Order GRAMINZE. 
Genus Trisetum. 
Sub-Order Avenaceae 
3.—TRISETUM YOUNGII. 
YOUNG’S OAT GRASS. 
{Plate XL. B.) 
Trisetum Youngii, Hook, fil., Handb. N.Z. Flora, I., 335. 
A tall perennial alpine grass, found from 3000—5000 feet altitude. Flowers January. Culms erect, 
1—3-feet high, glabrous, shining. Leaves flat, ^—J-inch broad, and sheaths pilose; ligule short, 
rounded at top and lacerate. Panicle 3—6-inches long, pale colour, branches very short with few 
spikelets. Spikelets J—J-inch long, shining, 1—2-flowered. Empty glumes unequal, broad, acute or 
cuspidate, 3-nerved, as long as or shorter than the spikelet. Flowering glumes 2-cuspidate, nearly 
glabrous ; awn dorsal, stout, recurved, inserted below the 2-cuspidate tip, pedicel with silky hairs. Palea 
4-toothed at tip, 2-nerved. Distribution op Species : NEW ZEALAND. 
Owing to the limited distribution of this grass its true value is little known, but the large size and 
succulent foliage which it attains recommend it to notice as a species that will repay the trouble of 
cultivation. According to Mr. H. H. Travers, who has recently visited the Tararua Mountain, it is 
there abundant, at an elevation of 5000 feet, and forms large patches of close growth, which, if cut, 
would produce bulky fodder. It thus appears to be a grass worthy of attention, and would no doubt 
prove a valuable acquisition to both farmer and grazier at lower altitudes. Distribution in New 
Zealand: NORTH ISLAND: TARARUA MOUNTAINS (5000 feet)—H. H. Travers; 
SOUTH ISLAND : MACAULAY VALLEY (3000—4000 feet)— Haast and Young. 
Reference to Plate XL. B. : Fig. 1. Plant. 2. Spikelet. 3. Floret. 4, Nervation of empty 
glumes. 5. Nervation of flowering glume. 6. Nervation of Palea. 7,7! Scales. 
