THE TASMANIAN FLOEA. 



Spikelets under 4 lines. Glumes herbaceous 

 usually acute ... 

 xli. Spikelets with long silky hairs at the base .. 

 Spikelets short, broad, and nodding ... 

 Spikelets otherwise. Glumes obtuse... 

 xlii. Spikelets oblong, few -flowered 



Spikelets nearly linear, many-flowered 



257 



44. Festuca. 

 34. Phragmites. 

 41. Briza. 

 xlii. 



38. Poa. 

 40. Glyceria. 



1. PANICUM. 



Spikelets small, 1-flowered. Outer empty glumes 3 ; the outer one small, 

 sometimes very minute ; next pair equal or unequal, enclosing the flowering 

 glume, which hardens round the fruit. 



Very common in both Hemispheres. There are about 60 species in Australia, 

 two of which have been sparingly introduced into Tasmania, but more must 

 inevitably follow. 



Spikelets arranged in digitate spikes... ... ... 1. P. sanguinale. 



Spikelets in a linear compound spike .. . ... ... 2. P.gracile. 



1. P. SANGDINALE, lArm. Annual, creeping at the base, then erect. Leaves 

 flat, short, and usually broad. Stem 1-2 feet. Spikelets about 1 line long, 

 sessile or nearly so along the sides of the finger-like branches that arise singly 

 towards the apex of the stem. 



Occasionally found near centres of civilisation, introduced. Found in most 

 parts of Australia, warm places of both Hemispheres ; also in England. 



2. P. GBACILE, M. Br. Branched at the base, erect, about 1 foot. Leaves 

 shorter than the stem, narrow to rather broad. Spikelets narrow. Glumes 

 acute, about f -1 line long, numerous, sessile, and shortly stalked, on short lateral 

 branches that are erect and appressed, forming a continuous or interrupted, 

 linear, spike- like panicle, 2-4 lines long. 



Near Launceston, introduced. It is a native of and distributed throughout 

 Australia. 



2. STBTSrOTAPHRUM. 



Spikelets with 1 perfect terminal flower and 1 rudimentary or male flower 

 below it, each contained in a glume and pale, with two empty glumes b'elow 

 them ; the spikelets arranged in small clusters of 2-4, sunk alternately in the 

 side of an elongated rhaohis, forming a linear inflorescence. 



S. AMERICANUM, Sckvank. A coarse creeping grass, forming a dense sward. 

 Leaves rather short and broad, with broad flat sheaths. Flowering stem flat, 

 3-12 inches long. Spikelets about 2 lines long. S. glabrum, Trin. 



A widely-dispersed tropical plant, introduced. 



3. SPINIFEX.' . 



Spikelets unisexual, collected in dense globular heads ; male spikelets with 4 

 glumes, the 2 upper ones bearing flowers ; female spikelets with 4 glumes, the 

 upper one only bearing a mature flower, the next one containing a rudiment. 



S. HiESUTijs, Lab. A maritime plant, widely creeping in sand, more or less 

 silky all over. Leaves about 1 foot long. Male clusters 1-2 inches diameter. 

 Bracts of the fertile clusters forming a head of 4-6 inches diameter. 



Common on the coast ; also on the coast-line of Australia, New Zealand, New 



Caledonia, &c. 



4. ZOYSIA. 



Spikelet 1-flowered, small ; pale small ; with only one empty glume below the 

 flowering glume, and much exceeding it. Inflorescence dense; spike-like, but the 

 spikelets distributed all round the stem. 



