Agrostis. ] GRAMINEAE. 865 
rhachis, strict, erect, capillary, scaberulous, simple or branched 
from the base or above; pedicels longer or shorter than the 
spikelets. Spikelets ~,-$in. long. Two outer glumes subequal, 
lanceolate, acute, 1—-3-nerved, scabrid on the keel ; 3rd or flowering 
glume about 4 shorter than the 2nd, oblong, truncate, minutely 
4-toothed, awnless. Palea wanting. Anthers small.—A. canina, 
Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 296 ; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 328; Buch. N.Z. 
Grasses, t. 19 (not of Linn.). A. parviflora, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, 
t. 20c (not of A. Br.). 
Var. aristata, Hack. MS.—Flowering glume awned. Other characters as 
in the type. 
Var. delicatior, Hack. MS.—More slender. Panicle broader, much more 
lax. Spikelets } smaller. Flowering glume awned. 
NortH anp SourH Isntanps: Mountain districts from the East Cape, 
Taupo, and Mount Egmont southwards, abundant. 1000-5000 ft. 
Sir J. D. Hooker referred this plant, both in the Flora and in the Hand- 
book, to the northern A. canina, Linn., and no doubt it is closely allied to that 
species. But Professor Hackel informs me that it does not exactly match any 
form of A. canina, and in his opinion must be treated as a distinct species, 
differing from A. canina in the innovation-shoots being always intravaginal, in 
the more scabrid leaves, in the narrower and more contracted panicle, and in 
the rather larger spikelets. It usually constitutes a large proportion of the 
subalpine pastures in elevated districts in both Islands. 
5. A. Petriei, Hack. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxv. (1903) 379.— 
Perennial; innovation-shoots extravaginal, clothed at the base 
with leafless scales gradually increasing in size. Culms tufted, 
slender, erect, 6-18in. high, glabrous, 3-5-noded, upper node 
almost at the middle of the culm. Leaves 2-5 in.. long, ;;-}, in. 
broad, linear, acute, flat or convolute when dry, glaucous, scabrid 
on the margins and both surfaces; sheaths terete, glabrous ; 
ligules long, oblong, obtuse, denticulate. Panicle 2-6in. long, 
oblong, open, lax-flowered; rhachis smooth; branches in whorls 
of 3-5, capillary, scaberulous, again branched; pedicels hardly 
thickened at the tips, about equal in length to the spikelets. 
Spikelets linear-lanceolate, $in. long, pale-green. Two outer 
glumes equal, lanceolate, acute, 1-nerved, smooth; 3rd or flowering 
glume + shorter, thin and membranous, obtuse, minutely denticu- 
late, 5-nerved ; awn from the middle of the back, straight, about as 
long as the empty glumes, rarely wanting, callus set with short 
hairs. Palea wanting. Anthers large. 
Var. mutica, Hack. MS.—Awn wanting. 
SoutH IstanpD: Otago—Cromwell, Nevis Valley, Dunstan Mountains, 
Petrie! Lake Wakatipu, Kirk ! 1000-2500 ft. 
According to Professor Hackel this is nearest to A. canina, which differs in 
its bright-green smooth leaves, much more compound and closer panicle, smaller 
spikelets, in the scabrid keel of the empty glumes, and small anthers. A. Dyeri 
28—Fl. 
