. F T '
310 FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. [Gramineæ. FLOEA OF NEW ZEALAND.
I
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generally wiry, rigid Grasses. (Name from trx^Sov, near, and ôpos, the top ; whence Schedonorus, as written by Palisot,
and not Schoenodorus, as it is usually spelt.)
1. Schedonorus littoralis. P a l. Beauv. ; glaberrimus, culmis cæspitosis inferne ramosis erectis strictis
lig id is foliosis, foliis erectis involutis te retibus apicibus pun g en tib u s culmo lougioribus, pauicula elongata
coarctata ramis brevibus, spiculis (maguis) compressis, glumis lanceolatis acuminatis, flosculis sub-6 imbricatis,
palea inferiore pubescente ca rinata obscure 3-dentata basi n u d a v. barbata.— P a f. Beauv. Agrost.
S. BiUardierianus, Nees. Festuca ? littoralis, B r . Brodr. Fl. A n ta rc t. p . 99. P . junc ea. B a n k s et Sol. M S S .
Poa littoralis, la b . F l. Nov. Molt, v . l . p . 22. t. 27. Arundo triodioides, Trin. Sp. Gram. v. S. t. 351.
Var. fi. minor ; panicula breviore, spiculis minoribus.
H ab. N o rth e rn and Middle Islands, near tb e sea : E a s t Coast, etc.. Ba n k s a n d Solander, Stephenson,
Colenso. Var. fi. Auckland, Sinclair, an d P o r t William, ly a l l .
A common Grass on the Tasmanian and Australian coasts, growing in sand and on rocks, where it forms dense
hard tufts, of a pale yellow colour.— CkIms 1 -3 feet high, and leaves perfectly smooth, glabrous and polished,
shinmg, striated, rigid, erect, why, branched at the base. Leaves involute, terete, sharp, almost pungent, longer
than the culms. Panicles 3-1 0 inches long, slender, pide yellow, gi-een, with a rigid rachis and short erect branches.
SpilceUs broad, compressed, five-flowered, | - f inch long. Glmnes acuminate, shorter than the florets, which are
pubescent. Lm e r palea sharp, three-toothed at the tip.—I fear there are no characters whereby to separate P.
scoparia of Lord Auckland’s Island and Port WUKam 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 move hairy below,
till, at Lord Auckland’s Group, it becomes absolutely bearded.
Gen. x x v n . B EOM US , L.
Spicula: multifloræ. Glumæ 2, muticæ. Faleæ 2 : inferior ecarinata, apice bifida, in te r lobos aristata ;
a rista non to r ta ; superior bicarinata, carinis ciliatis. 2, integræ. Stamina 3. Ovarium
h irs u tum ; stigm atibus 2, basi remotis.— Gramina p lm ifo lia , pa n icu la ta .
A large genus of Grasses, chiefly natives of Europe and North America, where many species are roadside
weeds.— Calms generally annual, simple or branched at the very base only. Leaves flat. Spikelets pedicelled, '
panicled, many-flowered. Glumes unequal, not awned. Florets all perfect, distichous, imbricated. Lm e r 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, L a b .; to tu s villosus pilis moUibus p atentibus, foliis u trinque viUosis, ligula
brevissima, panicula patu la n u tan te ramis elongatis paucifloris, spiculis lanceolatis 5-7-floris longe pilosis,
glumis lanceolatis setaceo-acuminatis, palea inferiore lanceolata marginibus la te apieibusque membranaceis,
arista paleæ æquüonga recta.— AizS. Fl. Nov. Holl. v . l . p . 23. t. 28. B. australis, B r . fid . A . Cunn.
Brodr. et Kerb.
H ab. Bay of Islands ; rocky places nea r th e sea, A . Ovmninghum, 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, spreading, few-flowcred.
Spikelets with the awn an inch loug, narrow, lanceolate. Glumes five- to seven-flowered, lanceolate, acuminate,
almost awned. Lower palea with two bifid tips, which, as well as the margins, are white and membranous. Awn
straight, as long as the palea.
Gen. X X V I I I . TR IT ICUM , L.
Spiculæ spicatæ, rachi parallelæ, tri-multifloræ ; floribus distichis. Glumæ 2, suboppositæ, inæquales v.
subæquales. Paleæ 2 : superior bicarinata, carinis ciliatis. Squamulæ 2, integræ, sæpius ciliatæ. Ovarium
apice pilosum. Caryopsis libera v. paleis adna ta.— Folia p la n a ; spiculæ rachi continua spicaloe;
floribus rachilla sæpius ariiculata sessilihus.
311
This genus, which includes the cultivated Wheat, is found in various parts of the world.— Culms branched at
the base. Leaves flat. Spikelets generally arranged in a dense spike, parallel to the unjointed rachis, three- to many-
flowered. GZames two, nearly equal. Paleæ tvio-, upper with two ciHated keels. &ales two, entire, often ciliated.
Ovary hairy at the top. free or with the paleæ adhering to it. (Name, originaUy given to the Wheat grain, from
tritum, beaten; in aUusion to the operation of thrashing.)
1. Triticum muUiflorum, Banks e t Sol. ; erectum, culmis gracihbus vaginisque glabris, foliis planis
superne scaberulis, spica elongata, spiculis lævibus appressis 6 -1 6 -flo ris, glumis inæqualibus lanceolatis
obtusis acuminatisve nervosis flosculo 4 - § brevioribus, palea inferiore inferne enervi superne nervosa
o b tu sa apiculata v. in aristam brevem scabram rectam an g u sta ta, superiore obtusa.— T. multiflorum et T.
languidum. B a n k s et Sol. M S S . T. scabrum, A . Cunn. Herb, non B r . T . repens, A . R ich . Flm-. ?
H a b . N o rth e rn Is lau d ; Bay of Islan d s, Auckland, E a s t Coast, etc.. B a n k s a n d Solander, etc.
Closely allied to the T. repens of Europe aud very many other countries, but distinguished by the many-
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 genus requires a revision, which will, no doubt, result in a
reduction of tbe many supposed species to a very few cosmopolitan ones.— Calw annual, slender, erect or prostrate
below, 1-2 feet high, striate and quite glabrous, as are the sheaths. Leaves flat. 4 -8 inches long, smooth below,
rough to the touch ou the upper surface. Spike a span long, of six to twelve alternate spikelets. each many- (eight-
to SLxteen-) flowered, i - | inch long. Glumes unequal, acummate, nerved, one-third smaller than the paleæ. Lower
palea smooth, concave, nerveless and pale helow, green above, there nerved, and produced into a sbort, rigid, rough awn.
2. Triticum scabrum, Br. ; culmis cæspitosis gracüibus vagiuisqne lævibus (raiáus scaberulis), foliis
planis V . involutis u trin q u e scabris (rarius lævibus) stria tis, spica 2 -1 0 -flo ra , spiculis scaberulis 4 -8 -flo ris,
glumis lauceolatis subæqualibus nervosis palea flosculo duplo brevioribus, palea inferiore basi lævi enervi
superne scaberula ca rinata in aristam validam lente recurvam scabridam palea bis terve longiorem an g u sta
ta .— * . Brodr. A . R ich . Flor. T. squarrosum. B a n k s et Sol. M S S . ; nob. in Lond. Journ. B o t. v. 3.
p . 4 1 7 . Festu ca scabra, Lab. Fl. Nov. Holl. v. l . p . 2 2 . t. 26. Vulpia scabra, Nees in P la n t. Preiss.
H ab. N o rth e rn and Middle Islan d s ; in dry places, often near th e sea. B a n k s a n d Solander, etc.
Very nearly alhed to the T. longiaristatmn, Boiss., of Persia, T. elymoides. Höchst., of Abyssinia, and a very
common Tibetan and North-west Himalayan species, if indeed these be not all identical—A very common and
variable Australian Grass, also found in Tasmania, being generally more scabrid, and bearing a smaller spikelet,
in those coimtries than in the moister climate of New Zealand.— C f t» tufted, slender, 3 inches to 2 feet high,’
sometimes capillary, with only one spikelet, vniyiug in such cases ju st as Festuca hromoides does. Oulms and sheaths
generally quite smooth. Leaves usually very scabrid ou both surfaces, 1 -4 inches long, flat or involute. Spike
4-Ö inches long, two- to eight-flowered. Spikelets scabrous, erect, alternate, 1 4 -2 4 inebes 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 smootli and nerveless below, keeled and scabrid above, produced into a Ion!, rigid,
slightly recurved awn, twice or thrice as long as itself.
Geu. X X IX . G TM N O S T IC H UM , Schreb.
Spiculæ spicatæ, ra d ii parallelæ, 2-S-floræ ; flores distantes. Glumæ %, setiformes, v. 0. Paleæ 2 :
superior bicarinata, carinis cihatis. Stamina 3. Squamulæ glabræ v. ciliatæ. Caryopsis paleis adnata.—
Gramina_p/aMi/ô(M; spiculis rachi continua subdistichis.
A genus hitherto supposed to contain only one species, which is found in the United States. I t is distinguished
from Triticum by the glumes being absent or reduced to a pair of rigid bristles, and by the distant, fewer, loii«-
pcdicelled florets. In tho New Zealaud species the spikelets are solitary, iu the American G. h y ’sirix they are
placed two together. (Name from yvpvos, naked, and o-tixos, a rank ; in reference to the absence of glumes.)