107 
Vernacular name.—‘ Wire-grass”’ is the only name known to me 
for this grass, and the reason for its use is obvious. This is one of 
the grasses which is enly a useful native plant at an early period of 
its growth. 
Where figured.— Agricultural Gazette. 
Botanical description.—(B. F]., vu, 561).—A_ perennial grass, with 
rigid subulate leaves, and with the sheaths minutely ciliate at the 
orifice. 
Panicle long, with a slender rhachis, the lower short erect branches usually bearing 
two spikelets, the upper spikelets singly distant on short erect pedicels, 
Outer glume one-nerved, about 4 inch long, glabrous or minutely pubescent. 
Second glume rigid, convolute, # inch. 
Flowering glume scarcely smaller than in A. hygrometrica, but the awn much finer, 
about 13 inches below the branching, the branches 1} to 2 inches long. 
Value as a fodder.—This is a harsh, dry, wiry grass, which is, as a 
rule, but little relished by animals of any kind. When burnt off it 
produces a moderate quantity of tender feed, but this soon becomes 
of a hard, fibrous nature. The awns (three-pronged) with “spears” 
at the end, are bad for sheep, hence the grass is looked upon with 
disfavour by the squatters at seed-ripening time. 
Habitat and range.—lIt is found in all the colonies, except Victoria 
and Tasmania. While mainly an interior species, it extends to the 
north coast, and to the islands adjacent thereto. In our own Colony 
it is found in the interior, on sand-ridges. 
Reference to plate.—A, Spikelet showing the trifid awn; B, Showing articulation of 
awn with glume. 
3. Aristida arenaria, Gaud. 
Botanical name.—Arenaria, Latin, belonging to sand—i.e., growing 
in sandy, sterile places. 
Botanical description.—(B. Fl., vi, 561). 
Very near A. stipoides, and reduced to that species by F. Mueller, Fragm. vu, 111, 
but a smaller plant, the— 
Stems usually not above 6 inches below the inflorescence, rarely slender, leafy, and 
nearly 1 foot long. 
Leaves much finer, almost filiform. 
Panicle narrow and spikelike, scarcely branched, or more frequently reduced to a 
simple raceme, 3 to 4 inches long, without the awns. 
Outer glumes very narrow and fine pointed, usually dark coloured, the lowest nearly 
4 inch long, the 2nd 3 inch. 
Flowering glume rather smaller than in A. stipoides, the awn under 1 inch and 
usually $ to { inch below the branching, the branches very fine, varying from 1 
to 3 inches. 
Value as a fodder.—A dry, wiry grass, bad for sheep on account of 
its sharp awns, becoming harsh when old, and only useful for fodder 
when young. 
Habitat and range.—Poor, sandy, or sour land in all the colonies 
except Tasmania. In New South Wales it is confined to the dry 
western districts. 
