Plate 222.— AGROSTIS DYERI. 



Family GRAMINEvE.] [Genus AGROSTIS, Lixx. 



Agrostis Dyeri, Petrie in Trans. N .Z. Inst, xxii (1890), 141 ; Cheesem. Man. A'.Z. Fl. 864. 

 A. canina, Hook. /. Fl. Nov. Zel. i, 296 {not. of Linn.). 



Dr. LyuU, the coadjutor of Sir J. D. Hooker in tiie botanictil exploration of tlie 

 Auckland and Campbell Islands, and a diligent explorer of the botany of the south- 

 western and southern coasts of the Soutli Island of New Zealand, appears to have 

 been the first to collect this grass, having obtained specimens in Milford Sound. 

 Sir Julius von Haast and Dr. Sinclair gathered it on the Southern Alps in 1861, and 

 from that time onwards it has been noticed by every botanist who has examined 

 the vegetation of the mountain districts of both the North and South Islands. From 

 the East Cape, Tongariro, and Mount Egmont southwards to Stewart Island it is of 

 universal occurrence on the high-lying meadows above the level of the bush-line, 

 and often constitutes a considerable proportion of the subalpine vegetation. It is 

 most abundant at elevations between 2,500 ft. and 4,000 ft., but ascends to fully 

 5,000 ft., and descends to low levels in Southland and Stewart Island. 



Sir J. D. Hooker, in both the "Flora " and the "Handbook," referred our plant 

 to the northern A. canina, and it was not until 1890 that it was first separated as 

 a species by Mr. Petrie. I am much indebted to Professor Hackel for undertaking 

 the examination of a large series of specimens from various portions of the 

 Dominion, and for a very complete report thereon, in which he points out how the 

 species differs from A. canina. For a synopsis of this the reader should refer to my 

 " Manual of the New Zealand Flora." 



Although A. Dyeri is not a grass of the first quality, it is nevertheless of con- 

 siderable economic importance on many of the sheep-pastures of the South Island. 

 Like most of the Bent grasses, its foliage is short and somewhat sparse, and its total 

 bulk of herbage comparatively small. But stock appear to like it, and it deserves 

 to be experimented with in high cool localities. 



Plate 222. Agrostis Dyeri, drawn from specimens collected on the Mount Arthur Plateau, Nelson, 

 at an altitude of 4,000 ft. Fig. 1, tip of leaf ; 2, ligule of leaf (both enlarged) ; 3, small portion of 

 inflorescence (x6); 4 and 5, two outer glumes (xlO); 6, flowering-glume (xlO); 7, flower, with 

 lodicules, stamens, ovary, and styles (x 15) ; 8, ovary (x 12). 



