Aim.] OLXxlii. GHAMiNE^. (J. D. Hooker.) 273 



scabrid, ligule long. Panicle 1-2 iu. long and broad. Spikelets -^Js in., ovoid, 

 shining, gl. I and II ovate, exceeding II and III, keels scabrid ; tips of flg. gls. 

 2-BetOBe ; awn twice as long as the gls., bent. 



81. SESCKAMFSXA, Beauv. 



Perennial grasses. Leaves flat or convolute. Spikelets 2- (rarely 3-) fld. 

 (both fl. perfect) panicled, not jointed on their pedicels ; rachilla jointed 

 at the base, produced beyond gl. IV as a naked or peliioillate stipes rarely 

 bearing a male fl. Glumes 4; I and II empty, subequal, or II largest, 

 persistent, keeled, acute, membranous, shining; III and IV subhyaline, 

 tip toothed or lobed ; awn dorsal, slender, straight or twisted ; palea narrow, 

 2-nerved. Lodicules ovate, fleshy. Siamens 3. Styles distinct. Orain 

 oblong, free within the gl. — Species about 20, of temp, regions. 



1. D. caespitosa, Beauv. Agrost. 91, t. 18, f . 3 ; stem short or tall, 

 panicle effase or contracted, spikelets variable in size, gl. I and II ovate- 

 lanceolate acute subequal or II rather longer, IV hardly exceeding II, 

 awn about equalling the gl., straight not twisted. Kunth Enum. PI. i. 

 286, Swppl. 241 J Ledeb. Fl. Ross. iv. 421; T. Nees Qen. Fl. Germ. 

 Monocot. i. n. 43 ; Boiss. Fl. Orient, v. 531 ; Benth. Fl. Austral, vii. 587 ; 

 Eoolc.f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 301 ; Duthie Grass. N.W. Ind. 31. Aira caespitosa, 

 JAnn.Sp.Pl. 64; Fl. Ban. ii. t. 210; Engl. Bo*, t. 1453; Knapp Gram. 

 Britt. t. 33 ; Trin. 8p. Gram. Ic. t. 253, 256 ; Beichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. t. 96. 

 A. Kingii, Hook.f. Fl. Antarct. 376, t. 135. A. major, Syme Engl. Bot. Ed. 

 III. xi. 63. A. micans, Jacquem. mss. Triodia splendida. Steud. Syn. 

 Gram. 249.— Deschampsia, Wall. Gat. n. 3802; Gramin. Wall. I.e. n. 8911. 



Tempebate and Alpine Himala.ta and Westebn Tibet, in swamps from 

 Kashmir to Bhotan, alt. 10-16,500 ft. — Distbib, N. and S. temp, and cold 

 regions. 



Stem 6 in. to nearly 3 feet high, stout or slender, smooth, shining, leafy upwards 

 or in small states at the Base chiefly. Leaves short or long, flat, rather softly 

 coriaceous, quite smooth ; sheaths smooth, upper very long; ligule obtuse. Panicle 

 iS in., short dense-fld. and erect, or lax-fld. efl^use and inclined, spariiigly branched ; 

 branches and pedicels capillary, smooth or minutely sparsely scaberulons. Spikelets 

 T-i in., white and silvery or fulvous purplish ; rachilla slender, hairy ; gl. I and II 

 concave, subacute, nerveless, or II which is broadest sub-3-nerved ; III and IV 

 truncate, erose, crenate or irregularly toothed, callus silkily hairy; awn dorsal, sub- 

 basal. — I have not attempted to give all the synonymy of this almost cosmopolitan 

 (in temperate regions) and very variable plant which, I think, includes fully a dozen 

 supposed species of the N. temperate and Arctic zones. Wallich's n. 8911 "Aira 

 coerulea, iI6. Madr." was long a puzzle to me. It is accompanied with the ticket 

 "Aira coerulea, BU tk tel," which latter word Dr. Stapf recognized as the Swedish 

 for Molvnia coerulea. No doubt the specimen, which is of Deschampsia ccespitosa, 

 is a Swedish one, and was introduced by accident into the M idras Herbarium. 



Var. colorata, Griseb. Spicil. Fl. Rumel. ii. 457; stem short strict 4-6 in., 

 leaves short basal, panicle small broadly ovate dense-fld., pedicels and branohlets 

 very short, spikelets dark bronzy-yellow, sometimes 3-fld., Soiss. I. c. D. Bieber- 

 Bteinianus, Seh. f. Mant. ii. 380. D. brevifolia, -Br. in Parry Yoy. App. 191. 

 Aira brevifolia, Bieb. Fl. Taur. Cauc. iii. 63. A. triflora, Trin. in Flora, i. 

 (1836) 433. A. Wilhelmsii, Steud. 8yn. G-ram. 219.— Western Tibet ; Baloh Pass, 

 alt. 16,500 ft., atrach. ^ Wiaterb. Sikkim, alt. 14-16,000 ft., J. D. B. 



2. D. koelerioides« Begel in Bull. Sac. Nat. Mosc. xli. (1868) 299 ; 

 stem short, leaves basal linear erect, panicle short ovoid or subspioiform, 

 VOL. VII. T 



