185 



Synonym. Poa Fordeana, F.v.M. 

 Where figured. Agricultural Gazette. 



Botanical description (B. Fl., vii, 657). An erect glabrous grass 

 attaining 2 or 3 feet. 



Leaves flat, very scabrous. 



Panicle very loose, compound, 4 to 8 inches long, with very spreading capillary 

 branches, mostly in pairs or threes. 



Spikelets lanceolate, mostly 4 to 5 lines long, eight- to twelve-flowered. 



Outer glumes acute, three-nerved. 



Flowering glumes five- or seven-nerved, 1| lines long, surrounded by a tuft of hairs 

 and shortly hairy or pubescent in the lower part, the midrib prominent but not 

 reaching the obtuse hyaline apex, the lateral nerves shorter. 



Palea-Tceels scarcely ciliate. 



Value as a fodder. A useful fodder grass, succulent and palatable 

 to stock. 



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

 Western Australia, in moist situations in the interior. 



2. Glyceria fluitans, R. Br. 



Botanical name. Fluitans Latin, floating, in allusion to the habitat 

 of the plant, often floating in water. 



Synonym. Poa fluitans, Scop. 



Vernacular names. " Manna Grass/' " Floating Manna Grass," 

 " Water Grass " (Tasmania). 



Where figured. Hackel ; Agricultural Gazette. 



Botanical description (B. FL, vii, 657). 



Stems creeping in mud or floating at the base, ascending to 2 or 3 feet. 



Leaves narrow, flat, glabrous, the ligula jagged. 



Panicle loose, long and narrow. 



Spikelets solitary in the distant notches, or two or three on a short branch from the 



same notch, erect, narrow, to 1 inch long, six- to twenty-flowered, the rhachis 



glabrous as well as the glumes. 

 Outer glumes broad, obtuse, hyaline, faintly nerved at the base, the lowest about 



1 lines, the second longer. 

 Flowering glumes more rigid, about 3 lines long, with about seven nerves not reaching 



to the hyaline, obtuse, entire, or slightly denticulate apex. 

 Lodicules usually connate. 



Value as a fodder. One of the best fodder grasses for very damp 

 localities. 



" Grows from 2 to 4 feet high. It flourishes in rich soil and swampy 

 ground, often extending far into the water, floating in luxuriant 

 growth on the surface. Cattle and horses are fond of it, even when 

 partially dry." (Bacchus.) 



The statement was made in the New Zealand Farmer that this grass 

 grows on land even if covered with a foot of water, and that stock 

 neglect other pasture for it. It is much relished by cattle, horses, 

 and pigs. 



" There is a great difference of opinion amongst agricultural writers 

 with respect to the fondness of animals for the leaves and culms of 

 this grass. We have often seen the ends of the leaves cropped by 



