Genus Danthonia. 
Sub-Order Avenace^e. 
Order GRAMINEAE. 
L—DANTHONIA CUNNINGHAM II. 
SMALL-FLOWERED OAT TUSSAC GRASS. 
(Plate XXIX.) 
Danthonia Antarctica, Var. B. laxifolia, Hook, fib, FI. X.Z., I., 303. 
Agrostis pilosa, A. Cunn., not A. Rich. 
Danthonia rigida, Hook, hi., FI. N.Z., I., t. 69A., not Raoul. 
Danthonia Cunninghamii, Hook, fil., Handb. N.Z. Flora, I., 332. 
A large tussac grass, found from sea-level to 2500 feet altitude. Flowers December—January. 
Culms 3—5-feet high, J-inch diameter, glabrous or pilose below. Leaves 3—4-feet long, coriaceous, 
concave, J-inch broad, glabrous ; sheaths broad ; ligule o, or a narrow line of short hairs round the 
mouth of sheath. Panicle large, drooping, 10—18-inches long, branches many or few in distant pairs, 
or single, very slender, 6—12-inches long, pubescent. Spikelets alternate on the branches, J—J-inch 
long, 2—8-flowered. Empty glumes unequal, 3-nerved. Flowering glume deeply 2-fid, 9-nerved, 
glabrous or sprinkled with hairs on lower half, fringed on margins with long hairs; awn recurved or 
straight, not flattened or twisted at the base, pedicel tufted with long hairs. Pcilea bifid on top, and 
with long straggling hairs on the margins. Scales linear-oblong, acute, crowned with long cilia. 
Distribution of Species : NEW ZEALAND. 
This grass is widely distributed in New Zealand, but seldom anywhere abundant. It varies much 
in size in different localities, but, although found growing under considerable differences of climate, 
little change can be observed in its structure, a small-flowered form found on the shores of Hicks Bay, 
Auckland, being nearly identical with specimens from the Mataura Valley, Southland. The sub-alpine 
forms of this grass also show little change, thus affording an argument in favour of the two species 
D. Raoulii and D. jlavescens being distinct from the present. The twisted awn in the latter species is ? 
however, of very little importance as a specific distinction, being very inconstant, and apparently 
varying with the amount of moisture in the atmosphere at the time of flowering. From some such 
cause the broad awns of both D. Raoulii and D. Jlavescens are frequently straight on one half of the 
panicle, and it is sometimes difficult to find a single twisted awn on an entire panicle. 
Much that has been said regarding the economic value of the various species of Arunclo as fodder 
plants, may also be applied to the large tussac Danthonias , but the full value of these large grasses 
cannot be satisfactorily proved without a certain amount of cultivation. The Danthonias possess a 
