Order GRAMINEtE. 
Genus Poa. 
Sub-Order Festucace^e. 
2.— POA FOLIOS A, Var. r 
MINUTE POA. 
(Plate XL III. B.) 
A very minute, tufted, alpine grass. Perennial. Culms i —2 inches high, glabrous. Leaves i i 
inch long, very narrow, involute, obtuse, acicular. Panicle ^\ inch long. Spikelets 2 6, shortly 
pedicelled, compressed, 1 inch long, 2—4-flowered. Empty glumes 3-nerved. Flowering glume 
glabrous, 3-nerved, and with tufts of flocculent silky hairs at base. Palea bifid, 2-nerved. Anthers 
long. Scale oblique. Grain linear. Distribution of Species : NEW ZEALAND. 
This small grass appears to be rare, having only been collected in two localities. A large gap 
exists between this variety and the previous one, Var. B, with no apparent intermediate forms, and but 
for the 3-nerved flowering glume it might have been placed as a variety of Poa anceps, with which 
species it otherwise agrees in every respect. Its very diminutive size might cause it to rank as an inferior 
pasture grass, but, when it is considered how close sheep can graze on poor pastures, it may, where 
abundant on barren slopes, prove a very relishing nibble to hungry flocks. Distribution in New 
Zealand: SOUTH ISLAND: MOUNT EGLINTON (3000 feet)— J. Morton; MOUNT 
ARTHUR (4000—5000 feet)—A. Mackay. 
Reference to plate XLIII. B: Fig. 1. Plant. 2. Spikelet. 3. Floret. 4, 4'. Nervation of 
empty glumes. 5. Nervation of flowering glume. 6. Nervation of Palea. 7. Scale. 8, 8'. Gram, 
front and side views. 
