Hypogynous scales or bristles 4 or more.
Spikelets terminal, soH ta iy ....................................................................................................Eleocharia, p. 8 .5 .
Spikelets lateral, f a s c i c l e d ....................................................................................................Scirpus, p. 89.
Hypogynous scales 0 . Scales o f spike e n t i r e ................................................................. Isolepis, p. 85.
Hypogynous scales 0 . Scales trifid or l o b e d .................................................................Chorizandra, p. ZZ.
C. Flower solitary. (No sp ik e le t) ....................................................................................................Oreoholtis, p. 93.
II. Spikelet of several scales, imbricating all round, but with only 1 -3 flowers.
Hypogynous scales 6, minute, c o r ia c e o u s .........................................................................LepidosperMa, p. 90.
Hypogjmous scales, long p l u m o s e ......................................................................................Carpha, p. 84.
Hypogjmous scales 0 .
Filaments not elongated after flowering. Cubns s im p l e ........................................... Cladium, p. 94.
Filaments not elongated after flowering. Culms b r a n c h e d ................................... Caustis, p. 98.
Filaments 3 -6 , elongated and p e i-sisten t...........................................................................Oohnia, p. 97.
II. Nut enclosed in a flagon-shaped utriculus.
Utriculus with au exsertedTiooked b r is t le ......................................................................................Uncinia, p, 102.
I trieulus without an exserted hooked b r is t le ................................................................................Carex, ]). 98.'
XYI. Gbam ix e.e .
I. Glumes 2, containing 1 flower.
Spikelets in a dense soft cylindric s p i k e ......................................................................................Alopecurus, p. 109.
Spikelets in a dense head bristling with a w n s .........................................................................Echinopogon, p. 117.
Spikelets panicled.
Flowers stipitate, with one long rigid tmsted terminal awii, jointed at the base . Stipa, p. 109.
Flowers shortly stipitate, with one long awn from below the apex of the palea . , Lichelachne, p. 111.
Flowers stipitate, with 5 a w n s .................................................................................................. Pentapogon, p. 112.
Flowers sessüe, with no awn, or a dorsal one. Glumes not a ^ v n e d .........................Agrostis, p. 113,
Flowers sessile, with no ajvn, or a dorsal one. Glumes a w n e d ............................... Polypogon, p. 117.
II. Glumes 2. Containisig 2 or more flowei-s. All pale® floriferous, or upper empty.
Spikelets alternate, s p i k e d .................................................................................................................Triticum, p. 128.
Spikelets in a dense cylindric shining s p i k e ..................................................................................Kceleria, p. 125.
Spikelets panicled.
Flowers 3 -6 , silky, remote, lowest ? , rest | .................................................................Phragmitis, p, 118.
Flowers 3, 2 lateral ? , intermediate ^ ..............................................................................Hierochloe, p. 107,
Flowers all (or always lower) hermaphrodite.
Flowers 2 -3 , glabrous, shining. Lower palea awned above the base . . . . Deschampsia, p. 118.
Flowers 2 -3 , pubeiTilous. Lower palea bifid, with a twisted awn at the back . Trisetum, p. IlO .
Flowers 2 - 8 . Lower palea (often with pencils o f hairs) deeply bifid w ith a flattened
(at base) twisted a w n .............................' .......................................................................Danihonia, p. 120.
Flowers numerous, a\vnless. Glumes and pale® blunt. Squamul® 1 or 2 connate Glyceria, p. 12%.
Flowers 2 -8 , awnless. Glumes and pale® blunt, Squamul® 2 ...........................Foa, p, 123.
Flowers 2 - 8 . Glumes and pale® acute, lower often awned at apex . . . . Fcstuca, p . 125.
III. Glumes 2, 1-2-flowered. Lower pale® empty.
A. Spikelets panicled. Flowers sessile. Glumes 2, large, 1-flowered. Stamens 4 . Tetrarrhena, p. 103.
Flowers sessüe. Glumes 2, small. Stamens 4 ...........................................................Microlana, p. 104,
Flowers stipitate. Glumes 2 , small. Stamens 2 .............................Diplax, p. 105.
B. Spücelets sessüe on a simple, slender-jointed r a c liis ..................Hemarthria, p, 107.
C. Spikelets collected into large globose spiny heads. (Rigid Maritime-grass) . . Spinifex, p. \ 0 5 .
1) . Spikelets in panicled fascicles with very long stout awns. (Kangaroo-grass) . , Anthistiria, p. IQd..
F L O R A O P T A S M A N I A .
N a t . O r d . I. RANUNCULACExE.*
T h is N atural Order, t io n g h placed by D e CandoUe at the head o t the series, is, as is we ll known, b y no
means entitled, from any real perfection o f structure, to so h igh a position,— a subject to whicli I shall return
in an Introduc tory Essay to th e olassiiication o f Anstralian p lants, which will be appended to th is Work.
In dwtn b u tion it is almost eosmopoKtan, b e in g very rare, or absent only in Immid tropical ju n g le s, aboundin
g in all temperate regions, wet and dry, advancing to th e u tm ost lim its o f phamogamous vegetation
towards either pole, and ascending to 1 8 ,0 0 0 feet elevation in the Himalaya. Some species, as the Tasmanian
B . a q u a tilis, are found in both hemispheres, and in many widely sundered localitie s. Very few o f
the many genera it contains are peculiar to the sonthern hemisphere; nor are there any very remarkable
southern forms, except th e Tasmanian Anemone, and the cnrious F u egian species o f H am a ir y a a and Caltha.
The latter g en u s is anomalous, in b e in g absent from Tasmama, and found botli in N ew Zealand, F u egia,
and perhaps in South-eastern A u stra lia ; it may yet occur in th e mountains. On the wliole, Tasmania is
remarkable for the tew forms o t Banunculaeea: it presents. A b o u t twenty-six Australian species are known,
inc luding th e Tasmanian ones.
Banuneulacete are singularly protean h i habit and botanical characters, and th is in every sense, for
there are n o t only many modifications o f structure by which the groups, genera, and species are limited,
bn t th e individual species are extremely variable. Even the three Tasmanian genera o f the Order prove
th is, in c lu d in g, as th ey do, shrubs and herbs, annual and perennial, opposite and alternate leaved plants,
with simple and compound leaves, single and donble perianths, uni.sexiial and hisexnal flowers, valvate and
imbricate .estivation, petals with and with ou t scales at their bases, and ovaries with erect or pendulous ovules.
On th e other hand, several o f the Tasmanian species o f C km a tU and o f Ranunculus seem to be blended by
varieties with one another, and with the species o f N ew Zealand, Fuegia, and even Eu rop e ; for th ou gh R.
lappaceus and sessilifo liu s are very d istine t-looking plants from th e ordinary E n g lish forms o t B . aeria and
R .p a r v ijla r u a respectively, it appears to me possible that they will on e 'd a y be united by intermediate
forms, found at the Cape o f Good Hope, India, South America, and other intermediate countries. I t is
however in the European genera o f th e Order that the greatest deviations from a common type o t structure
in Ranuneulacea: oc cu r ; and these are so many and great as almost to preclude the p ossib ility o f defining
* A sjTiopsis of the Australian Natural Orders will be appended to this 'Work.