167 
Outer empty glumes unawned, the second rarely with a short point; 
glume of the perfect flower with a prominent point or short awn, the 
upper glumes tapering into fine straight awns. 
Styles distinct. 
Grain enclosed in the thin or scarcely hardened glume and palea. 
2. Ectrosia leporina, R.Br. 
Botanical name.—Ectrosia—Greek, ectrope, a turning off or aside; 
leporina—Latin, pertaining to a hare, referring to the softness of the 
panicle. 
Vernacular name.—“ Hare’s-tail Grass.” 
Botanical description (B. F1., vii, 633).—A glabrous, slender grass, 
attaining 2 feet or more, but sometimes smaller. 
Leaves very narrow, ending in subulate points. 
Panicle narrow, dense, 3 to 6 inches long, the fine awns giving it much of the aspect 
of Triraphis mollis. 
Spikelets crowded along the short erect branches, often purplish, the very short 
pedicels often bearing a few long hairs. 
Outer glumes narrow, very acute, about | line long. 
Flowering glume nearly as long, narrow, hyaline, one-nerved, slightly notched, with 
a fine awn nearly as long as the glume. 
Terminal empty glumes, usually two or three, smaller than the flowering one, but 
with longer fine awns. 
Value as a fodder.—*“ A rather slender, dry, tufty grass; often attains 
a height of 2 feet.” (Bailey.) Itis ornamental, and is reputed to be a 
useful fodder grass. 
Habitat and range-—Found in New South Wales and throughout 
Queensland and North Australia. An interior species in New South 
Wales. 
85. PHRAGMITES. 
Spikelets three- or more-flowered, flat when open, all pedicellate in a 
large, much-branched panicle, the rhachis of the spikelet elongated 
between the flowering glumes, and covered with very long silky hairs, 
enveloping the flowers. 
Glumes thin, keeled, the two outer ones empty, acute, or shortly 
pointed; the third like them, but with a longer point, and enclosing a 
male or rudimentary flower; the others more distant, with long, almost 
awnlike points, the rhachis termimating in a rudimentary glume or 
bristle-like point. 
Palea two-ribbed. 
Stigmas nearly sessile. 
Fungi found on this genus.—Coniosporium inquinas, Dk. and Mont., 
W.A., has been recorded on a species of Arundo (Phragmites). 
Puccinia phragmites, Schum., has been recorded from Phragmites sp. 
