1920 CLIII. GRAMINE^. [Lepturus. 



about 4 lines long without the poiiitr^ ' Outer glume closely appressed, almost 

 embraced by the margins of the cavity; finely many-nerved, tapering into a short 

 or long point, 2nd glume thin and hyaline, acute, concave, enclosing a palea 

 nearly as long and a hermaphrodite flower, the rhachis of the spikelet shortly, 

 continued at the back of the palea and bearing a small thin hyaline empty glume. 

 — Brongn. in Duperr. Voy. Bot. 57, t. 16. 



Hab.: Islands of the Gulf of Carpentaria, R. Brown ; Bird Islet, Wreck Beef, Denham ; 

 B?ilne Island, Cape York, Challenger Expedition ; and many other localities on the tropical 

 coast. 



Also in the islands of the South Pacific. 



92. *TRITICUM, Linn. 

 (The old name of wheat.) 



Annual or biennial grasses. Leaves flat. 8pikelets few-flowered, tumid, 

 sessile, distichously spicate, solitary, with their sides opposite cavities in the 

 articulate or inarticulate rhachis ; upper flowers male or neuter. Glumes rigid, 

 often unequal -sided, 1st and 2nd empty, obtuse or shortly awned, ' few-nerved;' 

 persistent ; flowering glumes oblong or ventricose, dorsally rounded or keeled 

 above, awnless or 1 to 3-awned, 5 to 9-nerved, lateral nerves not conniving with 

 the central ; keels of palea ciliate. Lodicule.^ entire, ciliate. Stamens 3. Styles 

 very short. Grain grooved ventrally, often hairy, free or adherent to the palea. 



Species few. Oriental. 



1. T. vulgare (common), Vill. Hist, PL Damph. ii. 153 ; Hook, in Fl. Brit, 

 hid. vii. 367. The Common Wheat. — T. sativum, Lam. 



Hab.: Met with as a stray from cultivation. 



Attacked by the following fungi; — The plant by Ustilago segetum, Bull, and Puocinia 

 graminis, Pers.; the ear by Fusarium heterosporum, Link. ; the grain by Tilletia caries, Tul. 



93. AGROPYRUM, Beauv. 

 (From agros, a field, and pyros, wheat ; closely allied to the wheat.) 



Spikelets several-flowered, more or less flattened, distichous and alternately 

 sessile on the continuous or slightly notched rhachis of a simple spike, one face 

 of the spikelet next the general rhachis, the rhachis of the spikelet more or less 

 articulate under the flowering glumes. Glumes rounded on the back or scarcely 

 keeled, tapering into points or awns, the flowering ones 3 to 7-nerved, the 2 

 outer empty ones usually shorter, narrower, 3 or rarely 1-nerved. Palea nearly 

 as long as the glume, the 2 prominent nerves almost marginal, scabrous- 

 ciliate. Ovary pubescent at the top. Styles short, distinct. Grain free or 

 slightly adhering to the palea. 



The genus is widely spread over the temperate regions of the globe. 



1. A. scabram (rough), Beauv. Agrost. 102 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 665. 

 Very variable as to stature, sometimes under 1ft. high, slender with short 

 filiform leaves and from that to 3 or 4ft. with narrow spreading flat or convolute 

 leaves. Spike usually 6in. to 1ft. long, the rhachis scarcely notched. Spikelets 

 distant, sessile, erect, f to lin long without the awns, narrow, 6 to 20-flowered ; 

 in the small specimens sometimes only 1 or 2 spikelets. Glumes narrow, 

 rigid, straw-coloured, mostly about 5-nerved, not distinctly keeled, the 2 outer 

 empty ones rather shorter, tapering into short points, the flowering ones 4 to 6 

 lines long without the awns, tapering into fine .straight or at length spreading 

 awns mostly longer than the glumes and sometimes above lin. long, those 

 of the upper and of the lower glumes often not so long as the intermediate 

 ones. Palea obtuse. — Turner Ag. Gaz. N.S.W. ii.; Festuca scabr^, Labill. PI. 

 Nov, Holl. i. 22, t. 26; Triticum scabrum, R. Br. Prod. 178; Hook. f. Fl. 



