1830 CLIII. GEAMINEiE. [Fanicum- 



39. P. marginatum (margined), R. Br. Prod. 190 ; Bmth. Fl. Austr. vii. 

 485. A rather slender but often rigid grass, decumbent branching and often 

 rooting at the base, ascending to 1ft. or more, glabrous except the cilia at the 

 orifice of the sheaths, and the rhachis of the inflorescence often slightly pube- 

 scent. Leaves flat, usually narrow, but exceedingly variable in size. Panicle 

 narrow, in the typical form 1^ to 3in. long, of few erect or scarcely spreading 

 simple or slightly divided branches. Spikelets irregularly crowded along the 

 branches or sometimes almost in a single row, ovoid, obtuse, or scarcely 'acute, 

 about IJ line long. Outer glume very thin, not ^ the length of the spikelet, 1- 

 nerved or faintly 3-nerved ; 2nd and 3rd glumes nearly equal and similar, both 

 empty membranous, 3 or 5-nerved, glabrous. Fruiting glume rather shorter, 

 slightly hardened and densely silky-pubescent or villous as well as the exposed 

 part of the palea.— Trin. Spec. Gram. ii. t. 209 ; F. v. M. Fragm. viii. 190 ; 

 Sieb. Agrostoth. n. 69 ; Maid. Gr. N.S.W. 46. 



Hab.: Wide and Moreton Bays, F. v. Mueller, Leichhardt and others ; Rockhampton, 

 O'Shanesy. 



Var. majus. Stems tall, with broad leaves 6in. long, the lower branches of the panicle 3 or 

 4in. and the spikelets above IJ line long. 

 Hab.: Chiefly in Leichhardt's eoUeotions. — Benth. 



Var. strietum. Stems slender, rigid, much branched, with very short narrow leaves, the 

 panicle narrow, very little branched, and sometimes reduced to a simple interrupted spike. — P. 

 strietum, B. Br. Prod. 190; Trin. Spec. Gram. ii. t. 179 ; Sieb. Agrostoth. n. 71 and 90. 



Amid-t all its varieties which it sometimes seems difficult to unite, this species is readily 

 known by the dense pubescence of the fruiting glume which has not been observed in any other 

 Fanicum. Some specimens seem to show that the P. strietum is rather an after-growth from 

 plants that have been out down, than a distinct variety. — Btnth. 



40. P. lachnophyllum (leaves woolly), Benth Fl. Aiistr. vii. 486. A low 

 decumbent grass, with ascending branches of 6 to Sin. Leaves very spreading, 

 rather rigid, acute, softly pubescent on both sides, the sheaths softly villous, the 

 ligula reduced to cilia. Panicle narrow, erect, not much branched, 1 to 2in. 

 long. Spikelets very shortly pedicellate or almost sessile, ovoid, obtuse, rather 

 under 1 line long. Outer glume small, ovate, rather acute, 2nd and 3rd glumes 

 nearly equal, membranous, 5-nerved, both empty. Fruiting glume smooth and 

 shining, but tipped with a slight pubescence. 



Hab.: Moreton Bay. C. Stuart. 



41. P. obseptum (a stoppage), Trin. Gram. Panic. Diss. ii. 149 ; Benth. Fl. 

 Austr. vii. 486. A weak glabrous grass, decumbent at the base or creeping in 

 the mud and shortly ascending. Leaves narrow, the ligula a ring of cilia. 

 Panicle narrow and loose, 1 to 2in. long, of few simple or scarcely divided 

 branches. Spikelets few, all pedicellate, the upper ones of each primary branch 

 solitary, the lower ones 2 or 3 together on short secondary branches, all narrow- 

 ovoid, 1 to IJ line long, quite glabrous, rather obtuse. Outer glume short, 

 broad, nerv.eless, truncate or shortly acute, the 2nd and 3rd equal or nearly so,, 

 membranous, 5-nerved, both empty. Fruiting glume rather acute, smooth and; 

 shining. 



Hab.: Islands of Moreton Bay to the border of N.S.W., near Wallangarra. 



The shape of the spikelets and glumes would suggest that this might be a very reduced form 

 of P. deeompositum, but none of the rather numerous specimens show any tendency to a further 

 development and there is no vestige of a palea in the 3rd glume. — Benth. 



42. P. Buncei (after — Bunce), F. v. .V. Herb. ; Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 

 487. A glabrous perennial of 1 to 2ft. Leaves long and narrow, the ligula 

 prominent, bordered by a few long cilia. Panicle narrow, rather loose, not much 

 branched, 3 to 4in. long, the branches filiform and flexuose. Spikelets several' 

 along the smaller branches, rather acute, nearly 2 lines long. Outer glume 

 Oroad and loose, thin, almost truncate, 1 or 3-nerved, J or J the length of the 



