NOTES AND EXHIBITS. 391 



Dr. J. B. Cleland communicated the following Note on the 

 scent of the grass, Eragrostis leptostachya Steud. — While examin- 

 ing a fresh specimen of this grass, collected near Sydney at the 

 beginning of this year, the presence of a decided but faint sweet, 

 slightly musty odour was noticed. The plant was sent for identi- 

 fication to the Botanic Gardens, and Mr. Maiden informs me that 

 it is unquestionably this species. The grass grows abundantly 

 round Sydney, and I have had numerous opportunities of con- 

 firming my original observation, not only in this locality, but at 

 the Hawkesbury River Bridge, Milson Island (Hawkesbury 

 River), Nowra( February), and Graf ton (April). Wherever I have 

 found freshly -flowering plants, the scent has been detected, and 

 it seems to me that, in all probability, this feature is constant 

 and of specific rank. Whether or not its px'esence is related to a 

 characteristic feature of the plant — a small, clear swelling situated 

 on the pedicle of the spike, a short distance below the latter — I 

 am not in a position to say. The perfume, though faint, is 

 penetrating; and the presence of this grass can often be detected, 

 especially if a gentle breeze is blowing, even when walking along 

 a path or over a field. When visiting Nowra in February, a 

 strong north-east wind was blowing over a field in which this 

 grass was growing in abundance, and the air was full of its sweet, 

 balmy perfume. In Mr. Maiden's " Manual of the Grasses of 

 New South Wales," in speaking of B. pilosa, he quotes a note 

 from Mr. A. R. Crawford, as follows ; " Citron-like perfume. 

 In the morning, when the dew begins to dry off, the scent is very 

 noticeable; in the heat of the day there is a strong perfume, but 

 quite difierent from that of the morning. The scent is given 

 forth like that from a flower. Rubbing between the fingers 

 makes no difference, as with Chnjsopogon parviflortis. It is 

 unfortunate that the scent of the Eragrostis, strons: when the 

 plant is growing, fades at once when it is cut." This description 

 agrees well with the scent of E. leptostachya. I have smelt a 

 number of specimens of E. pilosa (only from one locality), but 

 have not noticed any perfume; and it has, therefore, seemed to 

 me possible that the grass really referred to was the former. 



Dr. Cleland also showed a specimen of -the grass, Stipa verti- 



37 



