula multifloræ. Glumce 2, muticæ. Paleæ 2 ; inferior ecarinata, apice bifida, inter lobos aristata;
arista non torta; superior bicarmata, carinis ciliatis. Squamulæ 2, integræ. Stamina 3. Ovarium apice
hirsutum; stigmatibus 2, basi remotis.—Gramma planifolia, paniculata.
-A large genus of Grasses, chiefly natives of Europe and North America, where many species are roadside
weeds.— 0«ÍM» generally annuG, simple or branched at the very base oGy. Leaves flat. Spikelets pedicelled, '
panicled, many-flowered. Glumes unequal, not awned. Florets all perfect, distichous, imbricated. Lower palea
split at the top, with a straight awn between the lobes. Scales entire. Stamens three. Styles remote, one on
each side of the hairy top of the ovary. (Name, a Greek term for Oats and other cereal Grasses.)
1 . Bromus arenarius, Lab. ; totus villosus pilis mollibus patentibus, foliis utrinque villosis, ligula
brevissima, panicGa patGa untante ramis elongatis paucGoris, spiculis lanceolatis 5-7-floris longe pilosis,
glumis lanceolatis setaceo-acuminatis, palea inferiore lanceolata marginibus late apicibusque membranaceis,
arista paleæ æquüonga recta.—Aad. Fl. Nov. lloll. » . ] . * . 23. t. 28. B. australis, Br. fid. A. Cunn.
Frodr. et Herb.
H a b . Bay of Islands ; rocky places near the sea, A. Ovmningham, Colenso, etc.
Also a native of Australia.— Culms 3 inches to a foot high, densely covered, as are the leaves on both sides,
and spikelets, with long soft spreading hairs. Panicle nodding; branches few, slender, spreadmg, few-flowered.
Spikeleis with the awn an inch long, narrow, lanceolate. Glumes five- to seven-flowered, lanceolate, acuminate,
almost awned. Lower paUa with two bifid tips, which, as well as the margins, are white and membranous. Awn
straight, as long as the palea.
Gen. XXVIII. TRITICUM, L.
Spiculæ spicatæ, rachi parallelæ, tri-multifloræ ; floribus distichis. Glumæ 2, suboppositæ, inæquales v.
subæquales. Faleæ% \ superior bicarinata, carinis ciliatis. Squamulæ 2, integræ, sæpius ciliatæ. Ovarium
apice pilosum. Caryopsis libéra v. paleis aduata.—Folia plana; spiculæ rachi continua spicatæ;
floribus rachilla sæpius ariiculata sessilibus.
This genus, which includes the cultivated Wheat, is found in various parts of the world.— Culms branched at
the base. Leaves flat. Spikeleis generally arranged in a dense spike, paraUel to the unjointed rachis, three- to many-
flowered. ^ Glumes two, nearly equal. Faleoe two ; upper with two cibated keels. Scales two, entfre, often cibated.
Ovary hairy at the top, free or with the paleæ adhering to it. (Name, originally given to the Wheat gi-ain, from
tritum, beaten ; in aUusion to the operation of thrashing.)
1. Triticum multiflorum, Banks et Sol.; erectum. cGmis gracilibus vaginisque glabris, foliis planis
superne scaberulis, spica elongata, spicGis lævibus appressis 6-16-floris, glumis inæqualibus lanceolatis
obtusis acummatisve uervosis floscGo * -§ brevioribus, palea inferiore inferne enervi superne nervosa
obtusa aprculata v. in aristam brevem scabram reotam angustata, superiore obtusa.—T. multGorum et T.
languidum, Banks et Sol. MSS. T. scabrum, A. Ounn. Kerb, non Br. T. repens, A. Rich. Flor. ?
H ab . Northern Island : Bay of Islands, Auckland, East Coast, etc.. Banks and Solander, etc.
Closely allied to the T. repens of Europe aud very many other countries, but distingmshed by the maay-
flowered spikelets ; Major Munro has pointed out to me its identity with a Tibetan species, the T. semicostatum,
Nees, which is, I believe, unpublished. The whole geuus reqGres a revision, which will, no doubt, result in a
reduction of tbe many supposed species to a very few cosmopolitan ones.— annual, slender, erect or prostrate
below, 1-2 feet high, striate and quite glabrous, as are the sheaths. Leaves flat, 4 -8 inches loug, smooth below,
rough to the touch on the upper surface. Spike a span long, of six to twelve alternate spikelets, each many- (eight-’
to sixteen-) flowered, i - | inch long. Glumes unequal, acuminate, nerved, one-third smaller than the palem. Lower
palea smooth, concave, nerveless and pale helow, green above, tbere nerved, and produced into a short, rigid, rough awn,
2, Triticum scabrum, Br. ; culmis cæspitosis gracüibus vaginisque lævibus (rai-ius scaberulis), foliis
planis V. involutis utrinque scabris (rarius lævibus) striatis, spica 2-10-flora, spicGis scaberulis 4-8-floris,
glumis lanceolatis subæqualibus nervosis pGea floscGo duplo brevioribus, palea inferiore basi lævi enervi
superne scaberGa carinata in aristam validam lente recurvam seabridam palea bis terve longiorem angustata.—
Ä-. Prodr. A. Rich. Flor. T. squarrosum. Banks et Sol. MSS. ; nob. in Lond. .Tourn, Bot. v. 3.
* .4 1 7 . Festucascabra,-taá. K . Aim. 7/0«. ». l.y i. 22. (. 26. KvAfla aaahia, Nees in Plant. Preiss.
H ab . Northern and Middle Islands; in dry places, often near the sea. Banks and Solander, etc.
Very nearly alHed to the T. hngiaristatum, Boiss., of Persia, T. elymoides. Höchst,, of Abyssinia, and a very
common Tibetan and North-west Himalayan species, if indeed these be not G1 identical.—A very common and
variable Australian Grass, also found in Tasmama. being generally more scabrid, and bearing a smaller spikelet.
in those countries than in the moister climate of New Zealand.— Ouhns tGted, slender, 3 inches to 2 feet high,
sometimes capillary, with only one spikelet, vai-ying in such cases just as Festuca hromoides does. Culms and sheaths
generally quite smooth. Leaves usually very scabrid ou both surfaces, 1-4 inches long, flat or involute. Spike
4-G inches long, two- to eight-flowered. Spikelets scabrous, erect, alternate, l i - 2 * inches long, including the awns
Glumes unequal or nearly equal, often very small, sometimes half as long as the paleæ (without the awns), lanceolate,
nerved. Lower palea smooth and nerveless below, keeled and scabrid above, produced into a long, rirfd,
slightly recurved awn, twice or thrice as long as itself. “
Geu. XXIX. GTMNOSTICHUM, Schreb.
Spiculæ spicatæ, r.rehi p.arallelæ, 2-3-floræ; flores distantes. Glumæ 2, setiformes, v. 0. Paleæ 2:
superior bicarinata, carinis ciliatis. Stamina 3. Squamulæ glabræ v. ciliatæ. Caiyopsis paleis aduata.
G ram in a* ;« /» /;« ; spiculis rachi continua subdistichis.
A genus hitherto supposed to contain only one species, which is found in the United States. It is distinguished
from Triticum by the glumes being absent or reduced to a pair of rigid bristles, and by the distant, fewe^, lonv-
pcdicelled florets. In the New Zealand species the spikelets are solitary, in the American G. hystrix they are
placed two together. (Name from yvpvos, naked, and cmxos. a rank ; in reference to the absence of glumes,)