63 

 1. Zoysia pungens, "Willd. 



Botanical name. Zoysia, named in honor of Baron Charles de Zoys ; 

 pungens, Latin, "pricking/' in reference to the sharp-pointed leaves. 



Vernacular names. " Coast Couch-grass" ; " Prickly Couch-grass" ; 

 called " Porcupine-grass" by Bailey ; "Japanese Lawn-grass" (Lam- 

 son- Scribner). 



Where figured. Buchanan, Agricultural Gazette. 



Botanical description (B. FL, vii, 506). 



Rhizome creeping in the sands to a great extent, with erect stems, rarely above 



6 inches high. 

 Leaves flat or convolute, with rigid subulate, often pungent, points ; glabrous, 



except a few cilia at the orifice of the rather loose sheath. 

 Spike terminal, 1 to 1| inches long. 



Spikelets erect, closely appressed in the notches of the rhachis, 1 to 2 lines long. 

 Outer glume rather acute, broad, smooth, and shining ; the sides nerveless. 

 Flowering glume completely enclosed, usually much smaller, thin and hyaline, but 



sometimes more than half the outer one and rather more rigid. 



Value as a fodder. Not inconsiderable, and it becomes the more 

 important when it is considered that in sandy land, near the sea, very 

 few grasses at all events, edible grasses will grow. It forms a com- 

 pact turf, and is easily propagated. Its value as a sand-binder is even 

 greater, and it may be readily propapated by division of the roots. It 

 is palatable to stock, and should be encouraged in many places along 

 our coast. 



" Constant cropping appears to improve it, and to increase the 

 density of the turf. In the foreign settlements of China and Japan it 

 is prized as a lawn grass, especially for tennis-courts. It is finer- 

 leaved than St. Augustine Grass,* and may prove superior to that 

 grass for lawns in the Southern and Gulf States (U.S.A.). The habit 

 of growth of Japanese lawn-grass (Zoysia} is very similar to that of 

 Bermuda (our common Australian Couch-grass, Cynodon dactylon, 

 J.H.M.), but the creeping stems are rather stouter and more rigid, 

 and the upright branches or tufts of flowering stems are never so tall, 

 rarely exceeding 6 inches. It may be propagated by root cuttings or 

 by seed. Importations of both roots and seeds from Korea have 

 been successfully grown in the United States, and the grass has proved 

 hardy as far north as Connecticut. The leaves turn brown in the 

 autumn, as do those of Bermuda/'' (Lamson- Scribner). 



Habitat and range. Found in Tasmania, Victoria, New South 

 Wales, and Queensland, along the sea coast, and in salt marshes. It 

 also extends to New Zealand, and is found in Asia. 



15. LAPPAGO. 



Spikelets one-flowered, not awned, two, or rarely three or four, 

 together on very short pedicels along the continuous rhachis of a 

 simple spikelike panicle. 



* Stenotaphrum americanum, which is known in the Australian colonies as Buffalo Grass. 



