Cheeseman. — New Species of Flowering-plants. 47 



4. Microlaena Carsei Cheesem. n. sp. 



Ab M. avenacea differt rhizomate tenui stolonifero vel culmos saepe e 

 basi prostrata aat ascendenti edenti, internodiis 1-2 infimis saepe elongatis 

 infra foliorum fasciculos sitis, panicula minus divisa rigidiore magis 

 constricta, pedicellis brevioribus spicularum aristis brevioribus. 



Hob. — North Island : Mangonui County, damp shaded places in the 

 forest near Kaiaka, H. Carse! 



Rhizome slender, stoloniferous.- Culms slender, prostrate or ascending at 

 the base, erect above, 6-18 in. high, smooth and glabrous, 1-3-noded, often 

 rooting from the lower nodes and emitting fascicles of both barren and 

 flowering shoots. Leaves short or long. 6-12 in. long. |— Jin. broad, 

 gradually tapering to a fine point, thin, flat, glabrous, striate, faintly 

 scaberulous on the principal veins and margins ; sheaths long, smooth, 

 compressed, strongly grooved ; ligules short, thin, furnished with a few 

 long hairs at the sides. Panicle 5-9 in. long, rarely more, compound, but 

 much more sparingly branched than in M. avenacea and much narrower 

 and more rigid, pale green ; branches erect, appressed to the main rhachis, 

 slender, angled, scaberulous. Spikelets narrow, compressed, §— £ in. long 

 with the awns. Two lowest glumes small, many times shorter than the 

 3rd and 4th, not separated from them by a conspicuous interspace, the 

 lowest J the length of the 2nd, which is irregularly notched at the top ; 

 3rd and 4th long, narrow, empty, unequal, the 4th rather more than twice 

 the length of the 3rd, 5-7-nerved. scabrid, hairy at the base, long-awned 

 at the tip. Flowering-glume much shorter than the 4th, acuminate but 

 not awned, faintly 5-7-nerved. Palea linear, 1-nerved. Stamens 2. 



Doubtless closely allied to M. avenacea, but smaller in all its parts, and 

 with a very different habit of growth, forming open spreading patches quite 

 unlike the dense tufts of that species. Leaves much shorter and narrower, 

 panicle also shorter and narrower, and much less divided. The spikelets 

 are also smaller, with shorter pedicels and much shorter awns. Dr. Stapf, 

 of the Royal Herbarium, Kew, who has done me the favour of examining 

 a series of specimens, considers that it is sufficiently distinct to be treated 

 as a new species, and has kindly supplied me with the Latin diagnosis placed 

 at the head of the description, in which he has summarized the chief points 

 of difference between the two species. I have pleasure in associating the 

 name of Mr. H. Carse with the plant, which he is the first to notice. 

 For many years he has devoted much time and labour to the examination 

 of the flora of the extreme north of New Zealand, adding many species to 

 the list of those known to occur in the district, and making many valuable 

 observations thereon. 



