Victorian Plants. 501 



branched ; spikelets few only to each main branch of the 

 panicle, rather turgid ; flowers few or several ; fruit- 

 supporting bract blunt, five-streaked, dark-brownish in 

 age. P. dives. 



Fruit-supporting bracts smooth ... ... 2109 



2109. Fruit-supporting bracts seven- or nine-streaked. 



Rather tall ; leaves flat, hardly pointed ; membrane inside 

 at the upper end of the leaf -stalk conspicuous ; panicle 

 spreading, often elongated, capillary-branched ; spikelets 

 much compressed, ovate- or elliptic-lanceolar ; pale- or 

 yellowish-green ; flowers several or few ; fruit-supporting 

 bract blunt, beset with shining hairlets outside towards 

 the base. F. For de ana. 



Fruit-supporting bracts five-streaked... ... ... 2110 



2110. Fruit adherent to the covering bract. 



Coast-plant, finally tall, rigid, often amply tufted ; leaves 

 very long, involute along the margin, gradually pointed ; 

 panicle elongated, usually much contracted ; spikelets 

 mostly crowded, often early dull-yellowish ; flowers few 

 or occasionally reduced to three ; fruit- supporting bract 

 towards the base beset with short crisped hairlets ; fruit 

 ellipsoid, somewhat pointed, with a broad furrow at the 

 upper side. P. Labillardierii. 



Fruit free within its bracts. 



Generally tall, often amply tufted; leaves flat or longi- 

 tudinally somewhat or quite incurved, gradually pointed, 

 the lower particularly long; panicle elongated, some- 

 times much so, moderately or considerably spreading ; 

 spikelets rather short ; flowers few, hardly in contiguous 

 proximity to each other ; fruit-supporting bract towards 

 the base usually beset with short crisp hairlets, five- 

 streaked. P. caespitosa. 



2111. Fruit-supporting bracts five-streaked. 



Coast-plant, seldom tall ; soon assuming a dull yellowish 

 hue ; leaves very narrow, quite straight, through mar- 

 ginal involution filiform, gradually pointed ; panicle much 

 contracted ; spikelets very narrow, many almost or quite 

 without stalks of their own ; rhacheole glabrous ; flowers 

 several or few ; fruit-supporting bract firm, convex along 

 the middle, glabrous ; fruit ellipsoid, concave on the 

 upper side. P. syrtica. 



