Microlena. | GRAMINES. 853 
Leaves rather short, 3-9in. long, }—1in. broad, thin, flat, acute, 
glabrous, finely scaberulous on the midrib beneath; lgules very 
short, reduced to a mere rim; sheaths thin, usually finely pubes- 
cent. Panicle narrow, slender, lax, branched at the base, 3-9 in. 
long; branches erect, capillary.. Spikelets narrow, about 4 in. long 
without the awns, on filiform pedicels. Two outer glumes minute, 
persistent, many times smaller than the 3rd and 4th, and separated 
from them by an elongated bearded portion of the rhachilla; 3rd 
and 4th long and narrow, produced into slender awns, the 4th 
longer than the 3rd, its awn often more than 1 in. long, nerves 5-7, 
with the awns rough and scabrid. Flowerig glume much shorter, 
acuminate but not awned, faintly 7-nerved. Palea linear. Lodi- 
cules large. Stamens 4.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 289; Handb. 
N.Z. Fl. 320; benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 552; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 2. 
Norte Istanp: Not uncommon throughout, but most plentiful in lowland 
districts. Sourn Isnanp, StewarRr IsuAnp: In various localities, chiefly near 
the sea. Sea-level to 2000 ft. 
Widely distributed in Australia, ranging from Queensland to Tasmania and 
West Australia. It is a most valuable pasture and lawn grass, deserving of far 
more attention than has hitherto been given to it. 
2. M. avenacea, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 320.—Culms tufted, 
tall, stout, erect or spreading, compressed, glabrous, 1-4 ft. high. 
Leaves mostly towards the base of the culms and shorter than 
them. broad, flat, +-4 in. diam., glabrous, striate, scaberulous on 
the margins and principal veins; sheaths long, smooth, deeply 
striate ; ligules broad, bearded at the sides. Panicle 1-2 ft. long, 
sparingly branched, compound, lax, nodding, pale-green ; branches 
long, slender, almost capillary, angled, scaberulous. Spikelets very 
narrow, about + in. long without the awns, usually 1 in. with them ; 
pedicels slender, thickened above. Two lowest glumes small, many 
times less than the 3rd and 4th, not separated from them by a 
conspicuous interspace as in M. stipoides, 1-nerved, obtuse, some- 
times notched at the tip, the outer one half the length of the 2nd; 
3rd and 4th long, narrow, empty, 5-—7-nerved, rough and scabrous, 
hairy at the base, produced into long awns. Flowering glume 
much shorter than the 4th, acuminate but not awned, faintly 5—7- 
nerved. Palea linear, acuminate, l-nerved. Stamens 2.—Buch. 
N.Z. Grasses, t.3. Diplax avenacea, Haowl, Choix, 11, t.3; Hook. 
f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 289. 
NortH AnD SoutH Istanps, Stewart Isntanp: Abundant in woods 
throughout. Sea-level to 2500 ft. December—January. 
3. M. polynoda, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 320.—Culms 3-8 it. 
long, much branched, straggling, often scrambling among shrubs 
and bushes, hard, solid, terete, as thick as a goose-quill at the 
base, quite glabrous, conspicuously swollen at the nodes. Leaves 
numerous, rather distant, the lowermost reduced to sheaths, upper 
