9. Perotis. GRAMINEAE. 57 



3-nerved, with a palea about as long as itself. Rigid perennial almost glabrous grasses 

 with leafy stems, ligule of hairs, and bulb-like rootstocks massed together. 



Spike ovoid N. alopecuroides 1. 



Spike narrow-cylindrical. 



First glume with a window-like cavity ; hairy N. Mitchelliana 2. 



First glume opaque, almost glabrous N. Munroi 3. 



1. N. alODecuroides, R. Br. Leaves mostly basal, short, rigid ; spike ovoid or oblong, 

 2-2^ cm. long, dark ; spikelets 6-8 mm. long ; 2 outer glumes acuminate, 7-9-nerved 

 silky- villous, 3rd glume 7 -nerved. 



Most parts of the State. Sept. -Dec. 



2. N. Mitchelliana, Nees. Mulga grass. Rootstock woolly ; spikes narrow-cylindrical, 

 2-4 cm. long, light-colored ; spikelets about 4 mm. long ; 1st glume 5-nerved, bearded 

 at base, with a membranous transparent cavity in its lower half and a tuft of long hairs 

 above the cavity ; 2nd glume villous-ciliate in the lower half, obtuse or minutely 3- 

 toothed at summit. 



Far North and Murray River district. Oct. -April. 



3. N. Munroi, F. v. M. Resembles the preceding, but the spikelets are 5-6 mm. long, 

 the 1st glume glabrous or almost so and without a transparent cavity ; 2nd glume acutely 

 acuminate, prominently nerved, villous-ciliate in lower half. 



Far North and North -West ; Murray district. Oct. -April. 



9. PEROTIS, Ait. 

 (Greek peros,> deficient ; alluding probably to the minute palea.) 



1. P. rara, R. Br. Slender perennial almost glabrous grass ; leaves lanceolate ; ligule 

 very short, ciliolate ; spikelets 1 -flowered, subulate, finally reflexed, 2-3 cm. long (with 

 the awns), forming a spike 8-20 cm. long; outer glumes 2, linear, rigid, long-awned ; 

 flowering glume smaller, hyaline ; palea minute. 



Far North. 



Tribe 3. Paniceae. Flowering glume and palea firmer in texture than the outer glumes, 

 the lowest glume usually smaller than the 2nd ; spikelets falling off singly from the branches 

 of a panicle or from the non-articulated rhachis of the spike ; hilum punctiform. 



10. PASPALUM, L. 



(Greek paspalos, millet.) 



1. P. distichum, L. Perennial grass, with creeping rootstock and ascending stems, 

 glabrous except at the orifice of the leaf -sheaths ; ligule short, obtuse ; spikelets 1- 

 flowered, 3-4 mm. long, dorsally compressed, sessile in 2 rows along one side of the flattened 

 rhachis of twin terminal spikes 2-5 cm. long ; outer glumes 2, membranous, equal, 3- 

 nerved ; flowering glume and palea hardened as in Panicum. 



Rooting in moist sand, Waterfall Gully ; River Torrens ; Murray Bridge. Native of 

 eastern Australia and many warm countries ; not recorded here until 1908, and perhaps 

 introduced. Dec. -Mar. 



11. ERIOCHLOA, H. B. et K. 



(Greek erion, wool; khloe, grass.) 



1. E. punctata (L.), Hamilt. Erect perennial with leafy stems, glabrous except the 

 inflorescence ; ligule of short white hairs ; spikelets 1 -flowered, pedicellate, 3-4 mm. 

 long, with a hardened cuplike base, which is articulate on the short pedicel ; spikelets 

 arranged in 2 rows along the rhachis of racemes which form the branches of a simple 

 panicle ; outer glumes 2, equal, 5-nerved, acuminate, silky-hairy ; flowering glume 

 shorter, with a short terminal point or awn, coriaceous as in Panicum. — E. annulata 

 (Fluegge), Kunth ; E. polystachya, H. B. et K. 



Var. acrotricha, Benth. Outer glumes silky-villous, tapering into long points or awns, 

 1st glume 10 mm. long, 2nd glume 7-8 mm. 



Far North. Oct. -Aug. 



12. ISACHNE, R. Br. 



(Greek isos, equal ; akhrie, glume : all the glumes are nearly equal.) 

 1. I. australis, R. Br. Slender perennial grass, with creeping rootstock ; leaves flat, 

 rather rough ; ligule of hairs ; spikelets ovoid, slightly compressed dorsally, small (about 

 2 mm. long), enclosing 1 female flower and 1 male flower below it, or 2 bisexual flowers, 

 on capillary pedicels not articulate below the outer glumes, but the rhachilla of the spikelet 

 articulate above them ; spikelets forming a loose panicle with many filiform branches ; 

 outer glumes 2, ovate, convex, 5-7 -nerved, nearly equal ; flowering glume and palea 

 almost as long, hardened and shaped as in Panicum. 

 Swampy land at Myponga (Mount Lofty Range). 



