70 GRAMINEAE. 34. Gastridium. 



or below the middle of the glume and about 5 mm. long ; tuft I as long as flowering glume, 

 and the plumose bristle about ^ as long. — C, aemula, Steud. ; Deyeuxia Foster i, Kunth. ; 

 D. plebeja, Benth. ; Agrostis Solandri, F. v. M. 



Common throughout the State. Sept. -Feb. 



Var. Billardieri, Maid, et Betche. Outer glumes usually 6-7 mm. long, but not always 

 longer than type ; flowering glume glabrous, except that a few minute hairs are some- 

 times present near the summit. — Deyeuxia Billardieri, Kunth. 



Sea-coasts and some distance inland. 



2. C. aequata (Nees), J. M. Black. Leaves flat, narrow ; panicle loose, with spreading 

 capillary branches, the lower whorled, the upper in pairs ; outer glumes barely 2 mm. 

 long ; flowering glume shorter, truncate, with 4 very short teeth and no awn ; tuft ^ as 

 long as flowering glume ; bristle short, plumose , palea as long as flowering glume. — 

 Deyeuxia aequata, Benth. 



Only known from a single specimen in the Tate Herbarium, collected at Nelson, Glenelg 

 River, close to our South-Eastern border. Resembles Agrostis hiemalis (Walt.), B.S. et 

 P. (A. scabra, Willd.), which probably accounts for the inclusion of the latter species in 

 Tate's Flora for the Mount Gambier district. 



3. C. quadriseta (Labill.), Spreng. Glabrous perennial, sometimes rather tall; leaves 

 flat or finally inrolled ; ligule long, truncate, glabrous ; panicle dense and cylindrical, 

 sometimes slightly lobed, 5-15 cm. long ; outer glumes narrow, acute, subequal, 3^-5 mm. 

 long ; flowering glume shorter, usually minutely scabrous, 4-nerved and with 4 teeth, 

 of which the two inner are usually the longest ; awn almost basal, included or shortly 

 exserted beyond the outer glumes ; tuft about J as long as flowering glume ; bristle 

 usually represented by a minute ovoid or conical glabrous extension of the rhachilla and 

 sometimes bearing an empty awned glume. — Deyeuxia quadriseta, Benth. ; Agrostis 

 quadriseta, R. Br. 



Mount Lofty Range ; Kangaroo Island ; Flinders Range. Oct. -Jan. 



4. C. densa (Benth.), Maid, et Betche. Rather slender, glabrous grass ; leaves narrow ; 

 ligule short, rounded, glabrous ; panicle narrow but lobed towards the base, 8-16 cm. 

 long (denser and shorter in the type) ; outer glumes 4|-5 mm. long, flowering glume 

 slightly shorter, scabrous on the nerves and with 4 very short teeth ; awn attached a little 

 above the middle and shortly exserted ; tuft short ; bristle hairy, about £ as long as the 

 flowering glume. — Deyeuxia densa, Benth. ; Agrostis densa, F. v. M. 



Mount Lofty Range. Nov.-Apl. 



5. C. minor (Benth.), J. M. Black. A slender grass, shorter than the preceding ; leaves 

 filiform ; ligule rather long, truncate ; panicle spikelike, cylindrical or slightly lobed, 

 2-4 cm. long ; outer glumes broad, about 4 mm. long ; flowering glume shorter, broad, 

 with 4 prominent scabrous nerves (the 5th only reaching to the insertion of the awn), 

 4-toothed at summit, finely tuberculate in lower half ; awn inserted near middle of flowering 

 glume ; tuft ^ as long as glume ; no bristle. — Deyeuxia minor, Benth. 



Mount Lofty. Nov. -Jan. 



34. GASTRIDIUM, Beauv. 

 (Diminutive of Greek gaster, abdomen ; spikelets swollen at base.) 

 *1. G. lendigerum (L.), Gaudin. Nitgrass. Glabrous annual; leaves narrow, rough 

 on the edges ; ligule lanceolate ; spikelets 1 -flowered, arranged in a silvery cylindrical 

 spikelike panicle, 4-10 cm. long, the rhachilla continued in a plumose bristle ; outer glumes 

 2, keeled, swollen and shining at base, the 1st 5-6 mm. long, the 2nd shorter ; flowering 

 glume much shorter (1£ mm.), pubescent, usually with a short fine awn rising from below 

 the toothed summit ; grain ovoid. 



Adelaide plains ; Mount Lofty and Flinders Ranges ; Eyre's Peninsula. Oct. -Dec. — 

 Mediterranean region. 



35. DICHELACHNE, Endl. 



(Greek dikhelos, cloven-footed ; akhne, glume : the flowering glume is 2-lobed.) 



Spikelets 1 -flowered, paniculate, the rhachilla not continued in a bristle ; outer glumes 



2, persistent, membranous, keeled ; flowering glume on a short hairy callus, conspicuously 



2-lobed, with a slender awn affixed on the back of the glume and a little below the lobes ; 



anthers glabrous. Perennial grasses resembling Stipa in habit. 



Awns long and concealing the spikelets of the broad panicle D. crinita 1. 

 Awns shorter and less conspicuous ; panicle narrower D. sciurea 2. 



1. D. crinita (L. f.), Hook f. Plume grass. Tall grass, with flat glabrous or pubescent 

 leaves ; panicle dense, spikelike but rather broad, 10-20 cm. long, silvery and very hairy 

 owing to the numerous awns ; outer glumes subequal, narrow, hyaline, about 8 mm. long ; 

 flowering glume shorter, with a slender dorsal untwisted awn which is 3-5 cm. long. 



Throughout the moister districts, as far north as the Flinders Range. 



2. D. sciurea (R. Br.), Hook f. Shorter and more slender, about 50 cm. high ; panicle 

 narrower and looser, 8-15 cm. long ; awns l|-2£ cm. long, less numerous, bent and twisted 

 below the knee. 



Mount Lofty Range and South-East. 



