Order GRAMINEYA 
Genus Poa. 
Sub-Order Eestucace^, 
2.—POA FOLIOSA, Vau. A 
LARGE-FLOWERED POA. 
(Plate XLI 1 I. A.) 
Festuca foliosa, Hook. fib, Var. B, FI. Antarct., L, 99. 
Festuca foliosa, Hook. fib, Var. B, FI. N.Z., F, 308. 
Poa foliosa, Hook, fib, Var. B, Handb. N.Z. Fb, L, 338. 
A small tufted, often littoral grass. Perennial. Culms 6 —12 inches high, glabrous and striated, 
leafy at the base ; sheaths JJ inch broad, striated; ligule very short. Leaves shorter than the culm , 
broad, glabrous. Panicle 2—5 inches long, branches short, erect or inclined. Spikelets large, J \ 
inch long, compressed, 4—8-flowered. Empty glumes 3-nerved. Flowering glume 5-nerved, middle 
pair faint and sometimes wanting, scabridous on the nerves, and with tufts of long flocculent hairs at 
base. Palea bifid, 2-nerved. Anthers long. Scale oblique. Distribution of Variety : AUCK¬ 
LAND ISLANDS, CAMPBELL ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND. 
This variety is closely allied to Poa anceps , var . B, foliosa, but is generally found with a more 
slender, drooping habit, larger spikelets, and broader leaves, the incurved tips of the flowering glumes 
and nervation being very inconstant. According to Hooker it is an abundant littoral grass in the 
Auckland and Campbell Islands and New Zealand. It has also been found at considerable altitudes, 
being frequently abundant in sub-alpine vegetation, and is also found growing amongst fragments of 
scoria on Mount Egmont, at an altitude of 7500 feet. It is an abundant and valuable grass on the 
mountains of Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago, and is readily eaten by cattle and sheep. Distribution 
in New Zealand: NORTH ISLAND: MOUNT EGMONT (6000—7500 feet)—Buchanan. 
SOUTH ISLAND : MOUNT ARTHUR (4000—5000 feet)—Mackay ; NELSON MOUNTAINS 
(4000—5000 feet)—H. H. Travers; CANTERBURY ALPS (4000—5000 feet)—Sinclair, Haast, 
Travers, Armstrong; OTAGO LAKE DISTRICT (3000—5000 feet)—Hector and Buchanan. 
Reference to Plate XLIII. A : Fig. 1. Plant. 2. Spikelet. 3. Floret. 4,4. Nervation of empty 
glumes. 5. Nervation of flowering glume. 6. Nervation of Palea. 7. Scale. 
