120 



54. AGROSTIS. 



Spikelets small, one-flowered, pedicellate in a loose, spreading or 

 narrow panicle, the rhachis of the spikelet articulate above the outer 

 glumes, glabrous or nearly so, not produced beyond the flower. 



Glumes three ; two outer empty ones narrow, keeled, acute, unawned. 

 Flowering glume shorter, broad, thin, enveloping the flower, unawned, 

 or with a dorsal awn, attached below the middle, fine and twisted. 



Palea not above half the length of the glume, very thin and hyaline, 

 often very minute or none. 

 Styles very short, distinct. 

 Grain enclosed in the glume, free from it. 

 Palea none, or rudimentary, (section Trichodium). 



No awn. Outer glumes above 1 line long. Panicle narrow 2. A. Muelhri. 



No awn. Outer glumes about | line long. Panicle spreading 3. A. scabra. 



Awn nearly basal. Outer glumes about 1 line. Panicle spreading... 4. A. venusta. 



2. Agrostis Muelleri, Bentli. 



Botanical name. — Agrostis, a Greek word signifying grasses in 

 general, a derivative of agros, a field; hence the word "Agrostology," 

 the science of grasses. Muelleri, after Baron von Mueller. 



Synonyms. — A. canina, Linn. ; var. gelida. A. gelida, F.v.M. 



Vernacular name. — Mueller's Bent-grass. 



Where figured. — Buchanan, as A canina, Linn.; var. gelida. 



Botanical description (B. Fl., vii, 576). — A densely tufted grass, 2 

 to C inches high. 



Leaves very narrow. 



Panicle narrow, though rather loose, 1 to 1^ inches long, with short, erect, capillary 



branches. 

 Spikelets purplish. 

 Outer glumes very pointed, about 1£ lines long, glabrous, or the keel minutely 



ciliate. 

 Flowering glume much shorter, thin and hyaline, obtuse, enveloping the flower and 



grain, without any (or a minute and rudimentary ?) palea. 

 Stamens three. 



Value as a fodder. — A valuable pasture grass. 



Habitat and range. — An Alpine species, confined to the Alps of 

 New South Wales and Victoria. We have it from 5,000 to 6,000 ft. 

 on Mount Kosciusko. This grass is also found on high mountains in 

 New Zealand. 



3. Agrostis scabra, Willd. 



Botanical name. — Scabra — Latin, rough, the grass being somewhat 

 harsh. 



Synonym. — A. parvifiora, R. Br. 



Vernacular names.- — The " Slender Bent-grass " of Buchanan, 

 the " Plain Grass " of the United States ; other American names in 

 " Rough Bent," " Fly-away Grass (because the delicate particles, 

 when mature, break away from the stalk, and are blown away by the 

 wind), "Tickle-grass," " Fool- hay/' "Silk-grass." 





