t a «
306 Gramineæ?]
'I
of tlieir synonymy, multiplication of trifling varieties, and constitution of these into species, is carried to such au
extent that the whole genus requires rerision.— (Name, woa in Greek; said to be from waoi. to feed.)
1. P o a imiecilla, P o rs t.; tenella, debilis, glaberrima, culmis capillaribus, foliis angustissimis, ligula
membranácea, panícula capiUari rariflora ramis alternis binisve, spiculis mbiimis 3-8-floris, glumis inæqua-
libus obtusis, flosculis glabris racbi communi distantibus, palea inferiore n u d a superioris carinis pubescen-
t i b u s . - a « A Prodr. A . Cmm. Prodr. B r . Prodr. ? P . SprengeUi, Ku n th , Agrost. ?
H a e . N o rth e rn an d J lid d le Is la n d s ; ab u n d an t iu woods au d sbady places, B a n h a n d Solander, eto.
A very weak, generally slender,' straggling, glabrous Grass, with long capillary culms, a span to a foot long,
and narrow, flat, green leaves, 1 line broad.—Ziÿala membrauous. Panicle capillary, fcw-llowered ; branches
soHtaiy-, alternate or two together, rarely whorled, with two or three sessile or pedicelled green minute spikelets.
Glames unequal, three- to seven-flowered. PloreU glabrous, distant, seated on a slender rachis. Lower palea
glabrous, three-nerved, green.—.Also found in Australia.
2. P o a anceps, F o rst. ; plerumque glaberrima, culmis vaginisque sæpius compressis, foliis distichis
laxis confertisve planis lævibus subcoriaceis rarius scaberulis, ligula brevissima, panicula effusa v. contracta
ovata V . elongato-lanceolata ramis b re rib u s robustis v. elongatis e t capillaribus, spiciihs glabriusculis, glumis
breviusculis acutis obtusisve, flosculis 3 - 6 remotis vel approximatis superioribus plerumque remotis, palea
inferiore latiuscula basi lanata.—Fbrari Brodr. P . austrabs, A . B ieh . Flor. A . Cunn. Ee rb. et Prodr non
B r . Frodr.
T a r. a. e la ta ; 2-3-pedaHs, foliis planis culmo lougioribus coriaceis, panicula effusa v. contracta,
spiculis majusciihs 6-floris, floscubs remotis p atu b s, glumis subacutis.
T a r. fi. foUosa ; folus distichis eonfertis angustioribus planiuscubs v. carinatis culmo lougioribus,
pamcula contracta elongata ramis suberectis, spicubs minoribus 2-5-floris ovatis, floscubs apjiroximatis'
glumis latiuscubs.
T a r. 7 . brevieulmis ; culmis brevibus compressis, folbs distichis culmo brevioribus curvis coriaceis
latiuscubs acutis, panicula parva ovata ramis brevibus, spicubs brevibus ovatis 3-4-floris, floscubs eonfertis,
glumis brevubus acutis, palea biferiore lata.
H ab. A b u n d an t th ro u g h o u t tb e Islan d s, Banka a n d Solander, etc.
I have repeatedly tried in vain to find constant characters for tliis and the two foUowing species; I believe that
aU are states of one infinitely variable plant, but being totaUy cUssimilar in habit and general appearance, 1 have
retained them as distinct species. Mr, Brown remarks the same wide variation in the P . auslralia of Australia and
Tasmama, of which he makes four arbitrary species, that have no constant characters to distinguish them. Though
the species of this genus are almost invarinbly glabrous and smooth in the moist climate of Now Zealaud, they are
generally rigid and scabrid in the drier one of Austraha, and there are often no other characters by which’to discriminate
the similar forms of both countries : ami I have examined New Zealand states of each of the following species
which are aU but undistingnishable from Austrahan specimens.-A fall or sliort, smooth Grass, with compressed
cnlms a span to 3 feet high. Iwaves rather broad, flat, distichous, usually longer than the culm, thick in
texture, with a very short coriaceous ligula. Paniele 1 inch to a foot long, ovate or lanceolate or elongate, effuse
or contracted; branches long or short, erect or spreading and slender. Spilcdets generally broad. lar«e smooth
four- to six- (rarely two-) flowered, A - i inch long. Glwrnea nearly glabrous, rather sharp, broad or narrow, sliortel
than the floret next them. Florets crowded or distant, each with a woolly beard at the base.—The following
varieties pass iuto one another in every possible way, Var. u is 3 feet high, with eoriaceous leaves, longer than the
eulm, i inch bro.ad ; an eifuse or contracted large panicle, of broad spikelets, f inch long. Florets remote, spreading.
—Aar. ft is a smaller and more contracted form, growing in woods, ivitli very oomprcssed culms and slicatlis, a fom
or more high, narrower, generaUy distichous and nnmerons leaves, and a contracted panicle, wldch has erect branches
and smaller spikelets. Floret, two to five (rarely solitary) placed closer together, and not spreading. Glumes and
palea broader and b lu n te r.-V a r. 7 looks a very diiferent plant, from growing in open turfy ground ■ 1 «athered it
near the Bay of Islands. Culms a span high, 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.
3. P o a affinis, Br. ; elata^ culmis compressis^ foliis distichis glaberrimis planis, ligula brevissima,
panicula effusa v. contracta, glumis scabridis acuminatis flosculo longioribus brevioribusve, flosculis 1 -6
remotis angustis scaberuhs basi villosis.— P . affinis, B r . Prodr. P . cæspitosa, Forst. ? Prodr. Poem. et
Schultes Syst. p . 536. Sprengel in Alem. Acad. Petrop. 1 8 1 0 ,73. 302,
Var. a. multiflora ; panicula effusa, glumis 4 -6 -flo ris flosculo brevioribus.
V a r./3 , agrostoidea ; sæpius scaberula, panicula contracta, glumis 1-2-floris flosculo longioribus.—
A n Agrostis rigida, A . Rich. Flor. ?
H a b . N o rth e rn Islan d . Var. a. Hawkes’ Bay, Colenso. Var. /3. A h u riri, Coleroso ; G re a t Barrière
Islan d , 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. Pamcle very large and effuse, upwards of a span long in var. a, which has many-
flowered glumes ; contracted in var. in which the glumes are one- to three-flowered.—The vailety of this plant
with oue flower in each spikelet might well be mistaken for au Agrostis : the glumes are often longer than the
floret, aud always very scabrid.
4. P o a lævis, B r. ; glaberrima v. scaberula, culmis cæspitosis foliosis, foliis culmo brevioribus
æquilongisve rigidis setaceo-involutis filiformibusve stric tis curvisve, panicula laxa ovata effusa ramis
capillaribus, glumis acutis glabriuscuHs 3-6 -flo ris, floscuHs remotis basi nudis villosisve apice scariosis.—
B r . Prodr.
Var. a. Irevifolia ; parvula, glaberrima, culmis foliis longiore, panicula elongata effusa.
Var. /3. fllifo lia ; culmis foliis filiformibus æquilongis v. longioribus, panicula elongata, spicuHs ramis
inferioribus subspicatis.
H ab. N o rth e rn and Middle Is la n d s : Taupo plains, Eu ah in e range, etc., Colenso; Otago, L y a ll ;
Aghonby plains, Monro. Var. /3. Akaroa, R a o u l ; Taupo plains and Tarawera, CoUnso.
A very 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,
tufted, slender and leafless above, densely leafy at the base. Leaves rigid, fiHform or setaceous, polished, as long
or shorter than the culm. Panicle small, few-ilowcred, broadly ovate, of few capillaiy spreading branches, each
bearing a large broad spikelet of foui- to six spreading florets, or elongate, with slender branches bearing sessile
spikelets. Glumes sharp. Florets cHstant, quite glabrous or webbed at the base, membranous at the blunt tips.
—Var. a is a small plaut, 3 inches to a span high, with short, rigid, curving, subulate fohage, and a small broad
panicle, of few capillaiy one-flowered branches.—Iu var. /3 the culms are two feet long. Leaves erect, ver}“ numerous
aud slender, rigid, wiry, filiform, as long as the culm. Panicles 3 -5 inches long, sleuder, few-flowered, effuse ;
branches few, distant, capillary, tlie lower bearing several sessile or shortly pediceUed spikelets. This variety
differs widely in appearance from the former, but the species is so extremely variable in Tasmama, that I dare not
pronounce it distinct.
Gen. X X IV . CATABEOSA, .
Spiculæ 2-floræ, pedicello flosculi te rtii interdum accedente; floscuHs herm ap h ro d itis; inferiore sessili ;
superiore longe pedicellato. Glumæ inæquales, concavæ, flosculis breviores. Paleæ concavæ, tru n c a tæ ,
erosæ. Squamulæ 2. Stamina 3. Ovarium sessile, glabrum.— Gramina regionum temperatarurn ; foliis
p la n is V. involutis ; panicula ramosa.
A small genus of Grasses, of which one species inhabits north temperate regions ; it resembles Deschampsia in