Distme. Extratropical Australia, Europe, Middle and South Asia, North and South Africa, North
and South America (probably often an introduced plant).
Culwa tufted, erect, leafy, a sjian to a foot high. Leaves flat, i - i incli broad, slightly scabrid. Panich contracted
into a dense cylindrical spike. 1 -1 4 inch loug, nearly white, and covered, as it were, with long, spreading
iioirs, which are the awns. Awns of the glumes tlnee times longer than the glumes; those of the downy palea
hardly exserted.
Gen. XVI. PIIRAGMITES, Trin.
Spicula 3-6-floræj floribus distichis, remotiusculis, sericeis, plumosis, infiino $ , reliquis hormaphro-
ditis. Gluma 2, acutæ, carinatæ; superior major (interdum monandra). Ralea 2, inferior angusta, subulata
; superior bicarinata. Squamula 2, iutegræ.—Gramiua elata, potaniobia ; foliis latis, planis ; paniculis
ramosissimis, diÿüsis.
A genus consisting of a few large, tall, handsome Grasses, almost always growing in water ; the species are
found in all parts of the globe, the Tasmanian one being particularly widely distributed.—iedws broad, flat, harsh.
Panicle large, much branched, dark-purple, of large spikelets, which are tlnee- to six-flowered. Flowers rather
remote, distichous, veiy silk)' with long hairs, lower male, the rest hermaphrodite. Glumes narrow, sharp, keeled.
Loicerpalea elongate, nan-owed into a short awn. (Name from <Ppaypir7,?, an enclosure; the Reeds being used for
fencing.)
1. Ph ragmite s communis (Tiin. Fund. 13 4 ); foliis elongato-lanceolatis longissime acuminatis,
panicula erecta demum nutante effusa, glumis subaristatis inæqualibus floribus 4—5 longe sericeis brevioribus,
palea inferiore aristato-acuminata.—X’k«//, En. i. 251. Arundo Phragmites, Linn. Sp. PI. 120 ; Br.
Prodr. 183. [Gunn, 418.)
H a b . Abundant in watery places : throughout the Colony.— {v. v.)
D is t r ib . Australia, and most temperate and some tropical countries. (Native of England.)
The largest Tasmanian Grass, 4 -8 feet high, smooth, stout, erect. Leaves flat, harsh, with long narrow points.
Panicle purple, 8-18 inches long, at first erect, then drooping, veiy featheiy from the long silky hair of the flowers,
which grows as the latter advance. Glumes unequal, almost awned, longer than the flowers. Flowers four or five,
remote, lower palea very long.—This plant is the common English “ Reed ” much used for thatching, etc.
Gen. XVII. DESCHAMPSIA, Pal. Beauv.
Spicula 2—3-floræ ; /n riÍK í distichis, summo tabescente. Gluma 2, carinatæ, muticæ, subæquales,
floribus breviores. Palea 2 ; inferior supra basin aristata, apice truncata, 4-dentataj arista brevi, recta;
superior apice bifida, mutica. Squamula 2, iutegræ. Caryopsis libera.—Spiculæ paniculata, pedicellata.
This genus is most abundant in the temperate and Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, but is
also found in Fuegia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.— slender, often branched. Leaves flat or convolute.
Spikelets panicled, shining, pedicellate, two- or three-flowered, the upper flower imperfect. Glumes two, keeled, awnless,
nearly equal, shorter than tbe flowers. Lower palea truncate, foiur-toothed, with a short, straight awn from
above the middle ; upper with two nerves, bifid, awnless. Scales entire. (Named in honour of M. Deschampa, one
of the naturalists appointed to Lapeyrouse’s disastrous expedition.)
1. D e sch ampsia cæ sp ito sa (Pal. Beauv. Agrost. 91. t. 18. f. 3 ); glaberrima, nitida, culmis cæspitosis,
foliis plerumque rigidis involutis, panicula diffusa, rhachi lævi, ramulis verticillatis scabridis, glumis
glabris, floribus 2 æquilongis acutis, paleis glaberrimis superiore basi sericea apice erosa arista æquilonga
dorso ad medium inserta, superiore bifida æquilonga, setula ad basin floris secundi pedicellati villosa.—Nob.
in Fl. N. Zeal. \. 301. Aira cæspitosa, Linn. Sp. PI. 96. A. Kingii, Fl. Antarct. p . 376. t. 135.
A. australis, Raoul, Choix des Plantes,p. 12 ? {Gunn, 1464, 1465.)
I I a b . Frequent in w e t places, on low grounds, a n d the mountains.— (Fl. Nov.) {v. v.)
D is t r ib . Victoria, New Zealand, Fuegia, throughout temperate and Arctic Europe, Asia, and North
America. (Native of England.)
A very common and beautiful Grass, usually perfectly smooth, pale-yellow, and shining.— Oulms tufted,
6 inches to 24 feet high, slender, wiry. Leaves involute, sometimes setaceous. Panicle 3 inches to a foot long,
loose, effuse ; branches slender, whoried or fascicled, rough. Spikelets shining, yeUow-green or purple, l inch
long, two-flowered, with the villous pedicel of a tliird. Glumes nearly equal, acute, as long as the flowers, which
are silky at the base, the upper on a long pedicel. llower palea truncate, toothed at the tip with a short dorsal
awn ; upper as long, bifid.
Gen. X V III. ÏRISETUM, Kunth.
Spicula 2-4-floræ ; flore summo interdum tabescente. Gluma 2, carinatæ, muticæ, subæquales v. inæ-
quales, floribus breviores. Palea 2 ; infeiior bifida, dorso aristata, rarius mutica, arista tortili; supjerior
bicariiiata. Caryopsis libera, glabra.—Gramina plerumque montícola; foliis planis v. involutis ; paniculis
spicalo-confertis, rarius dijfusis.
The species of Trisetum are not numerous, and are generally mountain plants. One {T. subspicatim) is found
on the mountains of most parts of the globe, when these are of sufficient altitude, inhabiting the Antarctic island
of Fuegia. the Falkland Islands, Campbell’s Island, and Tasmania, but has not hitherto been found in New
Zealand.— Culms tufted. Leaves flat or convolute, smooth or downy. Panicles generally contracted and spike-iike.
SpikeUts two- to four-flowered, the upper fiower often incomplete. Glumes two, unequal or nearly equal, keeled,
awnless, shorter than the flowers. Lower paUa bifid, with two subulate teeth at the top, awned at the back (rarely
awnless) ; awn twisted. Ocaiy glabrous. (Name from ires, three, and seta, a bristle.)
1. Trisetum subspicatum (Pal. Beauv. Agrost. 88) ; cæspitosum, foliis culmo brevioribus plani-
usculis glabris pubescentibusve, culmo superne præcipue tomentoso, panicula subspicata densa subcylin-
clracea, spiculis breve pedicellatis nitidis, glumis acuminatis puberulis floribus 2 -3 brevioribus, palea io-
feriore puberula acute bifida, arista retorta infra apicem inserta paleam æquante v. superante.— Aw«//?,
En. PI. i. 295 ; Nob. in Flor. Antarct. \.p p . 97 et 377. Aira subspicata, Linn. Sp. PI. ed. ii. 95. {Gunn,
1484.)
Hab. Common in alpine localities : Arthur’s Lakes, etc., Gunn, Archer.— (Fl. Jan.) (?;. i>.)
D is t iu b . Arctic Europe, Asia, and America, mountaius of Middle and Southern Europe, of Asia from
the Himalaya northward, and of both Nortli and South America, Euegia, the Falkland Islands, and
Campbell’s Island.
An inconspicuous bnt very widely distributed Grass, variable in size and habit, 6-18 inches high, densely
tufted.—¿cares soft and herbaceous, 4-8 inches long, smooth and glabrous, or pubescent. Culms erect, always
more or less downy, especially below the panicle. PanicU 1-3 inches long, much contracted, spicate and
cylindrical. Spikelets imbricated, on very short pedicels, pale greenish-white, shining, 2 lines long, two- or three-
flowered. Stalks ol' the florets with long hairs. Lower palea downy, bifid, with two shaq) teeth, and a reciuved awn
inserted a short distance below tlie apex, as long as or louger than the palea. In Tasmanian specimens the leaves
are quite glabrous, but are often very downy in other parts of the world.