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lines broad; male part 6 -10 lines long. Perigynia 2- | - i lines long, -f-broad, yellowish, elliptical oblong, narrowed
at both ends, as long as the lanceolate acute scale, which is brown above, ivith white membranous margins.
1 1 . Uncinia fe rru g in ea , B o o tt; spica elongata multiflora ferruginea longe 1 -2 -b ra c te a ta , perigyniis
ovato-lanceolatis basi atten u atis leviter nervatis squama lineari-lanceolata longe acuminata medio pallida
nervosa subduplo brevioribus. BooU, M S S . (Tab. L X IV . B .)
H ab. N o rth e rn Islan d . Base of th e Eu ah in e range, Colenso.
Culms slender, a foot high, smooth. Leaves 1-|- line broad, as long as or longer than the culm. Lower bract
setaceous, longer than the spike, upper shorter. Spike 5 inches long, 4 lines broad, male portion inch long.
ScaUs all long, narrow, linear lanceolate, pale in the centre ; the upper or those of the male flowers shorter. Perigynia
ovate, lanceolate, 2^ lines long, | line broad, half as long as the scale.—P l a t e LXIV. B. Pig. 1, scale
and male flower ; 2, scale aud perigynium ; 3, perigynium removed from scale ; 4, achenium :—all magnified.
N a t. O r d . XCV. GRAMINEÆ* Jms.
Gen. I . EH E H A E T A , Thunh.
Gluma m u ticæ ; flosculis 3, sessilibus, distiche imbricatis, 2 inferioribus neutris, 1-paleatis; terminali
h ermaphrodite, 2-paleato. Paleæ fl. inf. carinatæ, a rista tæ ; fl. te rm, palea inferiore carinata, m u tic a ;
superiore lineari. Squamulæ 2-lobæ. Stamina 2 - 6 . Ovarium sessile.— Gramina p lm i / o l ia ; spiculis
p a n icu la tis, pedicellatis.
A small genus of Australian, South African, and New Zealand Grasses, with short or long and branching culms,
flat or concave (uot involute) leaves, and panicled spikelets.— Glumes two, unequal, keeled, hardly awned, shorter
than the florets. 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 E. Elirhart, a Swiss botanist.)
1. E h rh a rta Colensoi, Hook, fil.; glaberrima, cæspitosa, culmis ramosis curvis subdistiche foUosis,
foliis eonfertis suberectis strictis Uneari-subulatis in tu s scaberulis, vaginis brevibus, ligula brevissima,
p anicula suberecta contracta, ramis paucis brevibus, spiculis striato-nervosis, glumis acumiuatis inferiore
3—5-nervi superiore 5-nervi, flosculis inferioribus basi barbatis, fl. n eu tr. palea 7-nervi aristata, ii. her-
maph. palea inferiore brevi tru n c a ta superiorem Unearem duplo longiore, staminibus 2, antheris oblongis.
(Tab. L X V . A.)
H ab. N o rth e rn Island. Tufts a t th e top of th e Eu ah in e 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 brancbed ; branches covered with subereet distichous leaves, 2 -4 inches long, which are
linear-subulate, faintly nerved, concave, } 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 l | - 2 inches long,
inclined, of few, slender, subereet branches or one-flowered pedicels. Spikelets compressed, linear-oblong, i 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 Eegiment), who has made the whole Natural Order his special study, and possesses an unrivalled knowledge
of tbe genera and species. Most of those here described have been critically examined by both of us, and our views
of the limits of the genera and species are quite in accord.
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 . Eig. 1, spikelet : a. glumes, h. neuter flowers, c. hermaphrodite; 2, florets removed; 3, hermaphrodite
floret; 4, squamula; 5, ovary;—all magnified.
Gen. I I . M IC EO LÆ N A , B r .
Glumm minimæ, 3-floræ, floribus remofcæ ; fioribus approximatis stipitatis, stip ite b arbato, inferioribus
n eu tris 1-paleatis, paleis aristatis ; te rmin a li hermaplirodito ; p a le is 2 : inferiore carinata, acuminata v.
a ris ta ta ; superiore breviore, lineari, hyalina. Squamulæ 2, S tamin a é . Ovarium sessile. Caryopsis
libera, paleis obtecta.— Culmi simplices v. ramosi. Folia p a r v a v. elongata, p la n a . Spiculæ racemosæ
V.paniculatæ.
A small genus of New Holland, Tasmanian, and New Zealand Grasses, closely allied 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 linear compressed caryopsis ; the stamens are four in the New Zealand species. (Name from g.iKpo's,
small, and a covering ; in allusion to the small glumes.)
1. Microlæna stipoides, Br. ; glabra v. vagims foliisque parce pilosa, culmis gracilibus basi ramosis
foliosis, panicula gracili n u tan te , pedicellis inferioribus elongatis, glumis minimis acutis stip ite florum
brevioribus, aristis palearum subæquüongis, paleis scaberulis subæquaübus v. inferiore a breviore floris
hermapliroditi inferiore a cu ta v. breviter arista ta .— B r . Prodr. K u n th , Agrost. p . 16. E h rh a rta stipoides,
Lah. F l. Nov. H o ll. v. l . p . 1 6 . t. 118.
H ab. N o rth e rn Islan d ; Hawke’s Bay and Cape Palliser, Auckland, etc., Sinclair, Colenso.
A slender Grass, 18 inches to 2 feet high, smooth or slightly haiiy on the sheaths and leaves, which are short
and flat (2 -3 inches long). Panicle branched at the base, long, slender, nodding. Lowei' 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 ratlier common Tasmanian and Australiau
Grass.
Gen. I I I . D IP L A X , B a n k s et Sol.
Glumæ minimæ, 3-floræ; floribus sessilibus, approximatis, basi n u d is ; inferioribus n eutris, 1-paleatis,
paleis acummatis v. aristatis ; supremo hermaplirodito, 2-paleato ; p alea inferiore acuminata, superiore
hyalina. Squamulæ 2, glabræ. Stamina 2 - 4 . Caryopsis libera, paleis obtecta.— Culmi simqdices v. ramosi.
Folia elongata, p la n a . Paniculæ nutantes.
A Tasmaman 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 flrst-
discovered New Zealand species.)
1. Diplax avenacea, E a o u l; culmis cæspitosis simplicibus v. basi ramosis lævibus, foliis planis latis
scabriusculis, panicula ramosa elongata n utante, paleis fl. n eu tr. longe aristatis inferiore superiore ^ breviore,
fl. herm. palea inferiore acuminata, staminibus 2.— Baoul, Choix des Plantes, p . 11. t. 3.
H ab. N o rth e rn and Middle Is la n d s ; abundant in woods. B a n k s a n d Solander, etc.
A tall, handsome Grass, 2 -4 feet high. Cidms densely tufted, compressed and leafy at the base, simple and
quite smooth above. Leaves 1 ^ 2 feet long, inch broad, rough at the edges. Fanicle white, 1 0 -1 5 inches
long, with many long, slender, few-flowered branches. Spikelets vvith the awns ^ inch long. Glumes minute,
4 0