145 
69. TRIRAPHIS, 
Spikelets several-flowered, in a terminal panicle, the rhachis of the 
spikelet articulate above each glume, the terminal glume usually empty 
or with a male flower. 
Outer empty glumes unawned, entire or the second occasionally 
notched with a short point in the notch. 
Flowering glumes with three narrow lobes tapering into straight 
awns, the central occasionally with a short lobe or point on each side, 
or all three reduced to small teeth. 
Palea narrow. 
Styles distinct. 
Grain enclosed in the thin or coriaceous glume and palea, free from 
them. 
Panicle soft and dense ; flowering glumes hairy, with a pointed 
lobe or short awn on each side of the central awn ven, Le 0, mollag: 
Panicle very loose; flowering glumes coriaceous, with three 
small teeth or points ... soe ree 5 soc ... Oo. ZT. microdon. 
1, Triraphis mollis, R.Br. 
Botanical name.—Triraphis, Greek treis, three, raphis a needle, in 
allusion to the three awns of the flowering glumes which are needle- 
like ; mollis, Latin, soft, in allusion to the soft, silky feel of the panicle. 
Where figured.—Agricultural Gazette. 
Botanical description (B. Fl. vii, 603).—A glabrous, rather slender, 
erect grass attaining 2 feet, but sometimes much smaller. 
Leaves long and narrow ending in fine points. 
Panicle narrow, dense, 6 to 10 inches long, with a soft look owing to the slender awns 
and hairs of the glumes. 
Spikelets crowded on the short erect branches, narrow, about 4 inch long without the 
awns, with 8 to 10 or even more flowers. 
Glumes narrow, membranous, about 14 lines long, the two outer empty ones glabrous, 
entire or the second with a short tooth on each side of the point. 
Flowering glumes sprinkled with a few long hairs, the central capillary awn three to 
four lines long, with a pointed lobe or short awn on each side, the lateral awns 
rather shorter. 
Value as a fodder.—Inferior for this purpose, and only eaten when 
better grasses are scarce. 
Other wses—The long dense panicle possesses such a handsome 
appearance as to place this plant within the category of ornamental 
grasses. * 
Habitat and range-—Found in all the colonies except Tasmania. 
An interior species. 
5. Triraphis microdon, Benth. 
Botanical name.—Microdon, Greek, micros, small, odous, odontos a 
tooth, the three principal nerves of the flowering glume being produced 
into short terminal points or small teeth. 
Synonym.—Triodia microdon, F. vy. M., in Census. There seems 
little doubt that this species should be referred to Triodia rather than 
K 
