328 
XII. GRAMINEjE. 
\_Agrostis. 
long, contracted, nodding, pale-green. Spikelets crowded on short, erect, 
hispid pedicels, -L in. long and upwards. Empty glumes nearly equal, lan- 
ceolate, long-acuminate ; keel ciliate, sides scaberulous ; flowering one sessile, 
half the length of the empty or shorter, glabrous, membranous, truncate ; awn 
from the middle of the back, rather recurved, longer than the spikelet. Pale 
0 or small. — A. multicaulis, Hook. f. PI. Antarct. i. 95 ; perhaps A. magel- 
lanica, Lamarck. 
Campbell's Island, on moist banks. The A. multicaulis of Campbell’s Island is cer- 
tainly only a small state of the common Chilian and Fuegian A. antarctica. Whether this 
be the same as Lamarck’s A. magellanica is still doubtful ; the Magellanic plant which 
1 have referred to the latter in the ‘ Flora Antarctica’ has a more open panicle, and a small 
beard at the base of the flowering glume. 
2. A. canina, Linn. ; — -FI. N. Z. i. 296. Culms tufted, leafy, 1-24 in. 
high, slender, smooth, and glabrous. Leaves flat or involute, glabrous ; 
sheaths quite smooth ; ligule oblong, obtuse, usually lacerated. Panicle open 
or contracted, usually ovate or lanceolate, 2-4 in. long; branches slender, 
lower wliorled, and slender pedicels slightly scabrid. Spikelets t V_T 2 ' n - 
long. Empty glumes nearly equal, lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous ; keel 
slightly ciliate ; flowering glume half the length of the outer, oblong, trun- 
cate ; awn dorsal or 0. Pale usually 0. 
Var. /3 ? Culms shorter, 1-5 in. high. Panicle much contracted, 1-1 J in. long; lower 
branches very short. — A. gelida , F. Muell. mss. 
Var. 7 P Culms very short, most densely tufted and moss-like, -|-2 in. high. Leaves 
subulate, often flaccid. Panicle minute, hidden amongst the leaves. Awn 0. Pale 0. — 
A. subulata, FI. Antarct. i. 95. t. 53 ; A. parviflora, fl. perpusilla, FI. N. Z. i. 296. 
Mountainous parts of the Northern and Middle Islands : var. a, Milford Sound, 
hjall ; alps of Canterbury, common, alt. 2-4000 ft., Sinclair and Haast. Var. $, Ruahine 
range, Colenso ; ascending higher than any other Grass on Mount Darwin, Haast; Otago, 
lake district, alpine, Hector and Buchanan. Var. y. Northern Island : snow rills, top 
of the Ruahine mountains, Colenso. Middle Island : Lake Tennyson, alt. 4400 ft., Tra- 
vers. Campbell’s Island, J. 1). H. 
There can be no question, I think, of the identity of this plant with the common Euro- 
pean A. canina , which also occurs commonly in Fuegia, and of which I have a specimen 
from Victoria, F. Mueller, labelled A. parviflora. I agree with Colonel Mnnro in thinking 
that A.fallclandica (FI. Antarct.) is a variety, and A. tenuifolia a third form. Of var. /3 I 
am not so sure. I have seen no European state of canina with so contracted a panicle, nor 
having such short lower branches. The foliage and flowers are, however, identical ; it has 
been found on the Australian Alps. Var. 7 is a very singular little plant, in a depau- 
perated state. Coleuso’s and Travers’s specimens entirely agree in size and habit. The 
Campbell Island ones are larger, and may be different ; but much more numerous specimens 
are wanted of all. 
3. A. parviflora, Br. ; — FI. N. Z. i. 296. Culms slender, erect, or 
prostrate at the base, tufted, 6-8 in. high, glabrous. Leaves very narrow, 
flat involute or setaceous ; ligule oblong, truncate, lacerate. Panicle of few 
lax, long, capillary, 3-chotomous, scabrid branches, opposite or 2- or 3-nate. 
Spikelets minute, -jL— T V in. long, pale-green. Empty glumes spreading, 
nearly equal, glabrous, scabrid on the keel ; flowering glume one-third shorter, 
quite glabrous, truncate ; nerves faint ; awn, if present, dorsal, included. 
Pale minute or 0. — FI. Tasm. ii. 113. t. 158 B. 
Northern Island: probably common, but overlooked; east coast, Patea village and 
shores of Cook’s Straits, Colenso. Middle Island : Otago, lake district, Hector and 
