Alopecurus.~\ 
XII. GRAMINEzE. 
321 
1. A. geniculatus, Linn. ; — Fl. N. Z. i. 290. Culms prostrate and 
creeping- at the base, then erect, 1-2 ft. high. Leaves glabrous, soft, flat ; 
sheaths large, grooved ; ligule long, membranous. Spike green, downy, 
1^-2^ in. long, cylindric ; rachis woolly. Empty glumes connate at the very 
base only, membranous, very flat, keel with long bristles ; awn variable in 
length and position, recurved. Pale 0. 
Northern and Middle Islands : marshy places, not unfrequent; east coast, Colcnso ; 
Canterbury, Lyall ; Lake Okau, Haast ; Otago, lake district, alpine, Hector and Buchanan. 
A very common European, North American, and North Asiatic Grass, also found in Victoria 
and Tasmania ; the common “ Foxtail Grass” of England. 
A. agrestis, Linn., introduced into New Zealand, may be known by the outer glumes con- 
nate to the middle ( Wellington , Stephenson, No. 111). 
Phleum pratense, Linn., is another English naturalized Grass, distinguished from Atope- 
curus, which it closely resembles in characters, by the awned outer glumes. 
Anthoxanthurrc odoratum, Linn., a very common and widely distributed European Grass, 
which gives the sweet smell to new-made hay, is widely dispersed in New Zealand, and has 
been gathered in a viviparous state at 3-4000 ft. on Mount Cook by Haast. It may be re- 
cognized by its scent (of Hierochloe ) when drying, and the oblong spiked panicle, 2 outer 
empty glumes, 2 next also empty, both awned, and the fourth, or flowering, very short, awn- 
less, with 2 stamens. 
Phalaris Canariensis, Linn., another allied introduced Grass, has a large ovoid spiked 
panicle, and the glumes are large and winged at the keel, with green lines on each side ; it 
is common in many places, and was gathered by Forster. 
4. HIEROCHLOE, Gmelin. 
Erect, tufted, glabrous, sweet-scented, leafy grasses. Leaves flat or invo- 
lute, rather coriaceous. Panicles usually effuse.- — Spikelets ratlier large, broad, 
pedicelled, flattened, shining, 3-flowered ; 2 lower flowers male, terminal, 
hermaphrodite. Empty glumes nearly equal, oblong, keeled, obtuse or acute ; 
flowering similar, awnless, or with a terminal or dorsal, short, not twisted 
awn. Pale 2-nerved. Scales 2, 2-lobed. Stamens 2 in the male fl., 3 in 
the hermaphrodite. Grain free, terete. 
A beautiful genus of Grasses, natives of mountainous arctic and antarctic regions, and of 
South Africa. 
Outer glumes as long as the flowering. 
Culms 2-3 ft. Leaves long 1. H. redolens. 
Culms 1-2 ft. Leaves short 2. H. alpina. 
Outer glumes much longer than the flowering ones 3. II. Brunonis. 
1. H. redolens, Br. ; — Fl. N. Z. i. 300. Culms densely tufted, 2-3 
ft. high, rather stout, very soft and smooth. Leaves flat, quite smooth or 
slightly scabrid ; ligule broad, membranous. Panicle 6-10 in. long, nodding, 
branches capillary, slightly hairy, lower 2-3 in. long. Spikelets numerous, 
| in. long and broad, pale, very shining. Empty glumes 1-nerved, or 3-nerved 
at the very base ; inner 3-nerved to the middle ; 2 lower flowering-glumes ob- 
tuse, bearded below, downy above, margins and keel ciliated, 5-nerved, shortly 
awned below the top. — H. antarclica , Br.; DisarrJtena Antarcticum , Labill. 
El. Nov. Holl. ii. 83. t. 232. ; Torresia redolens , A. Cunn. 
Abundant in wet places throughout the islands, Banks and Solander, etc. Campbell's 
Island, J. D.H. Also common in Fuegia, Tasmania, and the Alps of South-West Australia. 
VOL. I. Y 
