Order GRAMINEiE. 
* Genus Agrostis. 
Sub-Order Agrostide/e. 
11 .—AGROSTIS YOUNG Si. 
YOUNG’S BENT GRASS. 
(Plate XXV.) 
Agrostis Youngii, Hook, fil., Handb. N.Z. Flora, I., 330. 
A tall robust grass. Flowers December—February. Roots perennial. Culms 1—3 feet high, glabrous 
or slightly scaberulous. Leaves flat, ^—^-inch broad. Panicle 4—6-inches long, erect, much contracted, 
flexuose, branches very short. Spihelets ^—^-inch long. Empty glumes rigid, glabrous, scabrid on 
the margins and keel, nerveless. Flowering glume nearly as long, truncate, with 4 teeth, pedicelled, 
5-nerved, scabrid on the nerves ; awn very short, nearly terminal or proceeding at ^ from the top. 
Palea nearly as long as the glume, bifid, 2-nerved; pedicel short with silky hairs. Scales entire, 
linear-lanceolate. Ovary plano-convex. Styles very short. Stigmas long, feathery. Distribution 
of Species : NEW ZEALAND. 
A common grass in the South Island, varying much in size according to soil and situation, the 
foliage in the larger states is coarse but succulent, and would form a valuable constituent of mixed fodder. 
In the district between the Clutha and Mataura Rivers, Otago, this grass is abundant, and is much 
eaten by stock. In all places where undrained lands and abundant rains are common, all the species of 
the Agrostis family will possess much value as pasture grasses, but, however hardy they may be, they 
enjoy no immunity from overfeeding by either stock or rabbits, and ought to benefit by periods of rest, 
or the finer kinds will inevitably be killed by sun and frosts. Distribution in New Zealand: 
SOUTH ISLAND: NELSON—H. H. Travers ; CANTERBURY—Haast; KAIHIKU HILLS, 
OTAGO—Buchanan. 
Reference to Plate XXV.: Fig. 1. Plant. 2. Spikelet. 3. Floret. 4. Nervation of empty 
glume. 3. Nervation of flowering glume. 6. Nervation of Palea. 7. Scale. 8. Ovary, 2 views. 
