Poa.} GRAMINEA. 913 
‘ 
Sour Isuanp: Probably not uncommon on dry shingle slopes in alpine 
localities. Nelson—Mount Percival, 7. #. C.; Mount Captain, Kirk. Canter- 
bury—Mount Torlesse, Berggren, Petrie! mountains above the Broken River, 
T. F. C.; Mount Dobson and Mount Darwin, Haast. Otago—Mount St. 
Bathan’s, Mount Ida, Mount Kyeburn, Petrie / 3500-6000 ft. 
A very peculiar and distinct little species, quite unlike any other. 
22. P. imbecilla, Horst. Prodr. n. 499 (name only).—Culms 
tufted, branched and decumbent at the base, ascending or erect 
above, weak, verv slender, often filiform, quite smooth and glabrous, 
leafy, 3-14in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, very narrow, 
go-7's in. broad, flat, flaccid; sheaths narrow, smooth, grooved, the 
upper often long; ligules rather long, membranous. Panicle very 
lax and slender, 1-5 in. long; branches in alternate fascicles of 3-5 
or in small specimens binate or solitary, long, spreading, capillary, 
minutely scaberulous. Spikelets on long pedicels, small, green, 
7o—t in. long, laxly 2-6-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, often 
small, from 4 to 4 the length of the flowering glumes immediately 
above them, ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute, 3-nerved. 
Flowering glumes often remote, oblong or broadly oblong, obtuse, 
faintly 3-nerved, or occasionally 5-nerved with the intermediate 
nerve on each side indistinct, smooth and glabrous, or slightly 
scabrid on the keel and sometimes on the nerves above, no tuft of 
hairs on the callus. Palea about # the length of the glume, linear- 
oblong, ciliate on the keels. Anthers oblong, minute, about J, in. 
long.—Spreng. Fl. Hal. Mant. i. 33; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 263; 
Raoul, Choiz, 39; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zei. i. 3806; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 
337; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 538. Hragrostis imbecilla, Benth. FI. 
Austral. vii. 643. 
Var. Matthewsii, Hack. MSS.—Taller, 10-20in. high. Panicle larger, 
4-8in. long. Spikelets rather larger, 4-6-flowered. Flowering glumes closer, 
usually 5-nerved, but the intermediate nerves on each side often very faint.— 
P. Matthewsii, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiv. (1902) 392. P. breviculmis, 
Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 337 (in part). 
NortH AND SoutH IsLANDS, STEWART ISLAND, CHATHAM IsLANDS: Not un- 
common in shaded places throughout. Sea-level to 4000 fr. 
As a species, P. imbecilla is well characterized by the slender flaccid habit, 
small spikelets with minute outer glumes, and obtuse glabrous flowering glumes, 
which are usually 3-nerved in the typical form, but generally 5-nerved in var. 
Matthewsii. It is said to occur in Australia. 
23. P. breviglumis, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 101.—Culms tufted, 
decumbent at the base, ascending above, slender, smooth and 
glabrous, leafy, 6-12in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, 
narrow, 34-5 in. broad, flat, flaccid, striate; sheaths short, deeply 
grooved; ligules oblong, obtuse, scarious. Panicle erect, oblong, 
lax, slender, 2-5in. long; branches few, in alternate fascicles of 
3-5, slender, unequal, capillary, simple or sparingly divided. 
