126 FLORA OF TASMANIA. [Graminee. 
flowers imperfect. Glumes keeled, unequal, awnless. Lower palea sharp, awnless or awned at the tip or back; upper 
bifid at the point. Caryopsis free. (Named in honour of G. L. Keler, an author on French and German Grasses.) 
1. Keeleria cristata (Pers. Synops. i. 97); glaberrima, v. vaginis foliisgue puberulis, panicula 
spicata elongata erecta basi interrupta nitida, glumis subacutis 2-5-floris floribus brevioribus, palea infe- 
riore acuminata v. breviter aristata.—Fl. N. Zeal. i. 305. Aira, Linn. ; Eng. Bot. t. 648. (Gunn, 586, 
587.) 
Has. Macquarrie Plains, and other parts of the Colony, Gunn.— (Fl. Nov.) (Abundant in Great 
Britain.) 
Disrris. Extratropical Australia, New Zealand, Europe, temperate North Africa, India, South Africa, 
and North and South America. 
A handsome Grass, 1-3 feet high, conspicuous for its white, shining, spiked panicle of compressed spikelets, 
awnless, or with inconspicuous awns.—Whole plant more or less downy or glabrous. Leaves flat, a span long, 
narrow. Panicle spiked, erect, 3-5 inches long, interrupted at the lower parts. Spikelets very variable in size, 
imbricate, erect, two- to five-flowered. Glumes shorter than the flowers, unequal, acute. Lower palea acuminate 
or with a short awn at the apex or back below the point. 
Gen. XXIV. FESTUCA, Z. 
Spieule bi-multiflore. Glume 2 (raro in $ Vulpia 1), carinate, inequales, acuminate, mutice. 
Palee 2; inferior carinata, apice acuta v. aristata interdum bidenticulata; superior bicarinata. Squamule 
2, bifide. Stamina 1-3. Stigmata terminalia v. lateralia. Caryopsis glabra, libera, v. palew superiori 
adherens.—Folia plana v. setacea; spicule plerumque pedicellate, paniculate v. racemose ; rachilla arti- 
culata. 
A large genus of Grasses, almost confined to temperate and cold regions, forming extensive pasture-lands in 
the alps of Europe and elsewhere.— Leaves flat or subulate. Spikelets pedicelled, panicled, or racemose, rarely 
spiked. Flowers often numerous, on a jointed partial rachis. Glumes two (sometimes one in § Vulpia), keeled. 
Palee two; lower acute, keeled, often with a terminal awn, or rarely toothed or bifid at the apex. Scales two, 
bifid, smooth. Stamens one to three. Styles terminal, or inserted below the apex. Caryopsis free, or adhering to 
the upper palea.—I know of no certain technical character but the acuminate and often awned lower palea to sepa- 
rate this genus from Poa. (Name, a Latin one of uncertain application.) 
a. Lower palea entire at the apex. 
l. Festuca duriuscula (Linn. Sp. Pl. 108); stricta, erecta, glaberrima, culmis ceespitosis basi 
foliosis, foliis setaceo-involutis strictis erectis v. patulis, panicula elongata coarctata, ramis brevibus elonga- 
tisve paucifloris, glumis 6-8-floris inzequalibus acutis floribus brevioribus, floribus linearibus remotis sca- 
bridis, palea inferiore basi nuda acuminata aristata.— Zug. Bot. t. 470; Fl. Antarct. ii. 383; Fl. N. Zeal. 
i. 309. (Gunn, 994.) 
Has. Wet places: Formosa, Gunn.—(Fl. Nov.) (Native of England.) | 
Disrrrs. Temperate and Arctic Europe, Asia, and America, New Zealand, Chili, and Fuegia. 
A widely-distributed Grass, found in almost all temperate and cold climates. It forms a great proportion of 
the alpine pasture Grass in the moorlands of the British Islands, and is extremely variable in stature and habit.— 
Quite smooth, generally shining. Culms densely tufted, leafy chiefly at the base, 1-3 feet high, strict, slender. 
Leaves setaceous, often long and filiform, sometimes short and rigid. Panicle an inch to a span long, erect, narrow, 
contracted or spreading, few-flowered ; branches erect, long or short, slender. Glumes acuminate or acute, shorter 
than the flowers, four- to eight-flowered. Flowers narrow, remote, glabrous. Lower palea acuminate, awned, gene- 
rally scabrid. 
