14 Australian Grasses. 



"When this grass is allowed to grow undisturbed for a time, it produces 

 plenty of seed, so that there is no difficulty in the way of systematically 

 cultivating it. The most likely places to collect the seed at the present time 

 are the railway enclosures in the interior. So as to have an annual supply 

 of good seed for dissemination on stations, it would well repay pastoralists 

 to have small areas set apart as nurseries for the cultivation of this and many 

 other grasses. This would not be an expensive undertaking ; in fact, it is 

 astonishing the quantity of seed that could be saved from a very small area. 

 Some such system will have to be adopted before long, to save many of the 

 most valuable grasses from extermination. The seeds, when ripe, are like 

 small grains of wheat, and at one time formed an important article of food 

 for the aborigines. There is a variety (var. lappacea, DantJionia lappaceci, 

 of Lindley) of this grass which I have often recommended to be cultivated 

 for the grain it yields. These grains are like small grains of wheat, and they 

 separate very easily from the chaff. The ears (which are often more than 

 6 inches in length) are something like large wheat ears, and where the latter 

 would not grow, owing to great heat, the former might after a few years of 

 careful cultivation and selection, be found an excellent substitute. The 

 grain of this variety also was at one time largely used by the aborigines as 

 an article of food. 



The seeds of this species and its variety usually ripen during October, 

 November, and December. 



Reference to plate. A, Spikelet. B, Floret closed, c, Floret open. D, Grain, back and 

 front views. All variously magnified. 



