Australian Grasses. 41 



Panicum parviflorum, E. Br. (Keferring to the small flowers.) " Small- 

 flowered Paniek Grass." A tall, but slender, usually glabrous grass. 

 Leaves long and narrow ; the ligula scarious, often long, jagged at the end. 

 Panicle branches often numerous, spreading, simple, filiform, 2 to 4 inches, 

 or in some specimens 5 to 6 inches long ; the lower ones distant, the upper 

 ones often crowded. Spikelets ovoid, glabrous, 1 to f lines long, mostly in 

 pairs along the flexuose rhachis, one on a longer pedicel than the other ; but 

 in the lower part of the branch often clustered, the longer pedicel bearing 

 two or three spikelets. Outer glume very small, ovate, usually one-nerved ; 

 second and third glumes nearly equal, both empty, membranous, obtuse ; the 

 second usually three-nerved, the", third five-nerved. Fruiting glume as long, 

 more acute, smooth. 



A slender, glabrous, perennial grass, growing from 1 foot to 3 feet high, and 

 found generally in the coastal districts of New South "Wales and Queensland, 

 and in some places it is fairly plentiful. It is generally one of the first 

 native grasses to make its appearance after a clearing has been made in the 

 scrub. It is not particular as to soil or situation, for I have seen it growing 

 on dry stony ridges and on rich alluvial bottoms ; but, of course, on rich 

 soils it yields a far superior and a greater bulk of herbage. Its strong 

 penetrating roots enable it to remain green during a long spell of dry 

 weather. In sheltered situations it will grow nearly all the year round, and 

 during an ordinary summer will yield a quantity of rich succulent herbage, 

 which is greedily eaten by all herbivora. It is well worth conserving, and 

 even cultivating, where dairy-cows are kept, and it should make good hay if 

 cut when the flower-stems first appear. It might also be grown for ensilage. 

 It produces an abundance of seed, which ripens during the summer and 

 autumn months. There is a variety (var. pilosa) of this grass which is some- 

 times found in the coastal districts, but with the exception of being hairy it 

 has nearly all the characteristics of the species. 



Reference to plate. A, Showing the arrangement of the spikelets on the flexuose rhachis. 

 B, Showing the relative size of the outer glume on the spikelet. c, An open spikelet, 

 showing the four glumes and palea. D. Grain, back and front views. All variously 

 magnified. 



