46 Australian Grasses. 



PENTAPOGON, ft. Br. 



t-. (Referring to the five lobes or awns at the end of the flowering glume.) 



SPIKELETS one-flowered, numerous in a rather dense, much-branched panicle ; 

 the rhachis of the spikelet articulate above the two outer glumes, with a tuft 

 of hairs surrounding the flowering glume, and not continued above it. 

 Glumes three, two outer persistent, membranous, acute, or shortly pointed. 

 Flowering glume narrow, rolled round the flower, divided at the .end into 

 five lobes or awns^ the central one rigid, at length twisted, continuous with 

 the keel and sometimes slightly dorsal, the lateral ones shorter and straight. 

 Palea narrow, enclosed in the flowering glume. Lodicules two. Styles short, 

 distinct. Grain enclosed in the glume, but free from it. 



Pentapogon billardieri, R. Br. (After J. J. Labillardiere.) " Five- 

 awned Grass." An erect annual, from under 1 foot to above 2 feet high. 

 Leaves narrow, hairy, pubescent, or rarely glabrous. Panicle narrow, erect 

 or somewhat nodding, 2 to inches long. Spikelets numerous, nearly 

 sessile on the branches. Outer glumes narrow, varying from 3 to 6 lines 

 long, almost hyaline, with a prominent, shortly ciliate keel, often produced 

 into a short point. Flowering glume on a very short hairy stipes, the central 

 awn terete, rigid, -| to 1 inch long; the lateral lobes two 011 each side, much 

 shorter, erect, slightly flattened, and one-nerved. ; Grain enclosed in the 

 glume, but free from it. There is a variety (var. parvlfiorus) with the outer 

 glumes scarcely two lines long, the flowering glume and awns in proportion. 



This grass is found in New South "Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and 

 Tasmania, but nowhere is it reported to be very plentiful. It is generally 

 found in the coastal districts or on the mountain ranges throughout the 

 southern portion of Australia. The specimen from which the drawing was 

 made was collected on the Bod alia Estate, in the southern portion of New 

 South Wales, where it is stated that cattle eat it greedily during the early 

 summer months. It is essentially a spring and early summer-growing grass, 

 and until November, December, or January, when its seeds begin to ripen, 

 it produces a fair amount of herbage, which is eaten by all herbivora. After 

 the flower-stems have developed, however, the herbage becomes harsh ; then 

 stock seldom or never touch it, if other grasses are plentiful. The " five-awned 

 grass" may often be found gro\ving on sandy soils, and if sheep are depastured 

 in such places they sometimes pull the plant up when eating it, as its roots 

 have such a slight hold upon the ground. It is not a grass that I would 

 recommend for cultivation, although it is worthy of conservation with other 

 pasture plants. It appears to hold its own in pastures that are not heavily 

 stocked ; .but this may be accounted for by the fact that it produces, under 

 ordinary circumstances, an abundance of seed which, when ripe, germinates 

 readily during the autumn or spring months. 



Reference to plate. A, Spikelet. B, Floret, c, Flowering glume flattened out, show- 

 ing the position of the five awns. D, Grain, back and front views. All variously 

 magnified. 



