1890 CLIII. GKAMINEiE. [Avena. 



Flowering glumes 2 or 3, scarcely so long, of a firm texture at tha base, and 

 covered outside with long brown hairs. Awn fully twice as long as the spikelet, 

 twisted at the base, abruptly bent about the middle. Ovary hairy. 

 Hab.: Naturalised in many southern localities. 



A common weed of cultivation in all corn countries, probably a native of the east 

 Mediterranean region. 



66. DANTHONIA, DC. 



(After M. Danthoine.) 



Spikelets several-flowered, pedicellate or rarely almost sessile, in a panicle 

 eithe.r loose or reduced to a single raceme, the rhachis of the spikelet articulate 

 above the outer glumes, hairy round the flowering ones. Outer empty glumes 2, 

 narrow, keeled, acute, unawned, usually as long as the spikelet. Flowering 

 glumes convex at the back, usually 9-nerved, with 2 rigid or scarious terminal 

 lobes more or less 1 or 3-nerved at least at the base, and a twisted and bent awn 

 between them. Palea broad, as long as or usually longer than the entire part 

 of the glume, obtuse or 2-pointed. Styles distinct. Ovary glabrous. Grain free. 



The genus extends over New Zealand, South Africa and the temperate regions jof the 

 northern hemisphere, with a very few tropical species in Africa, Asia and America. 



Sect. I. ItXonacItatliera. — Panicle almost reduced to a raceme or very short. Flowering 

 glumes with a broad obliquely turbinate hard base a/nd ciliate with long hairs, the awn shorter 

 or scarcely longer than the lobes. 



Spikelets distant, in an almost simple raceme. Lobes of the flowering 



glumes lanceolate, 2 or 3 times as long as the base 1. X). bipartita. 



Sect. II. Eudanthonia. — Flowering glume ovoid or oblong at the base, scarcely oblique, 

 filiate at least at the base. Aioti longer than the lateral lobes. 



Panicle loose. Spikelets numerous. Hairs of the flojvering glume 

 marginal and scattered or in longitudinal series on the back; lateral 



lobes acute or scarcely awned . , 2. JD. pallida. 



Panicle rather dense. Flowering glumes very small, with copious long 



hairs, lateral lobes very short long awns. Leaves long and filiform . . 3. JD. longifolia. 

 Panicle narrow or dense, Flo"vering glumes oblong, with long marginal 

 cilia but very few hairs on the back. 

 Stems under 2ft. high. Leaves narrow. Panicle reduced to a single 



raceme or the lower pedicels with two spikelets . . 4. D. racemosa. 



Stems under 2ft;. high. Leaves very narrow. Panicle dense .... 5. D. pilosa. 

 Panicle dense or rather loose. Flowering glumes oblong, with a ring of 

 long hairs at or below the bas" of the lobes. Outer glumes not much 

 exceeding the spikelet. Leaves narrow but not setaceous . . . 6. Z). semiannularis. 



1, S. bipartita (2-parted), F. v. M. Fragm. i. 160; Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 

 592. Stems from an almost bulbous often woolly base 1 to 2ft. high. Leaves 

 flat but narrow, glabrous or sprinkled with long hairs. Panicle almost reduced 

 to a simple raceme of 3 to Gin. Spikelets few, on short erect distant pedicels, 

 or the lower pedicels shortly branched, with 2 or 8 spikelets. Outer glumes 

 herbaceous, many-nerved, 5 to 8 lines long, tapering into fine points. Flowering 

 glumes 4 to 8, scarcely exceeding the outer ones, the oblique base a little more 

 than 1 line long aud broad, with a dense ring of long hairs under the lobes. 

 Lobes narrow-lanceolate, very acute, unawned, 3 to 4 lines long, the central 

 awn scarcely longer. Palea obtuse or truncated — Monachather paradoxus, Steud. 

 Syn. Glum. i. 247.; Turner Ag. Gaz. N.S.W., ii. 

 Hab.: Southern localities. 



2. D. pallida (pale coloured), R. Br. Prod. 177 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 

 592. White-topped Grass. Stems 2ft. high or more, often rigid but not stout. 

 Leaves long, terete when dry, very narrow, and sometimes as slender as in 

 D. longifolia, the sheaths more or less ciliate at the orifice. Panicle usually 



