Order GRAMINE^. 



2. AGROSTIS CANINA. 



THE BROWN BENT GRASS- 



(Plate XIX.) 



AGROSTIS CANINA, Linnaeus. Hook, fil., Fl. N.Z., I., 296 \ Handb. 

 N.Z. Flora, I., 328. TRICHODIUM CANINUM, Schrceder. 



A TUFTED glabrous grass, ascending to 3000 feet altitude. Flowers 

 December February. Root perennial, creeping. Stem i 24 inches 

 high, slender. Leaves flat or involute, glabrous, short, sheaths smooth ; 

 ligule oblong, obtuse, entire or lacerate. Panicle 24 inches long, 

 upright, open when in flower, contracted when in seed ; branches slender, 

 lower whorled, slightly scabrid. Spikelets ^ l - 2 -inch long; pedicels 

 scabrid. Empty glumes nearly equal, 3-nerved, lanceolate, acuminate, 

 glabrous ; keel ciliate. Flowering glumes oblong, truncate, 3-nerved ; 

 awn dorsal, or o. Palea o. Scale entire, acute. Ovary linear-oblong. 

 Stamens 3, short, broad. Styles very short. Stigmas short, feathery. 

 Grain narrow-oblong, obtuse at both ends. DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIES : 

 EUROPE, AMERICA, FALKLAND ISLANDS, FUEGIA, AUS- 

 TRALIA, NEW ZEALAND. 



An abundant and wide-spread grass in Europe, and also common in New 

 Zealand ; but it has always been regarded in Britain as of little value, either in 

 pasture or agriculture. It is found abundant in boggy situations, where its 

 graceful upright panicle may be seen early in the season ; and therefore, 

 although not a lirst-class grass, it is still very valuable as an early food for stock. 

 Like many other grasses, this species has a wide range of value according to the 

 existing conditions of its growth, being harsh, dry, and unpalatable on dry clay 

 land, whilst on rich moist soil, even with a low temperature, it is more succulent 

 and agreeable to stock. It is variable, to a considerable extent, in size and close- 

 ness of panicle, apparently passing in some places into the following species, 

 Ayroxtis Muellerl. It may prove interesting to compare the value of this species 

 with Ayrustits stofouifera, the Fiorin of agriculturists as regards bulk and amount 

 of nutrient matter, premising that no analysis can ever be constant as regards a 

 species, unless the varieties of the species, as well as the soil and the moisture, be 

 considered. The varieties of Fiorin, according to Sinclair's experiment?, 

 Hortus Gramineus Wobnrnensis," nvn^r in value between 6125 Ib. and 10,335 11>. 



