141 



66. ECHINOPOGON. 



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 produced into a short bristle above the 

 flower. 



Glumes three, two outer persistent, acute, keeled ; flowering glume 

 thin, five-nerved, three-lobed, the lateral lobes unawned, the central 

 one produced into a fine straight awn. 



Palea narrow. 



Styles distinct, the stigmas very shortly plumose. 



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



1. Echinopogon ovatus, Beauv. 



Botanical name. Echinopogon , Greek echinos a hedgehog, pogon a 

 beard, in allusion to the very rough flower-head ; ovatus, Latin egg- 

 shaped, or of an oval figure, in allusion to the shape of the flower-head. 



Vernacular name. " Rough-bearded Grass." 



IVhere figured. Labillardiere as Agrostis ovata ; Buchanan ; Agri- 

 cultural Gazette. 



Botanical description (B. FL, vii, 599). An erect glabrous grass, 

 from under 1 foot to above 2 feet high. 



Leaves flat, very scabrous, the asperites reversed on the sheath and back of the blade, 



erect on the upper surface. 

 Head or spikelike panicle on a long terminal peduncle, varying from ovoid-globular 



and | inch diameter to oblong-cylindrical and 2 inches long. 

 Spikelets numerous and densely crowded, about 1^ lines long without the awns. 

 Outer glumes lanceolate, boat-shaped, the keel prominent, green and ciliate. 

 Flowering glume rather broad, surrounded by a tuft of hairs, the lateral lobes very 



short, acute, rigid at the base, the central one shortly flat at the base, tapering 



to an awn of 2 to 4 lines. 

 Palea nearly as long as the glume. 

 Bristle continuing the axis at the back of the palea usually shorter than the glume, 



bearing a short tuft of hairs or rudimentary glume. 



Value as a fodder. A harsh grass of very little fodder value. It 

 seeks the protection of shrubs and fences, and hence occasionally 

 affords a bite to hungry stock when more palatable grasses have been 

 eaten down. 



Habitat and range. Found in all the Colonies, including New 

 Zealand. In New South Wales, extending from the coast to the 

 table-land, and up to nearly 5,000 feet on Mount Kosciusko. 



67. PAPPOPHOEUM. 



Spikelets with one hermaphrodite flower and 1 or more male or 

 rudimentary flowers or empty glumes above it, in a short, dense and 

 spikelike or narrow and loose panicle, the rhachis of the spikelet 

 articulate above the outer glumes and hairy round the flowering 

 glume. 



