Order GRAM1NE/E. 



GENUS XII. APERA, Palisot. 



Spikelets minute, i -flowered, in large diffuse panicles. Empty glumes 2, 

 nearly equal, longer than the flowering. Flowering glume terete, coria- 

 ceous, acuminate, and ending in a slender, straight, not twisted awn. 

 Palea membranous. Scales 2. Stamens i 3. Grain terete, enclosed 

 in the hardened glume. DISTRIBUTION OF GENUS : EUROPE, 

 NORTH AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND. Etymology; 

 From the Greek, signifying "without mutilation," in reference to the 

 constant presence of the floral awn. 



1. APERA ARUNDINACEA. 



NEW ZEALAND WIND GRASS. 

 (Plate XVIL) 



APERA ARUNDINACEA, Palisot. Hook, fil., Fl. N.Z., I., 295, t. 67 ; 

 Handb. N.Z. Flora, I., 326. 



A LARGE, densely-tufted, glabrous, ornamental grass, ascending to 1000 

 feet. Flowers December January. Perennial. Culms slender, rigid, 

 arising from creeping, scaly, rhizomes, 2 5 feet high, branching. 

 Leaves coriaceous, narrow, involute, slightly scabrid ; sheaths long ; 

 ligule short, truncate. Panicle drooping, 8 16 inches long; pedicels 

 alternate, on the long whorled branches. Spikelets fa ro-inch long, 

 pale, shining. Empty glume with a scabrid keel, 3-nerved. Flou>ering 

 glume sessile, on a small glabrous callous, thickened and rough at the 

 top ; awn scabrid, deciduous, J-inch long. Palea oblong-linear, acute, 

 2-nerved. Scales linear, acute. Stamen i. Ovary shortly pedicelled. 

 Style very short. Stigmas short, feathery. Grain linear, terete, truncate. 

 DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIES : SUB-TROPICAL, EAST AUSTRALIA, 

 NEW ZEALAND. 



This graceful, nodding, plume-like grass is not found abundant anywhere in 

 Xew Zealand. Although scattered over several districts, its wiry knot-jointed 

 culms and hard non-succulent foliage preclude it from ever being recommended as 



