Australian Grasses. 51 



SPOROBOLUS, E. 13r. 



(From sporos, a seed, and bolus, a casting ; the seeds are loose and easily 



scattered.) 



SPIKELETS small, one-flowered, nearly sessile or pedicellate in a narrow 

 spike-like or loose and pyramidal panicle, the rhachis of the spikelet very 

 short, glabrous, scarcely articulate, not continued beyond the flower. Glumes 

 three, persistent, or separately deciduous, unawned, slightly keeled or 

 convex, and obscurely nerved, two outer empty ones usually unequal; 

 flowering glume as long or longer. Palea about as long as the glume, with 

 two nerves usually prominent and readily splitting between them. Styles 

 very short. Grain free, readily falling away from the glume, the pericarp 

 loosely enclosing the seed, or very thin and evanescent. 



Sporobolus diander, Beauv. (Eeferring to its having but two stamens 

 in the flower.) "Tussock Grass." An erect glabrous grass of ] foot to 2 

 or even 3 feet. Leaves chiefly at the base, narrow, the upper sheaths not 

 covering the stem. Panicle narrow but loosely pyramidal, 6 inches to above 

 1 foot long, the branches scattered, at length spreading. Spikelets very 

 shortly pedicellate or almost sessile, f to 1 line long. Outer empty glumes 

 very obtuse ; hyaline, the upper one about line, the other shorter. Flowering 

 glume longer, slightly keeled, obtuse, or almost acute. Palea broad, obtuse, 

 faintly two-nerved, and not so readily splitting as in the other species. Grain 

 broadly obovoid, the pericarp not readily separable. 



This grass is found in the coastal districts of New South Wales and 

 Queensland, and is also common in some parts of India. On rich, moist 

 soils, and on land that is liable to periodical inundations, it forms good-sized 

 tussocks of deep green herbage, and, whilst young, is greedily eaten by 

 horses and cattle. When it becomes old, however, the herbage is very 

 tough, and stock will then seldom or never touch it whilst other grasses are 

 plentiful. If the old stems of this grass are burnt off in September or 

 October it will, under some circumstances, continue to produce a fair amount 

 of good feed for several months if kept well eaten down. After it has been 

 allowed to grow undisturbed for some time its herbage becomes very tough 

 and harsh, and consequently of little value for forage purposes. I can 

 highly recommend this grass, however, for planting on the banks of rivers 

 or dams, to prevent their being washed away by heavy rains or flood-waters. 

 The strong, wiry roots form a perfect mat on almost any kind of moist land 

 after it has been planted a very short time, and when once established it 

 requires an unusual effort to eradicate. There would be no difficulty in 

 bringing this grass under cultivation, for not only does it bear transplanting 

 well, but under ordinary conditions it produces an abundance of seed which, 

 when ripe, germinate readily if sown during the spring months. The seeds 

 ripen during the summer and autumn months. 



From the tough nature of the matured herbage of this grass it might also 

 be recommended to paper manufacturers for a trial in making some kinds of 

 paper. If it should prove useful for this purpose, there are thousands of 

 acres of low-lying land in the coastal districts of this continent suitable for 

 its cultivation, besides the large supplies that are now available in many 

 districts. 



Reference to plate. A, Showing tlio ai'rangeinent of the spikelets on the panicle. B, A 

 spikelefc opened out, showing the three glumes and palea, c, Grain, two different views. 

 All variously magnified. 



