43. Holcus. GR AMINE AE. 73 



43. HOLCUS, L. 



(Latin form of Greek hollcos, some species of grass.) 



* 1. H. lanatllS, L. Yorkshire Fog. Erect softly villous perennial ; panicle downy, 

 oval-oblong, light-pink to violet ; spikelets 2-flowered, the lower flower bisexual, the 

 upper male, both stalked ; outer glumes 4-5 mm. long, enclosing the flowering glumes, 

 which are much smaller, the upper one with a curved dorsal awn not exceeding the outer 

 glumes. 



Moist places. Oct. -Mar. — Europe. 



44. AMPHIBROMUS, Nees. 

 (Greek amphi, about ; bromos, oat : near the genus Avena.) 

 1. A. nervosus (R. Br.), Hook f. Glabrous erect grass; spikelets 3-7 -flowered, longer 

 than the outer glumes, on capillary pedicels in a narrow panicle, 10-25 cm. long ; outer 

 glumes 2, acuminate, 3-5-nerved, the 1st shorter; flowering glume 5-8 mm. long, stiff, 

 scabrous, with a tuft of hairs at base, 5 nerves reaching the toothed summit and a bent 

 reddish awn attached about the middle of the back ; grain deeply furrowed. (Fig. 18.) 

 — A. Neesii, Steud. ; Danthonia nervosa, Hook f. 



Mount Lofty and Flinders Ranges ; South-East ; River Murray. 



45. DANTHONIA, DC. 



(After Danthoine, a French botanist.) 

 Spikelets several-flowered, paniculate or racemose, with a hairy callus at base ; outer 

 glumes 2, persistent, keeled, acute, several-nerved, as long as or longer than the flowers ; 

 flowering glumes smaller, convex on the back, rigid, 7-9-nerved, deeply cut into 2 lateral 

 lobes, with a bent awn rising between them ; grain scarcely furrowed. Perennials. 

 A. Awn equalling or slightly exceeding the lobes of the 

 flowering glume. 



Lobes much longer than base D. bipartita I. 



Lobes shorter or scarcely longer than base D. carphoides 2. 



A. Awn much longer than lobes D. penicillata 3. 



1. D. bipartita, F. v. M. Base almost bulbous and rather woolly ; leaves flat, scabrous 

 on edges ; spikelets few, in a narrow panicle, 4-8-flowered ; outer glumes 10-15 mm. long ; 

 lobes of flowering glume broadly lanceolate, not awned and 3 times as long as the short 

 entire basal portion ; the central awn scarcely longer than the lobes. 



Oodnadatta to Musgrave Ranges. Spring. 



2. D. carphoides, F. v. M. Usually a short grass ; leaves inrolled-filiform, glabrous 

 or with short scattered hairs ; panicle or raceme dense, ovate, 1 J-3 cm. long ; spikelets 

 few, 3-6-flowered ; outer glumes 6-8 mm. long, broad and green when flowering, with 

 broad white margins ; lobes of flowering glume shorter or slightly longer than base ; 

 awn equalling or somewhat exceeding the lobes. 



Adelaide plains northward to Hallett ; Mount Lofty Range ; South-East. 



3. D. penicillata (Labill.), F. v. M. Wallaby Grass. Stems 10-50 cm. high; leaves 

 inrolled-filiform or setaceous ; panicle ovate-oblong, dense or rather loose, 3-10 cm. long ; 

 spikelets erect, 15-25 mm. long with the awns, 6-8-flowered ; outer glumes 10-18 mm. 

 long, exceeding the flowers without the awns ; lateral lobes of the flowering glume tapering 

 into the fine awns and much longer than the basal entire part, which is more or less covered 

 by long white hairs, often arranged in tufts ; central awn exceeding the lobes. — D. race- 

 mosa. D. semiannularis, R. Br. 



All over the State except the Far North. Spring and summer. 



Var. setacea. Resembles D. carphoides, having the same short dense panicle, but the 

 lateral lobes are awned and twice as long as the base, and the awn is longer than they. — 

 D. setacea, R. Br. 



46. PENTASCHISTIS, Stapf. 



(Greek pente, five ; skhistos? cut : the flowering glume has about 5 divisions at the 



summit.) 



* 1. P. Thunbergii (Kunth), Stapf. Perennial about 30 cm. high with narrow leaves 

 bearded at orifice of sheath ; spikelets 2-flowered, numerous, in a golden-brown rather 

 dense ovate panicle, 2-5 cm. long ; outer glumes 2, membranous, 1 -nerved, 4-5 mm. long, 

 enclosing the small flowers, of which only the awns protrude ; flowering glume hairy, 

 with 2 lobes and a bent and twisted central awn rising between the lobes, which have each 

 a short, slender awn or bristle at the inner side of the summit and 2 teeth at the outer side. 



Golden Grove, near Adelaide. Nov. -Dec. — South Africa. 



Tribe 8. Festuceae. Spikelets 2 -several-flowered, pedicellate, paniculate ; the flowering 

 parts of the spikelet usually longer than the outer glumes ; flowering glumes awnless 

 or with a terminal or almost terminal straight awn. 



