107 



Vernacular name. — "Wire-grass'' is tlie only name known to me 

 for this grass, and the reason for its use is obvious. This is one of 

 the grasses which is only a useful native plant at an early period of 

 its growth. 



Where figured. — Agricultural Gazette. 



Botanical description. — (B. Fl., vii, 561). — A perennial grass, with 

 rigid subulate leaves, and with the sheaths minutely ciliate at the 

 orifice. 



Panicle long, with a slender rliachis, the lower short erect branches usually bearing 

 two spikelets, the upper spikelets singly distant on short erect pedicels. 



Outer glume one-nerved, about \ inch long, glabrous or minutely pubescent. 



Second glume rigid, convolute, f inch. 



Flowering glume scarcely smaller than in A. hygromelrica, but the awn much finer, 

 about 1| inches below the branching, the branches 1^ to 2 inches long. 



Value as a fodder. — This is a harsh, dry, wiry grass, which is, as a 

 rule, but little relished by animals of any kind. When burnt off it 

 produces a moderate quantity of tender feed, but this soon becomes 

 of a hard, fibrous nature. The awns (three-pronged) with " spears" 

 at the end, are bad for sheep, hence the grass is looked upon with 

 disfavour by the squatters at seed-ripening time. 



Habitat and range. — It is found in all the colonies, except Victoria 

 and Tasmania. While mainly an interior species, it extends to the 

 north coast, and to the islands adjacent thereto. In our own Colony 

 it is found in the interior, on sand-ridges. 



Reference to plate. — A, Spikelet showing the trifid awn; b, Showing articulation of 

 awn with glume, 



3. Aristida arenaria, Gaud. 



Botanical name. — Arenaria, Latin, belonging to sand — i.e., growing 

 in sandy, sterile places. 



Botanical description. — (B. Fl., vii, 561). 



Very near A. stipoides, and reduced to that species by F. Mueller, Fragm. VIII, 111, 

 but a smaller plant, the— 



Stems usually not above 6 inches below the inflorescence, rarely slender, leafy, and 



nearly 1 foot long. 

 Leaves much finer, almost filiform. 

 Panicle narrow and spikelike, scarcely branched, or more frequently reduced to a 



simple raceme, 3 to 4 inches long, without the awns. 

 Outer glumes very narrow and fine pointed, usually dark coloured, the lowest nearly 



\ inch long, the 2nd § inch. 

 Flowering glume rather smaller than in A. stipoides, the axon under 1 inch and 



usually \ to § inch below the branching, the branches very fine, varying from 1 



to 3 inches. 



Value as a fodder. — A dry, wiry grass, bad for sheep on account of 

 its sharp awns, becoming harsh when old, and only useful for fodder 

 when young. 



Habitat and range. — Poor, sandy, or sour land in all the colonies 

 except Tasmania. In New South Wales it is confined to the dry 

 western districts. 



