32 Australian Grasses. 



ISCHJEMUM, Linn. 



(From ischein, to check; said to have derived the name from, the woolly 

 seeds of a species having been used to stop bleeding at the nose.) 



SPIKELETS in pairs in the alternate notches of the articulate flexuose rhachis 

 of simple spikes, one sessile with one hermaphrodite terminal flower and a 

 male one below it, the other pedicellate, and either similar or with only on 

 hermaphrodite or one or two male flowers or reduced to empty glumes, the 

 spikes either solitary or two or more, sessile or nearly so at the end of the 

 common peduncle. Glumes in the sessile spikelet four, the outer one the 

 largest, awnless, truncate or two-toothed at the top ; second glume keeled, 

 and sometimes produced into a short straight awn ; third glume rather 

 smaller, thin, enclosing a palea and three stamens ; terminal glume a twisted 

 and bent awn, attenuate or hyaline, and bifid at the base as in Andropogon. 

 . Palea small and thin, or none. Styles distinct. Grain enclosed in the glumes, 

 but free from them. 



Ischsemum laxum, E. Br. (Referring to the loose habit of the grass.) 

 "Rat-tail Grass." A rather slender grass of 2 to 3 feet, the Australian 

 specimens quite glabrous. Leaves narrow, often subulate, the ligula short, 

 ciliate. Spike single, dense, sometimes slightly curved, 2 to 4 or rarely 

 5 inches long; rhachis and pedicels ciliate. Sessile spikelet narrow, scarcely 

 flattened, 3 to 4 lines long ; outer glume acutely acuminate, with two 

 rather prominent nerves and obscure ones between them ; second glume 

 thin, produced into a long, fine, straight awn ; third hyaline, enclosing a 

 palea and a male flower ; terminal glume hyaline, narrow, bifid, with a long 

 bent awn. Pedicellate spikelet more conspicuous, much flattened as well as 

 the pedicel. Glumes acutely acuminate, the outer one broadly lanceolate, 

 with five very prominent nerves ; the second thin, scarious, faintly three- 

 nerved ; two flowering glumes and palea's thin and hyaline, both with male 

 flowers, or the third empty. 



This perennial grass is found in New South "Wales, Queensland, and 

 North Australia, and, according to Bentham, it is found also in tropical 

 Asia and Africa. It is abundant in many parts of Queensland, but, as far 

 as I am aware, is not very plentiful in New South Wales. I was the first 

 to record it for the latter colony, and that only quite recently. 



The specimen from which the drawing was made was collected near 

 Tamworth, in the northern part of New South Wales. The growth of this 

 grass is much more slender in the last-named colony than in the adjoining 

 one of Queensland. On rich alluvial soils in the latter colony it produces a 

 great amount of herbage, which, though rather coarse, make tolerably good 

 feed for cattle ; for sheep it is not so highly spoken of. I have had this 

 grass under experimental cultivation, and although it produced plenty of 

 herbage which was superior to that generally seen when it is growing 

 naturally in pastures, still I never looked upon it as a first-class forage 

 grass. It will withstand a long spell of dry weather, and is valuable in this 

 respect, because it can be depended upon when some other kinds of grasses 

 fail. It is well worth conservation along with other grasses, but it is not 

 one that I would recommend for cultivation in any portion of the continent. 

 If the grass is allowed to grow unmolested for a time it produces a fair 

 amount of seed, which usually ripens in November and December. But 

 if the season should happen to be a wet one, the seeds may not mature until 

 January or February. 



Reference to plate. A, Showing the arrangements of the spikelcts (opened out) on the 

 rhachis. B, Sessile and pedicellate spikelet. c, Sessile spikelet showing the glumes, awn, 

 and palea. D, Grain, back and front views. All variously magnified. 



