

Australian Grasses. 



ANDROPOGON, 



(From ff0r, a man, andjpeyoft, a beard ; referring to the tufts of hair on the 



spikelets.) 



SPIKELETS one flowered or empty, in pairs in the alternate notches of the 

 articulate rhachis of simple spikes, one sessile hermaphrodite (or rarely 

 female ?) and fertile, the other pedicellate and barren, either male or empty ; 

 the spikes either solitary or clustered and sessile or very shortly pedunculate 

 at the end of the common peduncle. Glumes in the fertile spikelet four, the 

 outer one the largest, awnless, several-nerved, but often two nerves near the 

 margin much more prominent than the others ; second glume keeled, rarely 

 produced into a short, straight awn ; third much smaller, very thin and 

 hyaline, always empty ; fourth or terminal glume under the flower very 

 slender, flexuose, and stipes-like at the base, or if dilated very thin and 

 hyaline, entire or bifid at the top, with an awn either terminal or from the 

 notch ; rigid and twisted in the lower part, bent back and very fine above 

 the middle. Palea small and hyaline or none. Glumes of the barren 

 spikelets four or fewer, the outer one the largest and many-nerved; the 

 second keeled ; the third and fourth when present small, thin, and hyaline, 

 all awnless. Styles distinct. Grain enclosed in the glumes, but free from 

 them. Grasses usually tall, and often scented ; simple or paniculately 

 branched. 



Andropogon affinis, E. Sr. (Affinity to another grass.) "Blue 

 Grass." Very near A. sericeus, and perhaps a variety, with the same habit, 

 the nodes less bearded, and sometimes quite glabrous. Spikes usually three 

 or four, not quite sessile, 1^ to 2 inches long ; the spikelets rather longer 

 and narrower than in A. sericeus, and not so closely imbricate ; the long 

 silky spreading hairs only on the pedicles and at the base of the sessile 

 spikelets, not on the backs of the glumes ; the third glume more developed 

 in the spikelets examined ; the awn f inch to 11 inches long. 



This perennial grass is found in New South "Wales, Victoria, and Queens- 

 land, but principally in the coastal districts and colder portions of those 

 colonies. It generally grows from 1 foot to 2 feet high, and in many parts 

 of the continent it is fairly plentiful. It is to be found growing on various 

 soils, but it seems to grow best and yield more herbage 011 moderately strong 

 loams of good depth, where its roots can penetrate the earth easily, and thus 

 get out of the reach of the drying influences of the sun's rays. I have had 

 this grass growing on lawns, and notwithstanding that they were constantly 

 kept mown it was almost irrepressible during the summer and autumn 

 months. It is a valuable pasture grass, and in sheltered situations will 

 make considerable growth during the winter months ; therefore it is doubly 

 valuable to the grazier. During the summer months in an ordinary season* 

 it yields a fair amount of rich, leafy bottom-herbage, which all herbivora 

 are remarkably fond of and fatten on, sheep particularly so. It makes 

 capital hay if cut when the flower stems first make their appearance. It 

 will stand close feeding, and will continue to grow during a long period of dry 

 weather. The "blue grass " is well worth disseminating in the coastal districts 

 and in the colder portions of the continent where it may not already be 

 growing. "When it is allowed to grow undisturbed for a time it produces an 

 abundance of seed, which ripens during the summer months. 



Reference to plate. A, Showing the arrangement of the spikelets on the rhachig. B, The 

 sessile fertile spikelet and the pedicillate barren one. C, The fertile spikelet (opened out), 

 showing the arrangement of the glumes. D, Grain, back and front views. All variously 

 magnified. 



