Poa.| GRAMINE. 909 
A very remarkable species. I have reunited Mr. Buchanan’s P. intermedia 
with it, there being no differences save those of size and habit, in which respect 
the two forms pass into one another by insensible gradations. Professor Hackel 
also takes the same view. Small states of P. cespitosa can always be dis- 
tinguished by the almost obsolete ligules and by the long crisped hairs on the 
callus of the flowering glume. 
P. Colensoi is one of the most important of the indigenous pasture-grasses. 
It is eaten by all kinds of stock, and is a specially valuable sheep-grass in 
mountain districts. 
14. P. acicularifolia, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 494. — Much 
branched at the base, forming compact leafy glaucous-green patches 
2-6in. across ; branches short, curved, densely leafy. Culms very 
slender, almost filiform, smooth, naked for the greater part of their 
length, 2-6 in. high. Leaves imbricating on the branches, crowded, 
short, 44 in. long, involute and terete, curved, rigid, smooth, sud- 
denly narrowed into an acute or acicular tip; sheaths short, pale, 
lax ; ligules very long, sheathing, deeply 2-fid, membranous, hyaline, 
decurrent along the margins of the sheath. Panicle 4-1 in. long, 
broadly ovate, lax, of 3-10 spikelets ; branches few, slender, capil- 
lary, scabrid. Spikelets compressed, about tin. long, 3-6-flowered. 
Two outer glumes unequal, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, 
smooth or slightly scabrid above. Flowering glumes oblong-ovate, 
subacute, 5-nerved, densely villous with short silky hairs below the 
middle, minutely rough above, callus sometimes with a tuft of 
crisped hairs. Palea almost as long as the glume, linear-oblong, 
silky on the keels. Anthers long, linear, about 7, in. long. 
SoutH Isnanp: Nelson—Mount Arthur, A. Mackay! Canterbury—Lime- 
stone rocks in the Broken River Basin, Hnys! Kirk! T. F.C. 2000- 
4000 ft. 
Very closely allied to P. Colensoi, and chiefly distinguished by the peculiar 
habit, short rigid acicular leaves, and densely silky flowering glumes. 
15. P. pygmeea, Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 50a.— Small, much 
branched, very densely tufted, forming compact rigid patches 
2-4in. diam. and $-lin. high. Culms very short, clothed through- 
out with densely imbricating leaves. Leaf-blades very short, 4-4 in. 
long, extremely rigid and coriaceous, folded, about 4, in. broad when 
spread out, subacute, strongly grooved, quite smooth ; ligules broad, 
thin. Panicle reduced to 1-3 spikelets; pedicels short, smooth. 
Spikelets about in. long, brownish-green, often tinged with purple, 
3-5-flowered. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, oblong-lanceo- 
late, acute, 3-nerved, quite smooth. Flowering glumes ovate, sub- 
acute, faintly d5-nerved, smooth, lower half clothed with short white 
silky hairs. Palea} shorter than the glume, ciliate on the keels. 
Anthers long, linear. 
Sourn IsntanpD: Otago—Summit of Mount Pisa, altitude 6000 ft., Petrie ! 
A very remarkable little species, quite unlike any other. 
