140 



Tribe vi. ASTREPT^E. 

 Sub-tribe i. Pappophorese. 



65. Amphipogon. 68. Astrebla. 



66. Echinopogon. 69. Triraphis. 



67. Pappophorum. 70. Triodia. 



65. AMPHIPOGON. 



Spikelets one-flowered, nearly sessile in a dense panicle contracted 

 into a head or short spike, the rhachis of the spikelet articulate above 

 the two outer glumes, and not continued beyond the flower. 



Glumes three, two outer persistent, membranous, three-nerved, acute 

 or tapering to an awnlike point, rarely three-fid. 



Flowering glume raised on a short hairy stipes (the rhachis of the 

 spikelet), closed round the flower, deeply divided into three narrow 

 lobes tapering into straight points or awns. 



Palea usually as long as the flowering glume, deeply divided into 

 two narrow rigid lobes or awns. 



Styles united at the base, free upwards. 



Grain enclosed in the slightly hardened upper glume. 



Perennial grasses with convolute terete or subulate leaves. 



2. Amphipogon strictus, E/.Br. 



Botanical name. Amphipogon, Greek amphi, around, pogon, a beard, 

 in allusion to the short hairy stipes of the flowering glume ; strictus, 

 Latin, rigid, which is the habit of the plant. 



Where figured. Agricultural Gazette. 



Botanical description (B. FL, vii, 597). 



Stems from a horizontal rhizome or tufted branching base erect and slender, usually 

 above 1 foot high. 



Leaves rather short, erect, subulate, glabrous. 



Spikelike panicle dense, oblong or cylindrical, | to 1| inches long, but little branched. 



Outer glumes broad, concave, faintly three-nerved, almost scarious, entire when 

 perfect, the outer one about 2 lines, the inner rather longer and more acute. 



Flowering glume on the short hairy stipes shorter than the outer glume, with two 

 short rows of hairs on the back, divided into three rigid ciliate linear lobes or 

 awns longer than the entire part. 



Palea narrow, deeply divided into two rigid lobes similar to those of the flowering 

 glume. 



Seed separable from the membranous pericarp. 



Value as a fodder. A rather harsh grass not readily eaten by stock 

 except when quite young. 



Fungus recorded on this grass. Ustilago Tepperi, Lud. 



Habitat and range. Found in all the Colonies except Tasmania, 

 and pretty well all over the Colony of New South Wales. 



