Plate 225.— TRISETUM YOUNGII. 



Family GRAMINE^.] [Genus TRISETUM, Pers. 



Trisetum Youngii, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 335 ; Gheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 881. 



Trisetum Youngii was one of the many discoveries made by Sir Julius von Haast 

 during his exploration of the Southern Alps of Canterbury, and was first collected 

 m the valley of the Macaulay, the chief tributary of the Godley River, flowing into 

 Lake Tekapo. It was named in honour of Mr. William Young, Haast's chief topo- 

 graphical assistant, who paid special attention to the grasses of the district visited. 

 It was subsequently gathered by Mr. Armstrong in several other localities in the 

 Southern Alps ; and about 1878 was collected by Mr. H. H. Travers on the Tararua 

 Mountains, in the North Island. In 1881 I found it to be abundant on the Mount 

 Arthur Plateau, Nelson ; and about the same time it was collected by Mr. Petrie 

 in several localities in the west of the Otago Provincial District. The most northern 

 station that I am acquainted with is at the western base of Ruapehu, where I 

 observed it a few years ago. It is probably not uncommon in mountain districts 

 from thence southwards as far as the south-west of Otago, but apparently has not 

 been noticed in Stewart Island. 



The nearest ally of T. Youngii is undoubtedly T. antarcticum, some forms of 

 which approach it very closely. But it is usually a taller and much more pilose 

 plant, with a narrower and more compact panicle, and the glumes are broader. Of 

 the four species of Trisetum found in New Zealand three are endemic ; the fourth 

 [T. suhsficatum) is found in Tasmania and Fuegia, and in Arctic Europe, Asia, 

 and America. 



Plate 225. Trisetum, Youngii, drawn from specimens collected ou the Momit Arthur Plateau, 

 Nelson, at an altitude of 4,000 ft. Fig. 1, tip of leaf (x 4) ; 2, ligule of leaf (x 4) : 3, spikelet (x 8) ; 

 4 aad 5, outer glumes ( x 8) ; 6, the two flowers of the spikelet ( x 8) ; 7 and 8, two views of palea 

 (x 8) ; 9, lodicules and ovary (x 8) ; 10, anther (x 8). 



