18 Australian Grasses. 



DANTHONIA, & C. 



(Named in honor of M. Danthoine, a French botanist.) 



SIKELETS several flowered, pedicellate or rarely almost sessile, in a panicle 

 either loose or reduced to a single raceme, the rhachis of the spikelet articu- 

 late above the outer glumes, hairy round the flowering ones. Outer empty 

 glumes two, narrow, keeled, acute, unawned, usually as long as the spikelet. 

 ^Flowering glumes convex at the back, usually nine-nerved, with two rigid or 

 scarious terminal lobes more or less one or three nerved at least at the base, 

 and a twisted and bent awn between them (almost reduced to a point in 

 one species). Palea broad, as long as or usually longer than the entire part 

 of the glume, obtuse or two-pointed. Styles distinct. Ovary glabrous. 

 Grain free. 



Danthonia carphoides, F. v. M. (Carpha-like ; having some resemblance 

 to Carpha, a Cyperaceous plant.) " Oat- Grass." Stems from 3 or 4 inches 

 to 1 foot high. Leaves very narrow, not long, glabrous. Panicle ovate, 

 dense, 1 inch to 1^ inches long. S pikelets few, very shortly pedicellate. 

 Outer glumes 4 to 5 lines long, rather broad, with scarious margins. Plower- 

 ing glumes 3 to 6, with a broad oblique base, as in D. bipartita, the ring of 

 hairs almost broken into clusters ; lateral lobes shorter than the base, the 

 very fine awn scarcely exceeding them. 



This perennial grass is found in New South Wales, Yictoria, and South 

 Australia ; but it is not reported to be very abundant anywhere, except in 

 the south-eastern portion of New South Wales, where it grows plentifully, 

 and where it is highly spoken of as a forage-grass. It is generally found 

 growing in the colder or mountainous parts of Australia, and in such places 

 it is really well worth conservation, and dissemination where it does not 

 already exist. During the summer months, and under ordinary circum- 

 stances, it makes a quantity of fine leafy feed, of which sheep are particularly 

 fond, as also are horses and cattle ; but it is not bulky enough to recom- 

 mend for pasture, except in mixtures, where these larger animals are allowed 

 to graze. The "oat-grass" produces an abundance of seed when it is allowed 

 to grow undisturbed for a time, so that there would be no difficulty in col- 

 lecting any quantity by those persons desirous of so doing, either for re- 

 dissemination where the grass may have been eaten out through over- 

 stocking, or for laying down new sheep-pastures. I have had several species 

 of the genus Danthonia under experimental cultivation, and they produced 

 herbage which was much superior to that seen in ordinary pastures. Many 

 of them I can highly recommend as being worth cultivation, either for 

 general pasture or to be grown and made into hay. Most of them produce 

 an abundance of seed if they are allowed to grow undisturbed during the 

 early summer months, so that there would be no difficulty in bringing them 

 under systematic cultivation. The seeds of the " oat-grass " usually ripen, 

 during November, December, and January, according to situation. 



Reference to plate. A, Spikelet. B, Back view of floret. C, Open floret. D, Grain, 

 back and front views. All variously magnified. 



