143 



Botanical description (B. Fl., vii, 601). — Very near the P. nigricans, 

 with which F. Mueller unites it under the name of P. commune, and 

 with the same habit but the spikelike panicle looser with fewer and 

 larger spikelets. 



Outer glumes fully 3 lines long with numerous nerves, usually more than eleven and 



sometimes as many as twenty-one. 

 Flowering glumes several, closely imbricate, the outer ones with a fertile flower 



enclosing one or two male (or sometimes a second fertile) flowers and one or two 



small empty glumes. 



Value as a fodder. — See P. nigricans. 



Habitat and range. — Found in the interior of New South Wales, 

 Queensland, and South Australia. 



68. ASTREBLA. 



Spikelets few-flowered, sessile or nearly so in the alternate notches 

 of the continuous rhachis of one or two simple secund spikes, the 

 rhachis of the spikelet articulate above the two outer glumes. 



Outer empty glumes two, glabrous, acute, many-nerved, unawned. 



Flowering glumes silky-hairy, three-lobed, the central lobe with a 

 broad base tapering into a straight or curved not twisted awn, the 

 lateral lobes erect, rigid, two- or three-nerved. 



Palea with two prominent ciliate nerves or keels. 



Styles distinct, very short. In both species the spikes are usually 

 single, very rarely two together at the end of the peduncle. 



Spikelets closely imbricate on one side of a secund spike of 2 to 3 



inches. Awn about as long as the lateral lobes 1 . A . pectinata. 



Spikelets at some distance, almost erect in a secund spike of 3 to 6 

 inches. Awn much longer than the lateral lobes, straight or 

 hooked 2. A . triticoides. 



1. Astrebla pectinata, P.v.M. 



Botanical name. — Astrebla, Greek a not, strebla twisted, referring 

 to the awn, which is not twisted ; pectinata, Latin, combed or comb- 

 like, the spike reminding one of the appearance of a comb. 



Vernacular names. — A "Mitchell Grass"; "Coarse Mitchell Grass." 

 (Bailey.) Mr. Koch informs me that Mitchell grass is known as 

 Taldra-auto by Cordillo blacks in South Australia. 



Where figured. — Bailey; Agricultural Gazette. 



Botanical description (B. Fl. vii, 602). — An erect glaucous grass of 

 1 to 2 feet, glabrous except sometimes a few hairs at the orifice of the 

 sheaths. 



Leaves flat, ending in long points, smooth or scarcely scabrous. 



Spikelets sessile in the alternate notches of a secund spike of 2 to 3 inches, closely 

 imbricate and turned to one side. 



Outer glumes 4 to 5 lines long, glabrous, acute, 9- or 11-nerved, with scabrous margins. 



Flowering glumes 3 or 4, the entire part scarcely 1 line long, densely villous outside 

 as well as the broad base of the middle lobe ; lateral lobes semi-lanceolate, 

 glabrous, rigid, 4 to 5 lines long, acute, 2- or 3-nerved, with the outer margin 

 broadly scarious ; central lobe broad, ovate, concave, keeled, tapering into a 

 slender straight awn about as long as, or rather longer than, the lateral lobes. 



Rhachis of the spikelet articulate only above the outer glumes, very hairy between 

 the flowering ones, continued and less hairy above the perfect flowers, with one 

 - or two glabrous glumes and paleae empty or with rudimentary flowers. 



