Hitchcock — 'I'hc Grasses of IlaiK'uii 145 



I. Aira nubigena ( I lillehr.). 



Aira aiislrolis Nees; Steiul. Syii. P!. Glum. 1:220. 1S54. Xot .lira aiistnilis Raoiil. 11^46. 



Deschampsia australis Nees; Hillebr. Fl. Haw. Isl. 520. 1888. 



Dcschampsia paUcns Hillebr. Fl. Haw. I.sl. 520. 1888. Not Aira pallciis Spreiiff. 1807. 



Deschampsia nubigena Hillebr. Fl, Haw. Tsl. 521. 1888. 

 Plants |)creiiiiial. often in dense tufts: culnis 30 to 100 cm. tall, stitl, ^labnjus; slu-atbs 

 .C^labrous ; ligule firm. 3 to 4 mm. long-: blades firm or coriaceous, folded or involute, glabrous or 

 scabrous, 0.5 to 1.5 mm. wide as folded, sometimes in a sliort l)asal cluster 5 to 10 cm. l<Mig, 

 sometimes elongate: panicle ovate to oblong, 5 to 30 cm. long, open or somewhat contracted, 

 usually bronze-tinted, the capillary branches in fascicles, some naked at base, some spikelet- 

 bearing near the base: siiikelets shining: glumes acuminate, nearly equal, about 5 mm. long, 

 mostly bronzed in the middle, hyaline at margin and yellowish at the tip, scabrous on the keels : 

 lemmas glabrous, about 4 mm. long, the callus hairs about i mm. long: awn from near the base, 

 variable in lenglh. nearly straight and included, or bent and exserted as much as 5 mm. ffig. 30 I. 



The tliree species given by Hillehrand {Deschampsia pallcns, /). australis. 

 D. iiubigcua) seem to he all forms of J. iiuliii:;ciia. Tt grows on the dry plains of 

 the upper elevations in company with Triscfnni glomcratiim. Tt also grows in the 

 open bogs at the summits of the mountains, where it is often more dwarfed with 

 short basal tufts of leaves, and in the wet forest where the whole plant is more lax. 



Dry slopes and plains and also swamps, at upper altitudes. Aira australis 

 was described from "Ins. Owyhee"; Deschampsia nubigena was described from 

 "top of Mt. Eeka, Maui." 

 Kauai: Kaholuamano, Rock 4176; Hitchcock 15340. Alakai Swamp, Forbes 875. 



Waialeale, Hitchcock 15506. Waimea, 2000 to 3000 feet, Mann & 



Brigham 306. 

 Molokai : \\'ailau, Faurie 1284. Kamalo Bog, Hitchcock 15104. 

 Maui: Puu Kukui, Hitchcock 14728, 14825; Rock 8139. "Mt. Eeke" Forbes 368. 



Olinda, wet forest, Hitchcock 14899, 14907. Haleakala Crater, Rock 851 1; 



Hitchcock 14942, 14965, 14969; Forbes 294. 

 Hawaii: ]\Tauna Loa near Rest House, Hitchcock T4622; at 8000 feet, Wilkes 



Expl. Exped. Kilauea, Faurie 1363. Hualalai Ahxintains, Hitchcock 1452 1 ; 



Forbes 199. Hanehane, Kona, Forbes 170. Holualoa, Forbes 805. Lua- 



makani. Rock 31 14, 3219. Kukaiau Ranch, Hitchcock 14225, 14250. ?Iilo, 



Rainbow Falls, Hitchcock 14198; Newell in 191 7. Waikii, Rock 8408. 



Htinuiula vSheep v^tation, Hitchcock 14437; Forbes 852. Mauna Kea, 



Faurie 1366. 

 Without locality: Wilkes Expl. Exped.: Hillehrand. 



16. ASPRIS Adans. 



Spikelets 2-tlo\vered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes, not prolonged: glumes 

 about equal, acute, membranaceous or subscarious : lemmas firm, rounded on the back, tapering 

 into two slender teeth, the callus with a very short tuft of hairs, bearing on the back below the 

 middle a slender, geniculate, twisted awn commonly exserted. Low. delicate annuals (appar- 

 ently perennial in the Hawaiian islands) having small open or contracte<l panicles. 



I. Aspris caryophyllea ( L. ) Xash in Britt. & Brown, Illustr. Fl. ed. 2. 1:214. '9i3- 



Aim caryophyllea h. Sp. PI. 66. 1753. 



Culms solitary or few or in the Hawaiian plant, numerous in apparently perennial tufts, 

 with a dense basal tuft of leaves, erect, 10 to 30 cm. tall: blades short, setaceous: panicle open, 



\ 47 ] 



