Order GRAMINE.E. 



GENUS X.- ECHINOPOGON, Palisot. 



Spikelets sub-sessile, on short branches closely arranged into an oblong 

 or ovoid, dense spike-like panicle, \ i J-inches long, bristling with rigid 

 spreading awns, i -flowered. Empty glumes 2, equal. Flowering glume 

 as long as the empty, with a pencil of silky hairs at the base ; awn ter- 

 minal. Palea nearly equal in length to the flowering glume, with a short 

 stiff pedicel at the base. Scales 2. Stamens 3. Ovary bearded at the 

 top. Grain free. DISTRIBUTION OF GENUS : AUSTRALIA, TAS- 

 MANIA, NORFOLK ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND. Etymology; 

 Named from two Greek words meaning " scabrid " and a beard. 



L ECHINOPOGON OVATUS. 



ROUGH-BEARDED GRASS. 



(Plate XIII. B.) 



AGROSTIS OVATA, Forster. Labill, F,l. Nov. Holl., L, 19, t. 21 ; CINNA 

 OVATA, Kunth, Enum. L, 208; F. Muell. Fragm. VIII., 106 ; ECHINO- 

 POGON SIEBERI, Steud. Syn. Glum. I., 183. HYSTERICINA ALOPECURI- 

 OIDES, Steudel. ECHINOPOGON OVATUS, Palisot. Hook, fil., Fl. Tasm. 

 II. 117 ; Fl. N.Z., L, 297; Handb. N.Z. Flora, L, 325. 



A HARSH scabrid grass, 6 24 inches high, ascending to 3000 feet 

 altitude. Annual. Flowers November January. Leaves scabrid on 

 the edges. Sheath of upper leaf long; ligule short. Spikelets green, 

 nearly horizontal, i -flowered. Empty glumes equal, rigid, acuminate, 

 i -nerved. Flowering glume with a pencil of silky hairs at the base, 2-fid 

 at the top, 3-nerved ; awn terminal, long, rigid, not twisted, involute, 

 flattening out when wet and pressed, as if a continuation of the glume. 

 Pa lea nearly as long as the flowering glume, i -nerved, and with a short 

 stiff pedicel at the base. Scales 2, ovate-lanceolate. Anthers large. 

 Ovary bearded on top. Styles short. Stigmas long, feathery. Grain 

 long, narrow. DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIES : SAME AS THE GENUS. 



