30 Census of the Grasses of New South Wales. 



which is easily collected. A collector can easily distinguish this grass by its 

 strongly-bearded panicles. The seeds ripen in February and March. "Within 

 the suburban railway line enclosure near Newtown railway station, there 

 was a fine patch of this grass growing last year. This grass is common to all 

 not and temperate climates. In America it is very highly prized. One 

 writer says " that it gives 5 tons of hay per acre without care or cultivation, 

 and that on the Mississippi hundreds of acres are annually mowed on single 

 farms." 



PANICUM DECOMPOSITUM, E. Br. 

 " Australian millet." 



A semi-aquatic, glabrous, annual grass. "When found on swampy land it 

 often grows 4 feet high ; in drier situations rarely above \.\ feet high. In 

 all its varied forms, however, it yields most valuable forage, which stock of 

 all descriptions are remarkably fond of. Under cultivation, it is a most 

 prolific grass, and if cut when the flower-stems first appear it makes splendid 

 hay. I can highly recommend it for general cultivation. A collector would 

 have no difficulty in gathering any amount of seed of this grass at its season 

 for ripening, which is generally in December and January. The western 

 aborigines used to collect the seed in great quantities, and convert them into 

 cakes. This grass is widely distributed throughout the Colony. Sir Thomas 

 Mitchell (" Three Expeditions," pp.237 and- 290), alluding to this grass, 

 says : " In the neighbourhood of our camp, the grass had been pulled to a 

 very great extent, and piled in hay-ricks, so that the aspect of the desert 

 was softened into the agreeable semblance of a hay-field. The grass had 

 evidently been thus laid up by the natives, but for what purpose we could 

 not imagine. At first, I thought the heaps were only the remains of 

 encampments, as the aborigines sometimes sleep on a little dry grass, but 

 when we found the ricks, or hay-cocks, extending for miles we were quite at 

 a loss to understand why they had been made. All the grass was of one 

 kind, and not a spike of it was left in the soil over the whole ground. . . 

 We were still at a loss to know for what purpose the heaps of one particular 

 kind of grass had been pulled, and so laid up hereabouts. Whether it was 

 accumulated by the natives to allure birds, or by rats, as their holes were 

 seen beneath, we were puzzled to determine. The grass was beautifully 

 green beneath the heaps, and full of seeds, and our cattle were very fond of 

 this hay/' 



PANICUM DISTACHYUM, Linn. 

 " Two-spiked panick grass." 



A slender perennial species, with decumbent or creeping stems, rooting' at 

 the lower nodes, and ascending to about \\ feet. It is mostly found in the 

 warmer parts of the Colony, and in some situations it is fairly plentiful. It 

 is a very superior pasture grass, and during the summer months yields a 

 large quantity of valuable herbage, which stock are very fond of. If cut 

 when the flower stems first appear it makes excellent hay. Under cultiva- 

 tion this is a most productive grass, and I can highly recommend it, either 

 for permanent pasture or hay. When left unmolested for a time it pro- 

 duces a fair quantity of seed, which ripens in November and December. 



PANICUM DIVAEICATISSIMUM, E. Br. 



" Umbrella grass." 



A perennial species growing from 1 foot to 2 feet high, and generally found 

 from the coast to the arid interior. There are several varieties of this 



