Danthonia. | GRAMINEA). 889 
broad at the base, tapering upwards into long slender points, flat or 
involute, grooved, margins scaberulous above; lhgules reduced to a 
transverse band of short dense hairs with a few longer ones on each 
side. Panicle about 14 in. long, broadly ovate, lax, of 4-8 spikelets ; 
branches few, capillary, glabrous or with a tuft of silky hairs at the 
forks. Spikelets +—4in. long, 4-7-flowered. Two outer glumes 
shghtly unequal, acute, membranous, 3—d-nerved, about # the length 
of the spikelet. Flowering glumes densely silky at the base and on 
the margins for half their length, a few silky hairs also along the 
lower part of the back, membranous, 9-nerved, deeply 2-fid at the 
tip, the lobes broad, acute but not awned; intermediate awn from 
between the lobes, about +in. long, reflexed, flattened at the base 
but not twisted. Palea linear-oblong, 2-nerved, ciliate on the 
nerves.—D. pallida, Petrie im Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvi. (1894) 271 
(not of RK. Br.). 
SourH Istanp: Canterbury — Candlestick Range, Cockayne! Westland— 
Kelly’s Hill, Petrie ! 3500-4500 ft. 
Allied to D. australis, but much less rigid and not so densely tufted, with 
broader flatter leaves ; the panicle-branches are nearly glabrous and the spikelets 
smaller and paler; the terminal lobes of the flowering glume are broader and not 
awned ; and the central awn is shorter and not twisted at the base. It is still 
nearer to D. planifolia. 
9. D. planifolia, Peirie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiu. (1901) 328.— 
Culms apparently not tufted, sparingly branched at the base, erect, 
slender, glabrous, 9-14in. high. Leaves chiefly at the base of the 
culms and much shorter than them, 2—din. long, ;,-¢in. broad, 
gradually tapering to an acute point, flat, smooth, striate ; sheaths 
rather lax, pale, grooved, the uppermost much longer than the 
blade; ligules a transverse band of long soit hairs. Panicle short, 
lax, ovate, 14-2in. long, of 6-12 spikelets; branches few, slender, 
silky with long hairs. Spikelets rather large, about 4 in. long, pale- 
green tinged with purple, 3-5-flowered. Two outer glumes sub- 
equal, lanceolate, acuminate, membranous, 3—d-nerved, about as 
long as the spikelet. Flowering glumes densely silky at the base, 
and with long silky hairs along the margins and back for half their 
length, deeply 2-fid at the apex, the lobes acute or acuminate, but 
scarcely awned, 7-9-nerved; intermediate awn from between the 
lobes, 4-4} in. long, more or less flattened and twisted at the base. 
Palea linear-oblong, deeply bifid, 2-nerved, nerves ciliate. 
SoutH Istanp: Otago—Clinton Saddle, to the west of Lake Te Anau, 
Petrie ! 2500 ft. 
This only differs from D. oreophila in the flatter and more membranous 
leaves, larger spikelets with longer empty glumes, and longer awn usually twisted 
at the base. I have seen few specimens, and these all from one locality. It is 
not improbable that further investigations may reduce the plant to a variety of 
D. oreophila. 
